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A year ago, at the Barber Vintage Festival, Kenny Roberts lapped the Barber Motorsports Park road course on his world championship-winning 1980 Yamaha YZR500. This past October, Roberts recreated that moment, this time with son Kenny Jr. riding alongside on the Team Roberts KR211V that he campaigned in the 2006 MotoGP World Championship. Both machines are part of the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum’s permanent collection.
The occasion wasn’t lost on 52-year-old Roberts Jr., who hadn’t ridden a GP bike with his father since 2006, when the pair took to the track at Circuit Ricardo Tormo, lapping the Spanish circuit on identical KR211Vs. “It feels like yesterday,” he admitted, referring to the season in which he earned two podiums and finished sixth overall. “The engine makes that bike. For the pure fun of riding something that you can spin and slide, nothing beats it.”
The Honda V-five-powered KR211V is light years ahead of the four-cylinder Yamaha. “In those photos, I’m not even at a quarter throttle,” said Roberts Jr. “I was thinking, ‘Let’s do the pictures, and then I’ll do some laps where I can go fast.’” The Americans are the only father and son to have both won premier-class titles in the 76-year history of the FIM Grand Prix Road Racing World Championship.
Photos: Anne Hicks
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Nov 16
Erik Buell’s legacy is well-documented at the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum, with a sweeping exhibit comprising everything from mockups and prototypes to the last-ever motorcycle to roll off the assembly line in East Troy, Wisconsin. Altogether, there are nearly three dozen machines, including a number of historic race bikes.
After Erik Buell Racing—the company Buell formed when majority partner Harley-Davidson shut down production in 2009—ceased operation in 2015, Michigan-based Liquid Asset Partners purchased all that remained of EBR, with an eye toward restarting production. The Buell Motorcycle Company, headed by CEO Bill Melvin, began independent operation in 2019.
Earlier this year, Buell launched the Super Cruiser, developed in collaboration with Roland Sands Designs around the same 1190cc Helicon V-twin that powers the Hammerhead 1190 and 1190SX sport bikes. The very first production Super Cruiser was shown at the 20th annual Barber Vintage Festival and is now part of the museum’s permanent collection.
Photos: Joe Avila
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Nov 13
The Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum hosted a series of one-hour seminars during the 20th annual Barber Vintage Festival. The second of those discussions, held on Friday, October 3, in the basement conservation area of the museum, featured 2025 Grand Marshal Eraldo Ferracci, interviewed by Cook Neilson.
Ferracci was exposed to motorcycle racing at an early age, both as a mechanic and a rider, eventually rising to the top of both fields. After moving his family from Italy to the U.S., Ferracci established “Fast By Ferracci” and developed a reputation for building reliable machines that won races.
Neilson is a former journalist and motorcycle racer, best known for his decade-long tenure as editor of Cycle magazine and for winning the 1977 AMA Superbike race at Daytona International Speedway on “Old Blue,” a Ducati 750 SS hot-rodded by his great friend and colleague Phil Schilling.
Watch the video on the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum YouTube channel. Follow the link in our bio.
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Nov 11
Every year during the Barber Vintage Festival, the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum hosts “Motorcycles by Moonlight,” a gala dinner that benefits the museum’s growing education and preservation programs, and honors the festival’s grand marshal.
Presented by Iconic Motorbikes Auctions, this year’s well-attended event included eight speakers, beginning with Executive Director Brian Case and followed by Conservation Manager Ally Domar and Education Programs Manager Dr. Liz Johnson.
In addition, Grand Marshal Eraldo Ferracci was saluted by son Larry, former journalist and racer Cook Neilson, Cycle World Technical Editor Kevin Cameron, champion racer Larry Pegram, and MotoGP Legend Kevin Schwantz.
All of these speeches, which range in duration from three to 10 minutes, are now available for viewing on the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum YouTube channel. If you enjoy the content, please like the videos and subscribe to our channel.
Follow the link in our bio.
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Nov 9
Most Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum visitors don’t know Tim Miller, but many have seen, and perhaps will even recognize, his work. The Ohio native spent 39 years as a tire engineer at the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company.
Miller was employed for the first eight of those years in Goodyear’s racing division, working trackside with some of the biggest names in Formula One, not to mention a young American hot-shoe motorcycle racer named Kenny Roberts.
Upon winning the 1979 500cc world title, his second on the trot, Roberts rewarded Miller with a Bell helmet worn during that championship season. Some 45 years later, Miller decided to donate that helmet to the museum.
“I didn’t clean it up or anything,” he admits in the accompanying video. “That’s the way Kenny gave it to me at the end of the season. It sat on a shelf in my house for all those years. Now, some other people can see it.”
Miller’s generosity led to a conversation with Roberts about tire development. The pair reflect on the vee-shaped tread pattern that helped Roberts win the 1980 Italian GP (“We smoked ’em”) and ultimately inspired the Goodyear Eagle “Gatorback.”
Watch the video on the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum YouTube channel. Link in bio.
#BarberMuseum #BarberMotorsportsPark #Goodyear #Gatorback #KennyRoberts #BellHelmets #MotoGP
Nov 7
The Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum hosted a series of one-hour seminars during the 20th annual Barber Vintage Festival. The first of those discussions, held on Friday, October 3, in the basement conservation area of the museum, featured MotoGP Legend Kenny Roberts Jr. The interview was conducted by Cycle World Technical Editor Kevin Cameron, one of the leading voices in motorcycle journalism.
Affectionately known as “Junior,” Kenny Lee Roberts is the oldest son of Kenny Leroy Roberts, who won three consecutive 500cc world titles in 1978, ’79, and ’80 with Yamaha. Roberts Jr. earned a title of his own in 2000 on a Suzuki, making the close-knit pair the only father and son to have both won premier-class titles in the 76-year history of the FIM Grand Prix Road Racing World Championship.
Cameron and Roberts Jr. entertained the audience with a conversation that covered a wide range of racing-related topics, beginning with the early technical development of four-stroke MotoGP machinery and concluding with the recent multi-billion-dollar acquisition of the Dorna-owned series by Colorado-based Liberty Media. Watch the full conversation on the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum YouTube channel.
🔗 LINK IN BIO 🔗
#BarberMuseum #BarberMotorsportsPark #BarberVintageFestival #KennyRoberts #MotoGP
Nov 5
Beloved automotive and motorcycle writer Peter Egan was a popular guest at October’s 20th annual Barber Vintage Festival. A longtime editorial staff member of Cycle World and Road & Track magazines, Egan was in attendance to promote his new memoir, “Landings in America,” published by Octane Press.
Twenty-three years ago, in his monthly Cycle World column, “Leanings,” Egan described a nudge from Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum Technical Director Brian Slark that led to his inaugural visit of Barber Motorsports Park and the neighboring five-floor museum, which superseded the original Southside Birmingham location opened in 1995.
“I won’t belabor the point any further, but this is certainly the biggest and most comprehensive motorcycle collection in the world,” Egan wrote about George Barber’s awe-inspiring assemblage, then encompassing “just” 750 machines. “If you haven’t been there, go. Give yourself at least a day to look around. Two would be better.”
In 2014, the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum was officially recognized by Guinness World Records as housing the world’s largest motorcycle collection. The museum is now home to 1,800 motorcycles and 150-plus automobiles, 60 of which are Lotus race cars. Egan’s book is available for purchase in the gift shop (link in bio).
Photo by Joe Avila
#BarberMuseum #BarberMotorsportsPark #BarberVintageFestival #PeterEgan
Oct 30
At October’s 20th annual Barber Vintage Festival, Eraldo Ferracci was recognized for a lifetime of exceptional contributions to motorcycling as a champion racer, world-beating engineer, and successful team owner.
As part of that celebration, museum staff produced a slideshow highlighting Ferracci’s many milestones. That video is available to watch on the “Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum” YouTube channel, along with dozens of interviews and motorcycle profiles.
Ferracci continues his deep and personal involvement in the sport with the Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati team in the MotoAmerica series. The museum thanks the Ferracci family, Larry Lawrence, Allan Lane, and Brian J. Nelson for providing archival images.
🔗 LINK IN BIO 🔗
#BarberMuseum #BarberMotorsportsPark #BarberVintageFestival #EraldoFerracci
Oct 28
