Adventure Bikes at the Barber Museum

Here’s another example of my #vanlife travels leading to a feature article. Birmingham, Alabama is far off my direct route between Florida and New Hampshire. But this life isn’t about taking the direct route, so I made a big inland detour to visit the Barber Vintage Motorsport Museum. I could write so much about this place, with not only the biggest motorcycle collection in the world but also displays of famous race car drivers, as well as an entire wing devoted to the history of Lotus in racing.

I had to narrow it down a bit for ADVRider, so for this article, I focused on the stories of three adventure bike displays at the museum. One of them is the first motorcycle to cross the treacherous Darien Gap, an 80-mile section of dense forest between Panama and Columbia with no roads and lots of cartel activity. Another is a couple who rode around the world after he made a killing in the investment industry and retired at age 37. Must be nice. Finally, Longhaulpaul’s first bike, the Cure Chaser, is on display. I know Paul because we both hailed from New England when not traveling all over the country. We’ve crossed paths at a few shows and events. It was cool to see his original New Hampshire license plate, “NOCAR,” still on this bike.

I also spent a week in the area of the Tail of the Dragon on the Tennessee/North Carolina line, riding that famous road, the Cherohala Skyway, and part of Moonshiner 28. It was a good time, but I’ve already written about riding there and had little new to add except that my V-Strom worked better than my KLR. I also traveled to Virginia’s Back of the Dragon for the first time. That will be the subject of a future ADVRider article.