The Around the World on Two Wheels exhibit is now open to the public at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, California. The exhibit features bikes from the renowned Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum collection and will run through March 2, 2024.
The Barber Museum collection is considered one of the most comprehensive and internationally recognized motorcycle collections in the world. Located in Birmingham, Alabama, the museum was founded in 1995 by former racing driver and automobile collector George Barber, and its holdings, which focus on telling the history of the motorcycle from an international, multi-thematic perspective, encompass over 1,800 rare, collectible, and iconic motorcycles stretching from the 19th century to present day.
Related: Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum named ‘World’s Largest Motorcycle Museum’
The Barber Museum’s collection includes bikes built by nearly 200 different manufacturers from 20 countries around the globe and represents nearly every facet of motorcycle history, from popular production street bikes to rare one-off Grand Prix racers.
In 2003, the museum expanded to an 880-acre motorsports park, including a 16-turn, 2.38-mile racetrack, and each year, the facility hosts the Barber Vintage Festival, which features a full slate of vintage and exotic racing, a swap meet, vendors, demo rides on modern bikes, and more.
Related: Barber Vintage Festival 2023
The Around the World on Two Wheels exhibit, which is held in the Petersen Automotive Museum’s Richard Varner Family Gallery on the second floor of the 100,000-square-foot museum, draws from the Barber Museum’s extensive holdings to highlight the motorcycle’s development, from its early origins as a means of personal transportation to its modern-day prominence around the world as a vehicle whose style, popularity, and utility parallel those of its four-wheeled counterparts.
Motorcycles on display include a 1905 Indian Single, a 1919 Harley-Davidson Model 19 J, a 1929 Excelsior Super X, a 1928 Sunbeam Model 80 TT, the 1961 Yamaha RR250 “Yellow Tanker,” and the 2008 Honda CBR600RR raced by Jake Zemke, among many more. For more information, including other exhibits currently on display, visit the Petersen Automotive Museum website.
