Sunday, December 16, 2012

Motorcycles.....IN the Library??

When I mentioned the upcoming show to friends, the response was almost universal.

"Motorcycles IN the library?"

Yes, you heard it right and we were there.


Nine of us gathered early for lunch, then met over at the library.  The only contribution I made was to show up as a spectator, but many in our lunch group put in tons of effort to contribute motorcycles, memorabilia, clothing, tin metal toys or all of the above in different ratios.  Batteries out, all fluids removed and drip pans were required, even for the Far East machines.  Jerat pulled off a stunning show of a nicely varied mix of all things "motorcycle".  As an outsider, I can only imagine the effort in selling the idea, getting (and keeping) things organized, creating signage, her creative eye for the arrangement of the displays and so on.  She pulled this thing together better than many of us had even thought possible though after I met her this afternoon, it really came as no surprise.  When your library finally considers a Showing Of Bikes, contact Jerat to get it done right.


This is an old photo....the streets are paved now, at least in front of the library.


Only a portion of Mike's huge tin motorcycle toy collection.


Ky's historic "Rocket Bike", built for and successfully accomplishing "air" over 26 buses.  If you weren't at the show today, you missed out on Ky's incredible stories and accomplishments from the man himself.






Yes, it's a variation on the theme but still part of the theme....












Built for "a long ways to go and a short time to get there".....













More photos here

Many thanks to Jerat, the contributors and to everyone else responsible for pulling this off.

10 comments:

  1. When I was growing up in Bloomington, Ky's house was kitty corner to my Jr. High. There was always something interesting parked in the Michaelson's driveway or yard.
    On our next trip to the "cities" we'll have to stop at the library and check it out!!

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  2. Ky, almost always w/grandson, shows up often at our Sat morning coffee sessions. IIRC, grandson is running one of Ky's machines on The Salt in Utah.

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  3. That is a great exhibit. Some really cool bikes.

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  4. It looks like a great effort to put such a display together. I hope they had a lot of people come through to enjoy the displays.

    Thanks for sharing pics of those cool machines and memorabilia.

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    1. Trobairitz, the Show with vehicles was a new endeavor for the library and I'm sure that it took support from multiple sides to make it all happen.

      I knew of some of the items displayed but was happily surprised by much of it. It took the placards for me to appreciate the numerous collections and their donors.

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  5. Coop:

    very interesting looking at the old machines and toys. It's amazing what people collect and are willing to show off.

    Imagine how our lives would have been if we all had grown up at the turn of the century

    bob
    Riding the Wet Coast
    My Flickr // My YouTube

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    1. Bob, it was the "willing to show off" part that surprised me. Not everyone would have made their treasures available for display.

      You are right about the turn of the century and there are so many examples of the changes. I often poke at others as well as myself, using my grandfather's old HD as an example. It was his backroad, touring, stunt, sidecar mount, winterized-by-ski-in-front machine. For some reason, we've decided that specialization is necessary and affordable by odd units of measure.

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  6. Pretty cool. A good reason to visit the library ;-)

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  7. Hey Sonja, I had thoughts along those lines as well. Attendance was good Sunday and I'd venture that there were some folks in the gallery that hadn't been in the building before.

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