2016 Barber Vintage Festival & Museum

Posted on November 11, 2016 by Motopsycho

2016 was our second year attending the Barber Vintage Festival but believe or not it it was actually the first time we actually visited the museum. If this seems strange it’s because this event is so massive with so many different things going on it is impossible to see everything even if you show up early on opening day & stay until the Monday morning after. The Barber Vintage Festival is pure vintage motorcycle overload. The museum is two wheeled gear head heaven. Even if it were possible to show you everything in a blog post (it’s not) I’d be doing you a great disservice by even trying. Instead here a few pictures to whet your appetite.

Above is a shot looking down toward the lowest level where the machine shop is. Motorcycles are the main focus but they have plenty of classic and exotic race & street cars that includes a seriously fantastic Lotus collection.

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The next picture is a pair Moto Guzzi singles near the wall overlooking the racetrack. One of the great features of the museum is that the wall on the track side is all window so we could watch the AHRMA race bikes circulating on the track.

Ace Corner at the Barber Vintage Festival

Speaking of AHRMA road racing, the best view of the action could be found at the Ace Corner, This was also the location of the Dime City Cycles custom bike show. In addition to the road racing there are also AHRMA sanctioned cross country, vintage motocross, and trials. If the racing doesn’t appeal to you there are several bike shows, a freestyle motocross show, the Wall of Death and a huge number of vendors hawking all kinds of motorcycle wares.

Mirror mirror on the wall, what’s the most beautiful Ferrari of them all? To me the answer will always be the Dino.

We all know that Vincent built some of the most innovative motorcycles in the world and the Barber museum has multiple examples including a Black Shadow & the fully enclosed Black Prince. But did you know they made a personal watercraft decades before Kawasaki? Granted the tiny air cooled single in the 1955 Vincent Amanda didn’t give the speed and power of the Jetski but it was first.

Long before the Jetski, there was the Vincent Amanda

Another Vincent product was this lawn mower. Funny how today aficionados of some other brands pick on us Honda fans about the motorcycles and cars being souped up lawn mowers. Now when somebody starts that line of malarkey, we can all remember that Vincent made a lawn mower.

Military motorcycles at the Barber Museum

The museum also has a sizable display of military motorcycles including the 1999 Harley Davidson MT500. Too bad they never sold a civilian version of it.

This original 1913 Yale is a fantastic sight to see with it’s matching sidecar.

Unrestored 1913-Yale

The massive Bohmerland sidecar outfit has to be seen in real life to be appreciated.

Bohmerland

Scattered through the collection are a few cutaway engines such as the Matchless and Triumph mills pictured here.

Matchless-G50

Triumph Tiger 110

Here’s a special bike for Honda fans.

Dick-Mann-CR750

It’s the CR750 that Dick Mann rode in the 1970 Daytona motorcycle race.

Barber-Museum-new-addition

The museum has many more motorcycles and cars hidden away in storage, but thanks to this newly completed addition a lot of them will be able to come out of hibernation for our enjoyment. It will be wonderful to see it when I return to the Barber Vintage Festival again.

Vintage sidecar motocross?

One of my favorite things about Barber is the swap meet. There is such a huge variety of good junk, unique motorcycles, and rusty gold that if you can’t find what you want, you’re probably not looking hard enough. This Bultaco motocrosser with a sidecar was among the coolest items offered for sale.

I always enjoy checking out the Antique Motorcycle Club of America display, this is part of the small motorcycle collection. Directly across the road was the Vintage Japanese Motorcycle Club show. This year my freshly restored C70 Passport was displayed there.

There’s so much more to show you and tell you so I strapped two cameras to my scooter and shot a video ride around of the event for you.

If you are crazy about old motorcycles the Barber Vintage Festival is an event that you really need to go and see.

Peace Y’all.

Perfect 1975 Kawasaki Z1B 900

Posted on March 26, 2016 by Motopsycho

Before it became the Perfect 1975 Kawasaki Z1B 900

Take a good long look at the bike in this picture. This particular machine is now the most perfect 1975 Kawasaki Z1B 900 on the planet right now. But before you scroll down just take a minute to stare at this first picture and just imagine the work it took to make it that way.

This motorcycle belongs to a gentleman from North Carolina named Mike. It was a long term labor of love for him to perform the ground up restoration you are about to see below. It has taken best Kawasaki honors at several shows, and at the Destination Eustis show this year his effort was rewarded with the best of show trophy.

Now Mike has kept a notebook full of pictures detailing this restoration and displays it with the motorcycle at shows. It’s really very educational & inspiring to look at his pictures, and just get a small glimpse of the effort it took him to turn this particular sow’s ear into the most exquisite silk purse it is today.

I present to you the Perfect 1975 Kawasaki Z1B 900

Let’s start with a left front view. All of the pictures in this post are large so it may be a little slower to load but trust me it is worth it.

These were taken the Sunday morning after the show when a lot of the bikes had already left the exhibition hall. Rather than stage it somewhere else I decided to get a bunch of pictures right where it was at.

I’d be willing to lick the bottom of this engine but for the fear that my tongue would get it dirty…

Kawasaki completely redefined the parameters of motorcycle performance when they created the DOHC 903 engine, and this one has looks to match.

Perfect 1975 Kawasaki Z1B 900 picture of engine

Here are a few more details for you to check out, enjoy!

“if I could turn back time…”

This next picture is my favorite of this batch, it captures the overall beauty of this motorcycle better than any other picture in this group.

I must confess to teasing Mike about not riding this one, but to tell the truth after all of the hard work he’s put into this one, who can really blame him for wanting to keep it perfect for as long as possible? He is a true fan of the original Kawasaki 900 and keeps another one in his stable for riding, so don’t even dare think of him as just another poser with a show boat because he’s not. If this beauty were mine & I had put so much work into it I’d be just like him.

Destination Eustis 2016 Motorcycle Show

Posted on March 12, 2016 by Motopsycho

Friday at the Destination Eustis 2016 Motorcycle Show

There wasn’t really a lot going on yet when I rolled into the Destination Eustis 2016 Motorcycle Show early on Friday March 4th. So I went ahead and set up my base camp for the weekend. To stretch my budget this year, instead of staying in a hotel I decided to sleep on an air mattress in the back of the enclosed trailer. This actually made a decent camping arrangement as a simple tent heater kept it nice and cozy on the cool early spring nights.

Afterwards I went digging around the swap meet just to see what was there. I didn’t take as many pictures this year because I had an actual shopping list of parts that are needed for two very different bikes, one a 45 cubic inch Flathead Harley and the other a Honda CT70 Mini Trail. Didn’t find much for the mini but there were a couple of vendors that had some good deals on parts for the Flattie.

One of the absolute coolest things there was this little Model T replica for sale. The seller drove it around all over the place, and I hope some happy person took it home.

Other than a little shopping I just hung around the main exhibition hall and offered my meager assistance to the really hard working folks in the VJMC who were getting everything ready for the show on Saturday. Once darkness had fallen and supper was over it was time to retire to my little campsite and knock back a brew before turning in.

Saturday at the Destination Eustis 2016 Motorcycle Show

Fresh perked coffee early in the morning, sitting in a chair outside while cooking breakfast over a camp stove. The only way it could have gotten any better would be if my lovely partner had been there with me, but alas she had to work.

After making myself reasonably presentable it was time to head over to the main hall again and watch as the neat old bikes filed in to register for the show. Rather than trying to post them individually I put a few of them in a slideshow for you.

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There were of course a few extra special bikes that really stood out and demonstrated that even though this may be one of the smaller “Bike Week” events it attracts some really high caliber machinery.

First up is an ultra rare Flying Merkel, who doesn’t enjoy seeing an old timer like this in good running order?

There have been a lot of custom cafe racer or muscle-bike style custom Goldwings showing up on the internet and it was great to see this wild ‘Wing show up to take home 1st place in the custom class.

No vintage motorcycle show is complete without at least one classic American racer, and the stunning Indian flat tracker fits the bill perfectly.

The Best Of Show award went to my friend Mike, who brought this absolutely immaculate 1975 Kawasaki Z1B. He restored this bike himself from a rusty derelict. Look for more pictures of this one in the next week or two.

One of the best things about going to a VJMC organized show is the fact that the judging is done by audience voting. This makes results almost completely unpredictable, and does away the bullshit & hurt feelings that result from selection by a panel of judges. I’d also like to acknowledge the hard work of the Vintage Motorcycle Alliance, they run the swap meet and set up the vendor areas and without them and the Vintage Japanese Motorcycle Club, this event would not be what it is.

Click here to learn more about the Vintage Motorcycle Alliance

Click here to learn more about the Vintage Japanese Motorcycle Club

Until next time, Peace Y’all

A Busy Time at Motopsyco’s Asylum

Posted on April 29, 2015 by Motopsycho

Boy life has been running wide open these last few weeks, There have been a few ups and downs but overall more ups than downs, so if you hear me complaining, just ignore me things are actually pretty good around here.
In my professional life (the one that pays the bills since I seem to be unable to sell enough motorcycle parts to survive) the last few weeks, my spare time has been devoted to studying to take the Certified Solidworks Associate exam and this past Saturday I took the test and passed it! So now in addition to my other software skills & certifications I am now also certified for Solidworks 3D CAD as well.

A couple of weeks ago I was trying to change out a 20 year old motorcycle tire when I bent a top of the line name brand made in U.S.A. tire iron. Instead of taking this as a warning I continued try to wrestle with the ancient rubber until I pulled a muscle in my shoulder.

So I decided at last to try to buy a manual tire changer. My Dad already had the Harbor Freight cheapie car tire changer that he used to change his truck, lawnmower, & small tractor tires and was very happy with it. He finally got himself a new truck and decided last week that being 72 years old, he didn’t want to fix his own tires anymore, and sent the tire changer home with me. I ran up to my local store and grabbed the motorcycle tire attachment. Unfortunately as delivered out of the box with the changes that have been made to the rim clamps on this latest redesign, it was useless. It might be capable of mounting a fresh new tire without modifications, but if you are like me and frequently deal with the treasures, (‘er junk heaps) that you have dragged up from old barns, cow pastures, and junkyards then it won’t be of much use to you either.

Since the next cheapest manual motorcycle tire changer I could find was 600 bucks it’s time to order a few parts & make a few changes. I will post more about those adventures later after I get all the parts in and put it all together. In the meantime I broke out my reciprocating saw and took care of the next pesky tire.

I like cutting up

We are heading into the heart of motorcycle show & rally season now here in the southeast, The Myrtle Beach Hog Rally, and Atlantic Beach Bikefest are the two biggies along the coast. For the vintage & antique bike lover, this weekend (May 2, 2015) in Panama City, Florida is Bikes on the Beach, in Spencer, North Carolina is the Carolina Classic Motorcycle Show, followed in two weeks by the AMCA Southern National Meet in Denton N.C.

Have fun & I hope to see you on the road!

Rockabillaque

Posted on November 10, 2014 by Motopsycho

Here’s a cool event to check out this coming Saturday November 15th 2014! Rockabillaque in North Charleston, S.C.

http://www.rockabillaque.com

So if you enjoy vintage custom cars, old motorcycles, rockabilly music, pinup girls, & Kustom Kulture in general you really don’t want to miss this show!

In addition to the main website you can check out their Facebook Page too!

Scooters at the Rumble!

Posted on September 13, 2014 by Motopsycho

One of my favorite classes at the Bull City Rumble is the scooter class. No I’m not talking about the 50cc chicom whiskey cycles, but fine vintage steel and plastic from around the world. This years event was dominated by Italian scooters, Vespas mostly, Lambrettas, and one or two of the late model scooters from Asia. Even though I pretend to be a big hairy chested macho man, I’d be proud to have any of these in my garage, and yes it would get ridden at every opportunity. When I was a dealership mechanic whenever some one would bring in a 125cc or larger scooter my fellow mechanics and I would hurry up and try to grab the work order first just so we could ride them. This way when all of our “real biker” friends saw us we could tell them we had to ride the scooter because it was our job. 😉 Now I’m too old to give a shit what you think…

If you love scooters enjoy the pictures!

Mod or Rocker?

I really enjoyed checking out the scooters at the rumble. Thanks to Ton Up NC for putting on another great show.

Ton Up NC Blog The July 2014 Website of the Month

Posted on July 13, 2014 by Motopsycho

I first heard of the Ton Up Club during a visit to the International Motorcycle Show in 2013, they had a cool display setup with a bunch of neat vintage motorcycles and flyers for their upcoming shows. Last September I visited the Bull City Rumble and saw just what a great show (and party) these fine people over in NC can throw & I’ve been keeping up with them ever since.

About a month ago they published a really cool post, “After the Flood, The BSA That Refused to Die.” After reading it I immediately hit them up for permission to link to it. No I’m not going to give you the details, click on the link and go read the post for yourself.

In the last few weeks that annoying as hell real life that pays the bills got in the way & I am just now getting around to sharing this post and decided just to make

Ton Up NC the website of the month, so go check them out and let them know that the old ‘Psyco sent you.

Of course if you are not in the great South-land but are really into vintage style Cafe Racer customs you might want to check out the site of Ton Up North America to see what is going on near you, the home page itself seems out of date but there are links to the local chapters, that can probably get you up to speed an what they are doing.

Peace Y’all

Thoughts on a Good Weekend.

Posted on March 19, 2014 by Motopsycho

Here is a little video I shot of the show in Florida on March 8th 2014 enjoy. For my thoughts about the weekend keep reading below the vid.

Last weekend I did a few live blog posts while I was at the VMAs swap meet in Eustis Florida. Today after I’ve had a week to sitback and reflect upon ago I thought I would share of you things I learned from the experience did take a few used items for sale along with the display of Rock oil products and the battery or two, but my main goal really were to help publicize this blog, and just get out and have a good time and made some people. I am a member of the vintage Japanese motorcycle club so I went for the show and to help support the group. It turned out to be really great show using my favorite judging system which is 100 percent people’s choice the winning bikes decided by audience vote and not by a judging panel. This did lead to a couple of interesting surprises, such as in the all custom motorcycle class a heavily modified Tomos moped took first place while a Harley Davidson V-rod took second. It’s just totally crazy and restores my faith in humanity when things like that happen.

T’was great fun and very educational for us meeting some of the other vendors and talking to them. I have a confession to make, I have made a point of deliberately avoiding large motorcycle rallies due to the snobbery of certain groups and types of ~~posers~~ riders and I had forgotten just how much fun it was truly hang out with a bunch of great old fashioned bikers who didn’t really care what you rode as long as you rode. I love old motorcycles of all kinds, hell I love most new motorcycles too, there are just certain styles of machine that I prefer and certain companies whose way of doing business leaves me cold. Motorcycling is about freedom, individualism & personal style not conformity to someone else’s expectations.

Mrs. ‘Psyco and I would like to thank the other vendors who were so helpful to us, especially the wonderful lady from Crazy Bob’s Biker Apparel who really helped us out with setting up our canopy.

everything I wanted growing up!

The show was actually very large but the swap meet area was not quite as big as I was hoping it would have be but it was still nice and there was a large variety of different motorcycles. Next time I go to a swap meet, especially if I’m selling I do want to camp out at the meet between the gas and the fact that I wanted to stay in a hotel this week’s profit was not existent but I had mainly went just to enjoy myself and have a good time. My beautiful financial manager said next time we should definitely camp out and she would have done it this time as she is the one who is hardcore where as I’m the old guy with the soft chewy center. In all honesty as far as taking used parts to a swap meet unless they are things that are really older and valuable from a strict point of dollars and sense you’re better off to sell them online, but you would miss the camaraderie the chance to stumble across the good deals or to find unique objects. Even so I have learned a few lessons and next time I won’t take any disassembled mid 80’s motorcycles project bikes and parts. Unless it is something that would be a really great deal to sell as a complete motorcycle those should be left at home, just pack & sell the things that are truly nostalgic. Almost all of my early seventy’s on the stuff was gone the first day I sold a few dirt bike parts, couple a spark plugs, & some points but that was pretty much it.

I should have bought this and installed an early GSXR1100 motor in it!

There were quite a few good deals to be had and next year I might have to leave room in the van so that I can do a little shopping myself. Since I returned home my day job has kept me wide freaking open so I have not even had the chance to fully unpack yet. At least I found a new owner for the Kawasaki that no one would even look at in Eustis, so it can be unpacked at its new home this week. Look for us at a few more events around the southeast this year.

euro trash makes for fun restorations

It was great time and I hope to see you all on the road out there, somewhere, someday

Peace y’all

early Sunday at Lake Eustis

I should probably go back one day just to go fishing…

Why We Ride Film Motopsyco’s October Website of the Month!

Posted on October 9, 2013 by Motopsycho

It’s worth going to the website just for the great pictures like this.

Whyweridefilm.com

Let me be up front with you, when International Motorcycle Shows first posted the trailer for this movie on Facebook I almost didn’t click on it. So often these “documentaries” about motorcycling are so one dimensional that they seem to be written for a narrow group of riders and/or racers. While I have yet to see the movie itself I have watched the trailer about 10 times already! There are interviews with kids, moms, street riders, Harley aficionados, crotch rocket jockeys, & racers from a variety of two wheeled motorsports all talking about how much they love to ride motorcycles & trying to explain the feeling to the rest of the world. Those of us who already ride understand the passion that just overflows out with the words they speak. Hopefully some of the normal people that get dragged to this film by friends and family will feel it too, and if they don’t at least want to try it will at least get an understanding of what draws us to these machines that so many people mistakenly see as deathtraps.

another fantastic pic from whyweridefilm.com

I ride a motorcycle & I love it. When I was a skinny little nerdy kid it was my favorite escape. No matter how bad my days at school were, when I slid that two stroke Kawasaki around a curve in the woods behind the cow pasture & then jumped one of the hills at the side of the canal ditch I was the ultimate 6th grade badass and all was right with the world! Today most of my riding is commuting back & forth to work on my ancient Honda, but it is still my escape and when everything is just right, I still roll on the throttle exiting that last turn before a long straight and pin it to the stop, while the ghost of Hunter S. Thompson whispers in my ear, “screw it on you big pussy” as the speedometer hurtles toward that magic number that all the Ton Up Boys lived & died for. It has been approximately 37 years since I got my first motorcycle and even though age and injuries have made me more cautious it still thrills me. Just like the first time! Every time. Even when just putting around at slow cruising speeds like the old fart that I am becoming. Bottom line is, I’ll quit riding when I die.

whyweridefilm.com

Even if you don’t visit the website at least click on this line and go watch the trailer! Then come back here & tell me & the rest of the world why YOU ride in the comments section. I am going to close this out by quoting from the synopsis on the movie website.

“Your senses will heighten as the world rushes in, your heart will beat to the pulse of the engine, your mind will race and set you free. Once you let a motorcycle into your life, it will change you forever.”

Sums it up for me,

Peace Y’all