Vintage Trail Bike Museum Cheshire MA Dec 2004

A photojournal of 643 labeled 1280x960 digital photographs on a CD

To be viewed on your computer using your web browser and CD drive

I am not sure if Jim Hoellerich knew where he was going with his hobby when he began restoring the trail bikes of the 1960s and 1970s he loves. Now he has a very nice private museum at his family farm in Cheshire MA that is full of restored bikes of that era. There is no sign on the large red building but The Vintage Trail Bike Museum seems appropriate. There are no formal hours or admission charge and Jim will spend lots of time with you talking about the bikes and their history. It is a place where people who love these bikes can make arragements with Jim and visit and appreciate this snapshot of trail riding history. The Spanish made Ossa bikes are very well represented but there are a number of Bultacos and also special race bikes of the era with a few Japanese and others for good measure. The most amazing thing is how many show room perfect bikes there are. There are also lots of trail bike memorabilia including information about the 1973 US ISDT held in these same Bershire Hills and the 30th reunion of the event held in 2003.

I had met Jim at several SMOG (Spanish Motorcycle Owners Group) events and then during a Spetember Motor Giro Ride in the Bershires we stopped by his museum and although he was out we were kindly allowed to take a peek. Since I am trying to photograph all makes and models of motorcycles it was clear that this was a collection of bikes I should photograph. So I made arrangements with Jim and on a snowy Monday December 13th I drove down and Jim wheeled them out and I photographed them. We photographed with the indoor lighting and there are a number of blurry photographs as the conditions were marginal for my equipment but I think anyone wishing to see the details on any of the bikes should be able to find what they need here. Jim says he just restores bikes rather than watching TV but it is much more complex than that. It takes a very good craftsman indeed to bring bikes back to this condition and I photographed a few waiting to be worked on and what he starts with takes a lot of work to reach the finished bike. Like many of us I have a few of my own projects and my shop is similar to his but what is going to come out of mine will be far short of what he has done over and over.

If you find yourself in the Bershires and like trail bikes I recommend trying to make arrangements to see this nice collection. You can contact Jim Hoellerich by phone at (413) 743-0248 or by email at Heidipunkin@att.net

Sample Photos

Done with this page so use your browser Back button to continue