Barber Vintage Festival October 8-10

[dt]

It’s not too early to start planning for your trip up to the 6th Annual Barber Vintage Festival…October 8-10. Here’s the short list of the doings:

Vintage Road Racing, all three days
Vintage Motocross, Saturday and Sunday
Vintage Observed Trials and Cross Country, Saturday
Motorcycle Show
Swap Meet
Motorcycle Auction
Air Show (this is actually airplanes)

…and, of course, the awesome Barber Vintage Museum! PHOTOS from my last trip.

Full Event Schedule

Tickets ($35 full pass, $20 daily pass, in advance/camping available…in October!)

Hotels (I’ll be at the Hilton Gardens in Birmingham)

Mapquest

See you there and, if not, I’ll have photos and a report for ya when I get back…

[bagobones]

Ooh. This is making me all warm and tingly inside. Do I see another mad road trip for the bag? Yes, maybe I do....

[dt]

This one’s an AHRMA event and doesn’t look like it’s the scope/craziness of Mid-Ohio, maybe though, but you’d get to see that outrageous museum!

[dt]

One week away! Woohooo!

Did anyone else decide to go? If so, let me know and I’ll PM you my cell phone and we can meet up. I’ll be staying at the Hilton Gardens in Birmingham. I’m heading out next Thursday morning. I’m booked all the way through the weekend, but I might start back on Sunday depending on how much is going on.

I’ll have access into the paddock area through one of the Aermacchi Teams. That will be cool. I read that the swap meet was totally sold out. From all I’ve heard it’s about a third the size of mid-Ohio, but there seems to be a lot of things going on…same racing formats…and, of course, the museum, which is the better part of a day itself. Should be fun, can’t wait!

[maureen]

Oh man! This looks like a great event. I was just at Barber a couple months ago for a track day. Have fun and enjoy! Take lots of PHOTOS!

[dt]

Hi M!

I'll definitely get a bunch of photos. I was up there in May, but the course was closed for a private BMW (car) meet, so I didn't get to walk around the whole place. However, I could see most of it from the museum windows and it looked like a super nice set up.

[dcameras]

There's just too much going on that weekend that I wish I could go to. I will be here in Thomasville helping with the 43rd annual fly-in http://www.thomasvilleflyin.com/. I have been taking pictures and helping in other ways for at least 15 years.
The lady I have been seeing is going to meet up with her sisters in Albuquerque at the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta http://www.balloonfiesta.com/ which looks like it would be a great place to be. It starts this weekend and goes through next weekend.
And then there is the event at Barber which I would so like to be at. I just need to get a clone or two of me and be at all the places. Now that would be scary...2 or 3 of me running around...

[dt]

Hah! Just in time for my trip up to Birmingham this week…a sheepskin covered and extremely stupid looking gel pad. I ordered this pad earlier in the week from American Motorcycle Specialties, which I found in the Google Ads and clicked in (big commission to the admin I hope). I’d searched around before for one of these, but they are all too big for my seat, but this outfit had one that fit…sort of, as you can tell from the pictures. So I took it out this morning for about an hour to check it out and I didn’t slide off which is a good sign. It’s almost two inches higher in the seat though, and you know me and heights…. Is it worth a crap? Don’t know, but I’ve got about 1,100 miles later in the week to give it the test.

Hey, don't forget to check the sponsors if you're buying stuff for your bike. I think that's what pays for this free site.

[maureen]

Hi M!

I'll definitely get a bunch of photos. I was up there in May, but the course was closed for a private BMW (car) meet, so I didn't get to walk around the whole place. However, I could see most of it from the museum windows and it looked like a super nice set up.

Of all the times that I've been to Barber, I haven't been to the museum yet! I'm always in the paddocks. 

Enjoy your ride dt! That seat sure looks ridiculous, but if it works, so be it! Looks like we'll be having fantastic weather for your ride.

[dt]

Egad, I can't get over how awful that seat looks. Anyway, I'm all packed, mapquested, and rollin'. Wish you were coming along. See ya'll maybe Sunday late. 

[mrbones]

Have a good trip!

[maureen]

Have FUN! I'm sure it's going to be a blast!

[dt]

Hey, made it back in one piece. Pheew, that’s a long ride! Clocked a little under 1,300 total miles, including a group ride on Saturday morning through the ‘bama back country. The up and back was around 1,150. Heading up wasn’t too bad, although I got a speeding ticket...eleven hours. There were lots of bikers and biker groups heading in that direction. Heading back on Sunday was brutal…over twelve hours. A little too much riding, lots of on the feet at Barber and not a lot of sleep, I guess, and I just couldn’t get the Aleeve working at all.

The Vintage Fest was pretty cool. Very much like the AMA, much the same things, just a little smaller. However, the one thing I’ll tell you is that Barber facility is absolutely incredible. Yeah, the museum is outstanding, but that would seem to be the theme of the whole place. Every building was like new, the paddocks were much better organized than Mid-Ohio and the place was super clean. It really doesn’t appear that Barber nickels and dimes when it comes to his park.



The racing was pretty awesome:











Nice wooded areas all around the track to watch the racing in the shade. It was real hot!


This line of motorcycles extended practically around the entire track!




Wall of Death!


Auction. They probably had 500 bikes in the auction…some real junk.






I have one of these. It’s a 74 SC500A. It went for $1,600.


Not sure what this was…It was in the southeast corner of the facility way out in the corner. Uncharacteristically grown over, kind of weird.


Swap Meet. Nothing near the size that they had at the AMA, but there were a lot of bikes for sale, many classics, some weird stuff, too.




^^Hahahah….stupid!









I stayed at a hotel in Birmingham that was about 15 miles from Leeds. That was as close as I could get having made reservations even a month in advance. Not too bad…had a bar!


Museum, group ride photos, and whatever I forgot, are on another disc that I’ll load up later.

[dcameras]

dt,
Thanks for sharing those pics with us and I look forward to seeing more pics later.
Here is a shot of where I was this weekend... the 43rd Annual Fly-in at Thomasville, Ga.

[dt]

Here is a shot of where I was this weekend.

Someday I’m going to learn how to fly like that too. I’ve just got to figure out how to keep my arms from getting so damn tired. 

[mrbones]

Nice pics and good see you made it back in one piece? Where did you get your speeding ticket?

[dt]

I got the ticket on US280 about half way from I75 (at Tifton) to the Alabama border. It’s out in the middle of freaking nowhere; the ticket says Richland Police Department. That’s one nice riding road, four lanes, mostly 65 posted all the way into Alabama. The stretch where I got the ticket is 55 though and I was doing…uh…more. It was one of those deals where a hiding cop radars you and then one of a bunch of patrol cars up ahead just flag you over and write you a ticket…and you’re on your way. Like I’d mentioned, there were lots of bikes and groups of bikes along that route. I bet lots of folks got tickets. 

[maureen]

Great photos! That is the most people that I've ever seen at the track....ever! The Hampton Inn right outside the entrance to the track is fantastic. The lobby has a motorcycle on display and the hotels theme is motorcycles and red, black and white. Very cool. Plan ahead next time and crash there!

I really wish that I would have gone to this event. It looks like a fabulous time and lots of great sites!

[dt]

Yeah, the Hampton is right there by Barber. I stayed there when I went up in May. Very nice place. I booked my hotel for the vintage fest about the time I started this thread (Mid-August) and the Hampton and a couple other close hotels were already booked. Live and learn, I guess. These vintage events really attract a lot of people.

[danh600]

Great pictures.

I would have thought it would be more hilly around B'ham. I guess they just found a nice flat area to build the track.