Roy Workman visits the UK's biggest collection of classic British bikes...

I had not been this museum for several years and felt it was time to see what new machinery I could spot. Being a motorbike and sidecar rider I also was interested in the sidecars on display. This museum of British motorcycles is situated just off the M42 motorway, at Junction 6. The museum is reputed to be the largest motorcycle museum in the world, with over 600 bikes on display in five halls

This museum opened in the mid 1980s in a purpose-built building. There is also a self-service restaurant and substantial conference facilities; some of these were in use on the day of my visit. They had a stamp and coin fair on, which had a good side effect for the museum, because quite a few of the customers for the fair also purchased tickets for the museum. By checking with the museum you could find a fair that might interest you and kill two birds with one stone!

For sidecar enthusiasts the main entrance hall has four outfits on display. There was a nice Canterbury trials sidecar attached to Matchless motorcycle; next to this outfit was something really remarkable - a Seal outfit. This is a sidecar machine but the driver sits in the passenger compartment which is, in effect, a four seater sidecar, and the rider controls the machine from there. The outfit is powered by a 1924 1000cc V-twin motorcycle; the chassis is integral with the machine rather than being attached. In the firm's advertising they asked why should a man riding his outfit get wet when out in the rain?!

In this area there is also a gift shop, which has an extensive book department. There are also souvenirs and posters and the like, and in the corner next to the entrance to the main halls of the museum there is a display cabinet showing three burnt-out motorcycles. These are the remains of a Vincent, a Triumph T160 and a Velocette. There was a massive fire at the museum on 16th September 2003. It must have been hot as parts of the engine cases have melted. The fire, which destroyed three of the five halls and left over 400 motorcycles damaged, was thought to have been caused by a discarded cigarette. It took 25 fire engines and 120 fire crew to put it out. Over £20 million pounds worth of damage was caused.

There are boxes at various points around the building looking for donations to repair the remaining 200 damaged machines. On a previous visit here (before the fire) I got talking to a member of the staff who told me that they had enough motorcycles in storage to fill another two halls - they just needed more halls. I suspect that these spare bikes came in useful after the fire.

Walking around the five halls there is a magnificent collection of motorcycles - all the makes that you would expect to be there and some that you may not be aware of,

In 1984 Hall 2 was arranged as a tribute to BSA, our largest manufacturer. The factory at Small Heath was a famous Birmingham landmark for over one hundred years. There is a fine display of their machines, ranging from the Bantam to the Rocket 3.

In the Sports Hall I saw two outfits side by side - one was ridden by Eric Oliver with Denis Jenkinson as passenger. They won the Inaugural FIM Sidecar World Championship with this Norton and bolt-on Watsonian sidecar. Eric Oliver won again in 1950 and 1951 and took his final World Title in 1953 with Stan Dibben as his passenger. This was the last Norton single and sidecar championship title before the onslaught of BMW.

Eric Oliver and Denis Jenkinson's Norton and bolt-on Watsonian sidecar (left) and Chris Vincent's BSA which won the 1962 Sidecar TT (right)

The other outfit was Chris Vincent's BSA which won the 1962 Sidecar TT. There is a clear Perspex screen at the front of the sidecar to enable the passenger to see where they were going more readily. Chris Vincent had been Grass Track Sidecar Champion for several years before he decided to switch to road racing.

Chris worked for BSA Motorcycles as a tester, and he decided to use a BSA engine. Although this did not have the power of the German BMW outfits he felt that, by making the outfit low and with good handling, what speed he lost on the straights he could make up on the bends. He enjoyed a lot of success with this outfit. He had the benefit of advice from the BSA Experimental Department. His finest win had to be the TT victory. I remember thinking 'brilliant' at the time when I heard the news.

There is a considerable difference in the height of these two outfits, showing the development of the machines over the years. In 1958 Eric Oliver and Mrs Pat Wise took a standard Norton Dominator 88 and a touring Watsonian sidecar to the TT - they finished in a credible tenth place to earn a bronze replica.

There are a lot of interesting machines on display that did not make it into production - for instance a 1000cc four cylinder Triumph. The three cylinder model did make it, however. There was a lot of discussion about this machine before it hit the streets. The Ariel Leader was developed as a four cylinder 600cc shaft drive machine; this never got into production. Not far away stood what would have been an Italian- made replacement for the BSA Bantam. BSA felt that they urgently needed a replacement for the ageing Bantam so they turned to the Italians for help. They produced a sporty 160cc machine, which was quite stylish, and I feel that it would have sold quite well. The machine was badged as an Ariel

Ariel badged Italian-designed replacement for the BSA Bantam

There are plenty of motorcycles here to interest you - from the very small to the largest.

This museum is well worth a visit - what a great collection with the possibility of 200 more machines to be displayed when they are repaired. The museum is open every day of the year, with the exceptions of Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

www.nationalmotorcyclemuseum.co.uk