Moto Museum – St Louis
A number of years ago, my young nephew visited St. Louis with his parents, and this museum was one of his very favorite places during that visit. When my sister scheduled a later visit to St. Louis for all of us (May 2012), it was decided that Cruz (my nephew) would get his wish and we would visit this museum and have lunch at the on-site restaurant. I am glad we visited, as it truly is an interesting and worthwhile site. The picture below shows the museum exterior, and my nephew, Cruz.
At the time we visited, there was an event scheduled for a private group, and the museum was technically closed, but the owner kindly allowed us to visit any way. As such, we entered through said owner’s motorcycle shop, which was something of an event in itself. That shop was bursting at the seams with sleek, beautiful Italian motorcycles, and even some Vespas. If I didn’t have rather unpleasant memories of being, shall we say . . . less than proficient at the controls of a motorcycle, I would have felt a twinge of desire to own one of those beautiful Italian bikes. In case you were wondering what I alluded to in regard to my own experiences at the controls, they were as follows: (1) I drove head-first into a Forsythia bush when I made my first attempt; (2) I popped wheelies with my shrieking Dad (clinging to me for dear life) on the back during my second attempt. I think I’ll stick with my van.
One of the most interesting things I saw in the museum was a wooden motorcycle (see photo, below Right) made by one Mr. Alvin Smallwood. According to a friend of his that rode this bike, it was so fast and light that it “put a Harley to shame”. I liked it becasue it reminded me of stuff my own Dad would make . . . he always liked to experiment with stuff, too.
The interesting chandelier (Photo, Above Left) is made entirely of motorcycle parts and is featured in the on-site restaurant where we had lunch. I had a wonderful soup concoction: Wild Forest Mushroom and Leek. It was delectable.
Some of the interesting motorcycles that I saw in the museum are in the photo below. There were, of course, many more.
Most of the bikes in the museum were international motorcycles. I was especially interested in the World War era motorcycles from Germany . . . I can only imagine what was going on around them as their drivers careened across the countryside!
And, here is a photo of a bike that I think many would like to own . . . yes, it’s a Maserati!
If you find yourself in St. Louis, this is a quick and fun stop. I highly recommend a visit, and also a lunch in their wonderful restaurant!
Last modified on: May 17th 2012.