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“Zing King! Radical Retro Ducati MH900e Show Stopper” was the alliterative description boldly emblazoned on the cover of the January 1999 issue of Cycle World magazine. A six-page feature story detailed the Intermot unveiling of the modern twin-cylinder homage to British racing legend Mike Hailwood. The half-faired sport bike was easily the crown jewel of that edition of Germany’s blockbuster motorcycle exposition.
“More than a mere concept bike,” began CW Executive Editor Brian Catterson, “the Pierre Terblanche-designed ‘neo-classic’ is intended to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Hailwood’s victory in the Isle of Man TT while simultaneously showing one direction motorcycle design might take in the future. And if the response from the Munich Show has any bearing, this is one prototype that just might make it into production.”
In fact, over a two-year period, Ducati reportedly built 2,000 examples of the MH900e—”e” for “evoluzione.” CW Editor-at-Large Peter Egan sampled a production version of the bike in the mountains of southeastern Spain. “On the road, the MH exudes personality,” he wrote. “It has a lovely, if legally mandated too-muted exhaust note, and the chassis has a wonderfully light and narrow feel, with excellent right-now pull from the air-cooled two-valve engine.”
A glorious example of the old-meets-new MH900e is displayed in brilliant red and silver—Ducati’s official race-team colors from that era—on the fifth floor of the museum near the front doors of the Barber Advanced Design Center, where the effervescent Terblanche now spends his days designing and collaborating on a host of fascinating projects enjoyed annually by thousands of museum visitors.
Has the MH900e stood the test of time? Let us know in the comments section.
Photos by Joe Avila
#BarberMuseum #Ducati #MikeHailwood #PierreTerblanche #motorcycle
May 15
“Zing King! Radical Retro Ducati MH900e Show Stopper” was the alliterative description boldly emblazoned on the cover of the January 1999 issue of Cycle World magazine. A six-page feature story detailed the Intermot unveiling of the modern twin-cylinder homage to British racing legend Mike Hailwood. The half-faired sport bike was easily the crown jewel of that edition of Germany’s blockbuster motorcycle exposition.
“More than a mere concept bike,” began CW Executive Editor Brian Catterson, “the Pierre Terblanche-designed ‘neo-classic’ is intended to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Hailwood’s victory in the Isle of Man TT while simultaneously showing one direction motorcycle design might take in the future. And if the response from the Munich Show has any bearing, this is one prototype that just might make it into production.”
In fact, over a two-year period, Ducati reportedly built 2,000 examples of the MH900e—”e” for “evoluzione.” CW Editor-at-Large Peter Egan sampled a production version of the bike in the mountains of southeastern Spain. “On the road, the MH exudes personality,” he wrote. “It has a lovely, if legally mandated too-muted exhaust note, and the chassis has a wonderfully light and narrow feel, with excellent right-now pull from the air-cooled two-valve engine.”
A glorious example of the old-meets-new MH900e is displayed in brilliant red and silver—Ducati’s official race-team colors from that era—on the fifth floor of the museum near the front doors of the Barber Advanced Design Center, where the effervescent Terblanche now spends his days designing and collaborating on a host of fascinating projects enjoyed annually by thousands of museum visitors.
Has the MH900e stood the test of time? Let us know in the comments section.
Photos by Joe Avila
#BarberMuseum #Ducati #MikeHailwood #PierreTerblanche #motorcycle
Admired for its garden-like setting and fan-friendly grass-seating areas that follow the natural topography of the southeastern U.S., Barber Motorsports Park doesn’t fit the massive walls-of-bleachers template of a typical modern-day MotoGP venue. That fact hasn’t silenced a narrative taking root that Barber could one day host international motorcycle road racing’s premier class.
Journalist Adam Wheeler recently visited the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum while in Birmingham covering the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship and later interviewed Executive Director Brian Case for a special episode of the “Paddock Pass Podcast.” The latter discussion took place at the Circuit of The Americas during April’s Red Bull Grand Prix of The Americas race weekend.
Case was on hand in Texas to demonstrate the Honda-powered Team Roberts KR211V that is part of the museum’s collection. “There needs to be more GPs in America, and Barber would be a beautiful place to host it,” he told Wheeler. The popular podcast is co-hosted by WorldSBK commentator Steve English and veteran MotoGP writers David Emmett, Neil Morrison, and Wheeler.
#BarberMuseum #BarberMotorsportsPark #PaddockPassPodcast #MotoGP #KennyRoberts
https://youtu.be/8BW5kriyEEY?si=FD0JZ85FyWe-aJNV
May 12
Admired for its garden-like setting and fan-friendly grass-seating areas that follow the natural topography of the southeastern U.S., Barber Motorsports Park doesn’t fit the massive walls-of-bleachers template of a typical modern-day MotoGP venue. That fact hasn’t silenced a narrative taking root that Barber could one day host international motorcycle road racing’s premier class.
Journalist Adam Wheeler recently visited the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum while in Birmingham covering the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship and later interviewed Executive Director Brian Case for a special episode of the “Paddock Pass Podcast.” The latter discussion took place at the Circuit of The Americas during April’s Red Bull Grand Prix of The Americas race weekend.
Case was on hand in Texas to demonstrate the Honda-powered Team Roberts KR211V that is part of the museum’s collection. “There needs to be more GPs in America, and Barber would be a beautiful place to host it,” he told Wheeler. The popular podcast is co-hosted by WorldSBK commentator Steve English and veteran MotoGP writers David Emmett, Neil Morrison, and Wheeler.
#BarberMuseum #BarberMotorsportsPark #PaddockPassPodcast #MotoGP #KennyRoberts
https://youtu.be/8BW5kriyEEY?si=FD0JZ85FyWe-aJNV
The Chevrolet Corvette is as deeply woven into the fabric of American culture as apple pie and baseball. Recently, the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum acquired the perfect bookends to production Corvette history: a 1953 roadster and a 70th anniversary 3LZ Z06. And yes, both examples are the very definition of “perfect.”
All 300 first-year “C1” models had Polo White paint, Sportsman Red interiors, and were powered by Chevy’s 235-cubic-inch “Blue Flame Six,” that tricolor combination being a not-so-subtle reference to the Stars and Stripes. The 2023 Z06 is also white—White Pearl Metallic with two-tone Ceramic White leather seats, to be exact.
Whereas the hand-built early Corvette was rated at 150 horsepower and 223 pound-feet of torque and said to accelerate from 0-to-60 mph in 11.5 seconds, the naturally aspirated 5.5-liter V-8 of the eighth-generation model produced 670 hp and 460 lb.-ft. of torque, pushing the road-going rocketship from a dead stop to 60 mph in a mere 2.6 seconds.
These machines are featured in the Spring edition of Vintage Insider News, the museum’s quarterly member publication. They are currently parked door to door in the “Grand Atrium,” steps from yet another Corvette, a Tasco Turquoise and Ermine White 1960 convertible equipped with a 283-cubic-inch V-8 and a four-speed manual transmission.
#BarberMuseum #America #Chevrolet #Corvette
May 8
The Chevrolet Corvette is as deeply woven into the fabric of American culture as apple pie and baseball. Recently, the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum acquired the perfect bookends to production Corvette history: a 1953 roadster and a 70th anniversary 3LZ Z06. And yes, both examples are the very definition of “perfect.”
All 300 first-year “C1” models had Polo White paint, Sportsman Red interiors, and were powered by Chevy’s 235-cubic-inch “Blue Flame Six,” that tricolor combination being a not-so-subtle reference to the Stars and Stripes. The 2023 Z06 is also white—White Pearl Metallic with two-tone Ceramic White leather seats, to be exact.
Whereas the hand-built early Corvette was rated at 150 horsepower and 223 pound-feet of torque and said to accelerate from 0-to-60 mph in 11.5 seconds, the naturally aspirated 5.5-liter V-8 of the eighth-generation model produced 670 hp and 460 lb.-ft. of torque, pushing the road-going rocketship from a dead stop to 60 mph in a mere 2.6 seconds.
These machines are featured in the Spring edition of Vintage Insider News, the museum’s quarterly member publication. They are currently parked door to door in the “Grand Atrium,” steps from yet another Corvette, a Tasco Turquoise and Ermine White 1960 convertible equipped with a 283-cubic-inch V-8 and a four-speed manual transmission.
#BarberMuseum #America #Chevrolet #Corvette
Did you know that the gear-case cap bolt for the shaft final drive on every Honda Gold Wing produced from 1975 through 2017—42 years!—is the same?
That’s right. Catalogued as part number 12361-300-000 for 1975-1980 and 12361-035-000 for 1980-2017, the flanged hex-head bolt fits five generations of Gold Wing, from the four-cylinder GL1000, GL1100, and GL1200 to the six-cylinder GL1500 and GL1800.
The cap bolt for the 2018-to-present GL1800 has a different part number, 41530-MGE-000.
The Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum has no fewer than 10 Gold Wings in its permanent collection, including the 1976 GL1000 LTD pictured here.
#BarberMuseum #Honda #GoldWing #touring #motorcycle
May 6
Did you know that the gear-case cap bolt for the shaft final drive on every Honda Gold Wing produced from 1975 through 2017—42 years!—is the same?
That’s right. Catalogued as part number 12361-300-000 for 1975-1980 and 12361-035-000 for 1980-2017, the flanged hex-head bolt fits five generations of Gold Wing, from the four-cylinder GL1000, GL1100, and GL1200 to the six-cylinder GL1500 and GL1800.
The cap bolt for the 2018-to-present GL1800 has a different part number, 41530-MGE-000.
The Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum has no fewer than 10 Gold Wings in its permanent collection, including the 1976 GL1000 LTD pictured here.
#BarberMuseum #Honda #GoldWing #touring #motorcycle
It’s #indybhm time!
The Children`s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix is this weekend and we can`t wait to host you at the Museum! But, before you plan your trip, please be sure to take note of our Museum hours for this weekend.
We will be open from 8 am to 5 pm on Friday and 8 am to 6 pm on Saturday and Sunday. Happy #Indy Week, Birmingham!
May 1
The Children`s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix is this weekend and we can`t wait to host you at the Museum! But, before you plan your trip, please be sure to take note of our Museum hours for this weekend.
We will be open from 8 am to 5 pm on Friday and 8 am to 6 pm on Saturday and Sunday. Happy #Indy Week, Birmingham!
During Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix this weekend, racing fans will have the special opportunity to meet Josef Newgarden at a book signing event for this keepsake book, `Josef’s BIG Dream`!
The book signing will take place at the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum on Saturday, May 3rd at 4:30 pm. You can purchase your copy of `Josef`s BIG Dream` at The Barber Museum gift shop starting this Friday - there are only 50 copies available for purchase!
Don`t miss this exclusive opportunity to meet Newgarden while he autographs your copy of this heart-warming book. This inspiring book follows Newgarden’s journey from a young racer to Indy 500 champion. See you this weekend!
P.S. You must have a museum admission ticket to attend this event and have purchased your book at the gift shop to participate. No other items will be signed.
Apr 30
During Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix this weekend, racing fans will have the special opportunity to meet Josef Newgarden at a book signing event for this keepsake book, `Josef’s BIG Dream`!
The book signing will take place at the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum on Saturday, May 3rd at 4:30 pm. You can purchase your copy of `Josef`s BIG Dream` at The Barber Museum gift shop starting this Friday - there are only 50 copies available for purchase!
Don`t miss this exclusive opportunity to meet Newgarden while he autographs your copy of this heart-warming book. This inspiring book follows Newgarden’s journey from a young racer to Indy 500 champion. See you this weekend!
P.S. You must have a museum admission ticket to attend this event and have purchased your book at the gift shop to participate. No other items will be signed.
She’s not for sale—but she is legendary.
Meet GEORGINA: the fast, fierce, fictional icon we all wish came in collectible form. Fully suited for speed with her name on the helmet and heart on the track, Georgina is ready for Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix this weekend!
Visit Georgina this weekend at the Museum’s second pedestrian bridge over the track - we can’t leave her hangin’ and alone all weekend!
#GeorginaRacer #NotForSale #BarberMotorsportsPark #AIArt #ActionFigureVibes #WomenInRacing #SpeedAesthetic #FictionalIcons #barbermuseum #barbermotorpark #indybhm #Georgina
Apr 29
She’s not for sale—but she is legendary.
Meet GEORGINA: the fast, fierce, fictional icon we all wish came in collectible form. Fully suited for speed with her name on the helmet and heart on the track, Georgina is ready for Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix this weekend!
Visit Georgina this weekend at the Museum’s second pedestrian bridge over the track - we can’t leave her hangin’ and alone all weekend!
#GeorginaRacer #NotForSale #BarberMotorsportsPark #AIArt #ActionFigureVibes #WomenInRacing #SpeedAesthetic #FictionalIcons #barbermuseum #barbermotorpark #indybhm #Georgina