Add another stop to your list of motorcycle museums deserving a visit. And locate Newburgh, NY, on your map. April 16 will bring the opening of the Motorcyclepedia Museum in Newburgh, which is a project of Edward and Gerald Doering through the Gerald A. Doering Foundation. The Motorcyclepedia Museum will serve as the official host museum for the Antique Motorcycle Foundation (AMF), a non-profit organization "created to tell the story of antique motorcycling so that the role and influence of two-wheeled transportation in our history and technological development can be better understood and appreciated by the public at large."
The Motorcyclepedia Museum is an outgrowth of a 2007 restructuring of the Antique Motorcycle Club of America. In that restructuring, the AMF was created and its initial effort was developing motorcycle exhibits for the Antique Automobile Club of America Museum in Hershey, PA. Then, in May 2010, the current exhibit was moved to a new home in a larger, 85,000-square-foot facility in Newburgh. It is that facility, now dubbed the Motorcyclepedia Museum, that will be opening soon.
Exhibits featured at the opening include:
- Indian Motorcycle Timeline -- with examples of Springfield Indians for every year from 1902 to 1953.
- American Racer -- highlighting early American competition machines.
- Chopper City -- displaying examples of the American styling trend that started in the 1960s.
- Fast from the Past: The Competition Motorcycles of Yesteryear -- a collection of 35 machines showing the evolution of racing.
Additional diplays will focus on military and police motorcycles, the manufacturing process, Harley-Davidson, and scooters. There will even be a functional Wall of Death that doubles as a theater for movies and educational programs.
More than 300 motorcycles will be on display, some dating to as early as 1897. The museum will also feature memorabilia, parts, magazines, books, catalogs, videos, posters, and movies.
The Motorcyclepedia Museum is located at 250 Lake Street in Newburgh, which itself is just north of New York City. Hours will be 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Thursday through Sunday. Admission will be $10 for adults and $5 for children 12 and under.
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