National Motorcycle Museum and Ace Cafe

Story by Brandes Elitch

National Motorcycle Museum in Solihull, West Midlands. To get right to the point, this museum is recognized as finest and largest motorcycle museum in the world. There are about 600 show-quality bikes on display in five exhibition halls. The bikes are from the early 1900s to the 1980s. It is overwhelming.

It is a tribute to the British motorcycle industry, which achieved world domination for sixty years.

I have wanted to visit this place for a long time, plus the nearby Ace Cafe, more on that later.

In 2012 I wrote a column lamenting the loss of the British motorcycle and quoted from a book by motorcycle designer Bert Hopwood. “Whatever happened to the British motorcycle industry?” was published way back in 1981 and Hopwood identified six postwar factors:

* Few top executives came from the motorcycle industry. They came from finance, not engineering, design, or manufacturing.
* Money was diverted from product design to marketing, which caused production quality to fail.
* British trade unions opposed modern production techniques, so production was slow (see John Egan’s book, Saving Jaguar for more on this subject).
* Companies made bikes based on pre-WWII designs that were outdated.
* Companies wasted resources and capital on new products that nobody wanted. Passion for British brands diminished.
* The British industry stagnated while competing Japanese motorcycles opened up new markets.

A personal comment here: about 30 years ago, I purchased a 1953 Velocette MAC 350 single which was basically unrestorable, having been used for racing at the nearby Cotati speedway. Local expert Fred Twigg restored it for me over the course of ten years, which seemed like an eternity at the time, but Fred was at the top of his craft, respected and admired nationwide. When he finished, it was new, or even better than new. Fred rode it up my very steep driveway and we pushed it up the stairs and into my den, where it sat, a virtually new bike. It then proceeded to leak oil on the hardwood floor, which reminded me of the old saying, “Every part that falls off this bike is of the very highest British quality.” I realized that I was not skilled enough to ride it and I sold it to the President of the Velocette Club, Paul D’Orleans, perhaps the most knowledgeable motorcycle expert in the US today. You can see his website at: www.thevintagent.com.

What makes the National Motorcycle Museum interesting then, is that hundreds of British bikes that lost the global wars are now living again in this cherished cathedral, as if the industry had never failed. And sure cycle bait for millions of fans of the glory days.

If you are a ‘Melo Velo Fellow’ like me, this is mandatory attendance. The museum is open every day of the year, except Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

The only caveat I have is that after looking at the first hundred or so bikes, your brain will go into overdrive, then into limp mode. It is almost too much to comprehend in just a few hours.

In 2003 a fire broke out at the museum. About 650 of the 900 motorcycles were lost, and most could not be replaced. It took 35 years to build that original collection. The two main halls and another hall were burnt to the ground. The fire could be seen for fifteen miles away. It was caused by an idiot throwing their cigarette into a trash bin under the eaves.

Miraculously, after that the museum put out a call for replacements, and the British public responded in spades, which is why there is such an amazing collection today. What a great story, amazing really.

This is something that you must see for yourself. Allow a whole day (there is a restaurant and gift shop on site, and plenty of parking too).

The Ace Cafe

When you visit the museum, you must also visit the nearby Ace Cafe, the most famous motorcycle venue in the world. It is located on the North Circular Road in London.

It was built in 1938 as a roadside cafe for truck traffic using the then new North Circular Road, and as a restaurant and cafe for the workers in the nearby factories. It was hit by a German missile during the early days of the war and destroyed. It was repaired in 1949 with money from the government for war damage.

In the fifties, the British economy was recovering, and someone making say four pounds a week could get a loan to buy a motorcycle for a few hundred pounds. That was a something new, and a revelation. The other factor was the jukebox, that played the new rock and roll music from the states, which was not played on the BBC, so you could only hear it on jukeboxes in transport cafes. And with that, the North Circular Road was turned into a racetrack and a compelling place to spend all your free time with fellow motorcyclists, racing and listening to music.

In the sixties, it became a venue for newly emerged British rock and roll bands. There were big headline confrontations between the Mods and the Rockers, and racers died trying to do the ton up (100 mph) from the cafe. The cafe closed in 1969 when the rock and roll era ended.

In 1993 someone wanted to mark the 25th anniversary of the closure. The event, in September 1994, attracted 12,000 motorcyclists! They saw that they were onto something. The reopening took place in September 2001. Now there are monthly meets and many events throughout the year.

You can see the full list of events at: http://www.ace-cafe-london.com

You can visit this on your way to the motorcycle museum, even if just to get a tee shirt. I had to get one for my son. You will of course want to get one for yourself.

Photos by Kenyon Wills

Photos by Brandes Elitch