I've been spending a ton of time in the UK recently and I must have passed this place at least ten times. It's at the main Birmingham airport roundabout - couldn't be easier to find - the British Motorcycle Museum.

Mmmmmm, motorbikes...

I'm not normally a fan of old bikes but curiosity has been getting the better of me recently. It's amazing to see where the bikes have come from, especially in recent years. What is really great about the oldies is the range of approaches people took to developing the bikes. Today most brands are very same-samey - alloy twin spar frames, overhead cams, monoshock, telescopic forks, almost all four stroke, everything is SO similar.

Well it wasn't like that 50 years ago, that's for sure.

The museum is a must see if you've any appreciation for engineering. It's like a walk back through time with bikes displayed in chronological order back as early as 1902 (I think)......they even have leather link belts instead of chains! Some of the ideas and inventions you see are bonkers but it was a time of discovery. It makes me realise that there's very little discovery these days - mostly refinement..........jeeeeess I just re-read this piece and I sound like a Granda'.

Right that's enough of my rubbish - here's the pics.

Derek

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