The grand stairway of Pickerington’s AMA Museum and Hall of Fame welcomes my companions Rosa and Rich Hatfield and lady friend Sue Brooks on a recent visit (above). A salute to Mansfield’s own Ronnie Rall in the Hall of Fame is pictured (left).

MOTORCYCLES AND THEIR STARS--

As I wandered the Motorcycle Hall of Fame that day thoughts of my Dad and Ronnie Rall ricocheted through my consciousness.

My Dad always dreamed of, one day, owning a Harley Davidson Sportster; a “K” model I believe they were known as back then. That was in the 40s and 50s when I was just becoming aware of such things. His dream died with him in 1958.

Rall was a few years ahead of me at Madison High School but his reputation as a motorcycle racer of national importance lingered nicely in our memories even then. The year of my graduation also was 1958.

Our memories were correct. He went on with his racing and was inducted into the AMA Hall of Fame in 2001. His plaque there announces he was a “Top 1960s and ‘70s Midwest dirt-track racer. Ranked third in AMA Grand national points in 1964” and was “Winner of five AMA Nationals.”

Not bad for a farm boy who grew up out there on a country Road in Mifflin Township.

By a stroke of luck for us the AMA Museum and Hall of Fame is located on a beautiful campus in Pickerington, OH, just a bit east of Columbus.

Their entrance roadway makes you think of a premier state park being fussed over by an energetic staff of landscapers.

The facility was undergoing a major change of exhibits on the day of our recent visit but that did not matter. In fact, the receptionist treated us to a personalized tour of a large collection of celebrity bikes that were being staged for return to their owners.

The Hall of Legends featured a display of Awesome-Ness; a tribute to the amazing creations of Arlen Ness; acknowledged by aficionados as the King of Choppers.

One of his bikes called Nesstalgia was a two-wheeled salute to the classic 1957 Chevrolet. It drew lots of attention from one of my companions, Rich Hatfield; himself the proud owner and creator of a beautifully restored ’57 Chevy.

One of my favorite displays was a life-sized, wooden replica of an 1885 Daimler Einspur; one of the first known gas powered two wheelers.

Another was a sculpture of a “Nac Nac”; a beautifully executed display commemorating the first trick ever done in a Supercross event—usually described as the Grand Prix of Motocross cycle racing. (Small photo right)

It doesn’t matter whether your interest is in turbine powered, two-wheeled warp-speed screamers, a venerable Harley, or simply enthused about exciting, two-wheeled machines and their stories, stop by the AMA Museum for a peek.

You’ll be doing yourself a favor--as Sue and Rosa did (below).