Motorcycle Museum plans for new barn exhibit

     You can be part of it, the new “American Barn Find” exhibition that’s in the planning stages, set to open Spring 2017 at the National Motorcycle Museum in Anamosa.

     It’s probably a favorite past time of yours; while riding America’s country roads, you’ve peered into the hundreds of open barns and sheds while driving by. You might be saying to yourself, “I wonder what cool old motorcycle, or even car or truck is laying in that barn, neglected but still in pretty good shape?” And as we know, there’s enough interest that TV shows are built around following tips, contacting the owner, then getting a chance to look for barn finds.

     With your help, the National Motorcycle Museum will recreate the corner of a barn right in the museum and show a random collection of stuff that just kind of “happened” there, items no longer needed, tossed out, then forgotten. But with each pre-World War II motorcycle that has been scrapped, the one “saved” in the barn is a step closer to being rare and over time, perhaps more sought after and therefore more valuable. Might be a Whizzer, an old high-wheel bicycle, leather saddlebags, a pudding bowl helmet, the toolbox crammed with antique wrenches, a gas pump, even an old Harley or Indian, an engine, or just some interesting motorcycle parts. What have you got on loan or can you donate to the “American Barn Find” exhibit?

     The museum staff will construct the corner of a barn in the museum with old barn boards, beams; this will become a permanent display in the museum. Then they will fill it with great old stuff, and this new exhibit will open during the National Motorcycle Museum’s June 3, 2017 Vintage Rally event in Anamosa. You can check out the “barn” any time, and as more and more people donate or loan items, it will likely get jammed with good and dusty, even rusty stuff.

     If you have items to loan for a year or longer or donate to the project, contact museum@nationalmcmuseum.org or call 614-551-0960 if you have any questions or about the show.