LEGENDS ON DISPLAY

The Enthusiast^® talks to Rick Salisbury, founder of the Legends Motorcycle Museum in Springville, Utah, about how his collection has grown into something quite exceptional…

AS TOLD TO JEREMY PICK
PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE LEGENDS MOTORCYCLE MUSEUM

I’m a home builder and developer specialising in fast-track high-production starter homes in Utah. I like motorcycles, so I started buying a few Harley^® models about 30 years ago. After that, I became interested in the antique bikes, and things just took off from there. I thought the antique bikes would be a hobby for me when I retired, and I could start restoring them. My view has changed since then – I don’t want to restore them but leave them ‘as found’. I enjoy the hunt for them, and I like to display them.

The museum began almost by accident, because initially I just needed a place to store the bikes. In 1989, I bought a commercial building on Main Street in Springville, Utah – an old-time shop with a big warehouse that was great for displaying the bikes. I built a shop to the side so I could work on them, and that’s where it all started. The collection quickly outgrew the building, so I bought a 20,000-square-foot old car dealership in the commercial area off Interstate 15, which I thought would be plenty big enough. I was wrong! Since then, I’ve added on to it twice and have another addition ready to go when we get time to do it. In addition to the Museum itself, we have a complex with eateries, a service bay, and machine shop – and more planned!

My interest in motorcycles started when I was young; I loved them but couldn’t afford one at the time. When I could afford them, I started buying them. That was before prices for antique motorcycles went through the roof. I think the first antique motorcycle I bought was a 1917 Harley-Davidson^® JD that cost me $11,000. Now I wouldn’t sell that bike for $150,000.

The collection specialises in antique American motorcycles, and the priority is originality and original patina. We don’t restore bikes unless they arrive as a basket case, and restoration is the only way to get them together. I think we only have two restored bikes in the shop: a 1947 Knucklehead and a 1930 JD, both of which arrived as a bunch of parts in boxes.

There are probably about 225 bikes in the museum now, though I stopped counting after 180! We have a 1905 Harley-Davidson Strap Tank model that’s original, and a 1906/07 that’s entirely original down to the tyres and probably the best bike in the museum. I bought that six or seven years ago, and it’s one of the earliest original Strap Tank motorcycles out there – and the best of only three known to be in existence. We also have Harley-Davidson models from after their Strap Tank era, including a 1909, a 1910, a couple of 1911s, a ’12, ’13, ’14, ’15 and ’16. All the other bikes in the museum are either Harley-Davidson or Pope, Indian, Excelsior or Henderson – all the great US motorcycle brands. I’ve also built up quite a chopper collection with Knuckle, Pan, Shovel and Flathead Harley-Davidson models from the ’50s to the ’70s, including four of the original Indian Larry bikes.

I look at any bikes that come along so long as they’re pre-1920, all original and complete, and with original paint. I’m looking for some specific bikes right now, particularly some Knuckleheads to complete the line-up from 1936 to 1947. We have fine examples of them all except a 1938 and a 1942, so I’m searching for those and getting them is my main priority.

The museum itself has a rustic architectural design to it, with a real vintage industrial look inside. It has turned out real nice. I’ve aimed to design and build it so it looks original, like an old motorcycle shop. One of the things I like to do is set up motorcycle vignettes so it feels natural and authentic. We have a camping scene with bikes; a ’36 and ’37 Knucklehead with some railroad ties, dirt and rocks – it’s like a little snapshot of these two bikes at a campsite in the middle of the desert. Off to the side of that we’ve built an old barn front with a bunch of really old bikes and patinated parts leaning against the barn; scenes like that where the bikes are in their natural environment. I think it helps transport people back to the context of how the bikes were used and how they looked at the time.

The museum complex never stands still; we’re constantly developing and expanding it. Along with the museum itself we have a breakfast and lunch place, the Sidecar Cafe, extending into the museum so you can eat your bacon cheeseburger next to a collection of early Knucklehead bikes. We have a restaurant area as well, the Strap Tank Brewery, and the Speakeasy Bar. There’s a tattooist, barbershop, coffee shop and antique and gift shops, plus a recently opened comedy club; and the Cargo Cinema, a 1930-inspired movie theatre, is due to open in September this year. And in the new extension we’re going to showcase some older cars, and even planes, that match the motorcycles of the period.

So the museum keeps growing and developing. It’s open by appointment, so just let us know when you’re planning on coming down. At the moment, we don’t have permanent staff in the museum, although we’re looking for a curator who’s passionate and knowledgeable about the bikes. We already have a lot of regulars; the complex is pretty busy, and it’s a great meeting place for H.O.G.^® members and chapters. Ultimately, we want to be a one-stop destination for motorcycle enthusiasts and anyone interested in American motorcycle history, so the whole complex is being designed with that in mind.

Visit: www.legendsmotorco.com

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