Barber Vintage Motorcycle Festival
Leeds AL Oct 17-19th 2008

Photographs taken by Vintage Focus

This was the 4th year for the Barber Vintage Motorcycle Festival and it was held Oct 17-19th 2008 at the Barber Museum and Racetrack grounds in Leeds AL. In addition to a wonderful race track full of AHRMA vintage road races there was a world class museum of motorcycles plus a huge swap meet. Other activities included a vintage bike judging competition and a VJMC display of vintage Japanese motorcycles and AHRMA vintage motocross races. For lovers of vintage motorcycles this is 3 days of pure enjoyment.

To get there I traveled by car from Cornish NH to Springfield MA and then by Amtrak train to Birmingham AL. I brought along my camping gear and camera in a backpack and a folding bicycle. Once in Birmingham I unfolded the bicycle and rode it to the Barbers Festival in Leeds (16 miles). I have a British friend who often brings his folding bike when he travels to the states. That gave me the idea to give it a try. The gear was heavy on the little bicycle but it worked quite well and having the bicycle to get around the grounds was nice. I arrived Thursday afternoon in nice weather. Friday was a little rainy so I spent lots time in the beautiful museum. The weather was nice from then on. I took over 6700 photos while I was there. A CD of 3200 of the best photos in 1280x960 jpg format is available for $10 including shipping anywhere in the world (CD 08_14).

Sample Photos

Line at entrance Thursday afternoon Medium size image < Click to see detail > Full size image

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View: Vendor Area in Friday morning rain
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View: Rare Tohatsu for sale. When Tohatsu closed many engineers moved to Bridgestone
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View: The Barber Museum was a nice break from the rain outside
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View: Informative plaques were photographed along with the motorcycles
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View: Impressive 1923 Scott Sprint Special
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View: Matchless Thumper
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View: Harley Sprint tours vendor area
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View: BMW sidecar racer takes a break
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View: Early Saturday morning mist in camping area
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View: Custom diesel conversion
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View: 1966 Cotton T37/A Trials 250cc
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View: 1951 Indian Warrior project
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View: James Bond Thunderball rocket "firing" BSA
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View: A vendor who likes scooters
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View: Bike show with judging
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View: Saturday's events included an air exhibition
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View: More of the bikes on display
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View: The VJMC (Vintage Japanese Motorcycles) display
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View: A line of Suzukis
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View: An area just for motocross riders
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View: The race track flows through the whole event
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