The Legends Motorcycle Museum is located just 45 minutes south of Salt Lake City — directly off Interstate 15. If you love the hum of a fine-tuned engine, it’s a must see attraction when you’re driving through Utah.
Capturing the attention of motorsports enthusiastics, the museum is home to a collection of true legends. The collection, owned by Rick Salisbury, has even been said to make some visitors drop their jaws in awe.
What’s in the Legends Motorcycle Museum?
The Legends vintage motorcycle museum collection has over 120 motorcycles, many of them incredibly rare.
As well as motorcycles, the collection also includes some unusual antique automobiles.
Occupying a 20,000 sq. foot museum, the space is deliberately designed with a warehouse feel. It’s open. It’s spacious. It’s got room to move around without feeling like you might knock over one of those amazing bikes!
The Legends motorcycle collection spreads out over two floors. So, it’s hard to decide whether to look at the vintage bikes on the main floor or the ones leaned against the second floor railings.
Huge windows line the walls, so the machines glint in the natural sunlight as they were designed to. In fact, it’s tempting to hop on one and take to the beautiful, open Utah highways.
Legends Vintage Motorcycles — the Collection
But on to the bikes, many of which I’d never heard of.
When Rick Salisbury started seriously collecting motorcycles, he focused on the big three brands: Excelsior, Indian and Harley-Davidson. To date, he’s found many rare motorbikes, some of the most prized being the three Harley-Davidsons built in the early 1900s.
The Feilbach Limited vintage motorcycle also jumped out for me, mainly because of its age. Feilbach Limited motorcycles were only built for a decade, starting with just nine in 1904.
So, these Milwaukee, Wisconsin, machines are pretty rare!
Fast Fact: Rare motorcycles include an Indian motorcycle – a 1903 Camel Back, and a a completely unrestored 1907 Harley-Davidson Strap Tank with original paint, engine, frame and tires.
Some of the rarest in the vintage motorcycles collection are completely unrestored to maintain their history.
Art Gallery & Memorabilia
One of Legends Motorcycles pieces of artwork actually sits at the front entrance. It’s a large, impressive bronze motorcycle.
After seeing the first sculpture, I wasn’t surprised to find many additional pieces of limited-edition artwork and memorabilia inside the museum.
Fast Fact: Some of the artists include David Uhl from Colorado, Scott Jacobs, Tom Fritz and Springville sculptor, Jeff Decker.
While Decker, in particular, has done some sculptures other than motorcycles, it’s the machines and their history that truly draws his passion.
In addition to sculptures and paintings, there are numerous old posters that provide information about vintage motorocycles as well as glimpses into motorcycle culture of bygone eras.
Who Should Visit Legends Motorcycle Museum?
Anyone who’s interested in motors — or motorsports history — will be able to spend hours going through this collection. And of course, motorcycle owners will readily enjoy several visits to get acquainted with the collection.
While youngsters will enjoy the motorcycles, parents will need to keep an eye on them at all times. A motorbike balanced on a kickstand would be easily toppled over if someone climbed on it!
Depending on your interest level, this could be an hour-long museum visit or a half-day. And it’s certainly a museum that begs you to make more than one visit.
Linda’s Pick of the Exhibits
My favorites? Well, I loved the Merkel — but what’s not to love about a motorized bicycle that uses the slogan below as an ad?
The Flying Merkel: the Next Thing to Flying (the Wright Brothers had just made air flight a reality!)
Built in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the Merkel featured many innovations that ultimately became standard on motorcycles. These included such things as a patented spring front fork and monoshock rear suspension.
Merkels were built from 1902 to 1909 in Wisconsin, then sold and moved to Pottstown Pennsylvania. In 1911, they were sold again to the Miami Cycle Manufacturing Company.
Their factory racing team won all kinds of awards over the next few years, before production ceased in 1917.
Do you know when and where motorcycle racing started?
Motorcycle racing started in Europe at the end of the 1800s, right after (you guessed it) the arrival of the first motorcycles. This motorsport’s most famous event — the Isle of Man TT (Tourist Trophy) — first ran in 1906. The Isle of Man is a crown-dependent, but independent, island between England and Ireland in the Irish Sea.
But meanwhile, here in North America, motorcycles started racing in 1903, when the Federation of American Motorcyclists began – the same year that Harley Davidson motorcycles were launched.
Early races were held on horse-racing oval tracks and bicycle velodromes. Soon, special courses appeared, featuring wooden plank tracks in circular and oval formations. It didn’t take long for riders and spectators to become infatuated with the new sport — Board Track Racing.
Board Track Racing
In fact, according to an information sheet posted at Legends Motorcycle Museum, a sign for board track racing at the entrance to the Detroit, Michigan, Motordrome read: Neck and Neck with DEATH. The information provided also says that:
- Board track racing drew larger crowds than baseball (baseball started in the 1860s and 1870s).
- Star players in board track racing made more money than Babe Ruth.
- Ernest Hemingway said: “There are only three sports; motor racing, bull fighting, and mountaineering. All the rest are mere games.”
From the mid-1910s, through the beginning of the ’20s, motordromes filled to capacity to watch motorcyclists defy death. Board track racing was fast and furious, and ultimately one of the most dangerous sports ever. Many drivers, and fans, lost their lives in those days of 100+ mph racing on banked wooden board tracks.
Linda’s Road Trip Tips
Once you’ve gone through the motorcycle museum, it’s easy to take a break at the Sidecar Cafe.
Part of the Legends Motorcycles building, the Sidecar Cafe is a great spot for lunch or a meal.
It’s also where you can get admission to the museum.
The menu has some interesting options such as the Hogburger (putting the ham back in the hamburger) and loaded mac and cheese.
When you’re near Salt Lake City, do take the time to visit the Hill Aerospace Museum too. We loved it!
Strap Tank Brewery
If you’d like something a little different, Rick Springfield is also the owner of a brewery across the parking lot. While you might not expect to find a brewery right off of an Interstate highway, that’s exactly why Rick Springfield built it there. He wanted to do something original that people would enjoy coming to visit, and he did.
Strap Tank Brewery gets its name from the vintage Strap Tank Harleys in Springfield’s vintage motorcycle collection.
Fast Fact: And if you’re not familiar with a Strap Tank — I wasn’t — it’s a distinct rolled strap that binds the gas tank and oil tank together on early Harley-Davidson motorcycles.
But back to the brewery. Keeping with his vision, Springfield created, brick by brick, a replica of the original Harley-Davidson motorcycle factory! The inside, though is all about the brews. From Slay Sour: Fruited Sour (my pick – apricot lactose glitter) to Flathead: American Lager (David’s pick), there’s a microbeer to suit all tastes.
And while we hit afternoon “coffee” rather than lunch, the menu looked great from the flat iron steak to the lamb burger.
How Do You Visit Legends Motorcycle Museum?
Legends Motorcycle Museum is easy to find near the 400 South exit off of Interstate-15 at 1715 W 500 S, Springville, Utah.
Parking: There's free parking in front of the museum.
Check days/hours open on the Legends Motorcycle Museum website.
Follow Legends Motorcycle Museum on YouTube.
Connect with Legends Motorcycle Museum on Facebook.
Plan your visit with Google maps.
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- Oklahoma Route 66 Museum: Clinton, Oklahoma, Exploring the Mother Road History
- Museum of the Yellowstone: 150 Years of Travel In Yellowstone National Park
- Pioneer Auto Show Museum: Cars & More in Murdo, South Dakota
- Frontier Auto Museum: Classic Cars & Collectibles in Gillette, Wyoming
- Polaris Experience Center: Polaris Snowmobile Museum in Roseau, Minnesota
- Museum of Ingenuity: Ski-Doo Snowmobile Museum in Valcourt, Quebec
- Legends Motorcycle Museum: Harleys to Merkels in Springville, Utah
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References
1914 Feilbach Limited. (n.d.) St. Francis Motorcycle Museum. Retrieved from https://stfrancismotorcyclemuseum.org/1914-feilbach-limited
Schonauer, D. (April, 2011) The early, deadly days of motorcycle racing. Smithsonian.com. Retrieved from https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/the-early-deadly-days-of-motorcycle-racing-787614/
The Flying Merkel History. (n.d.) Retrieved from http://www.theflyingmerkel.com/site/history,33.html
guide2museums.com 