Packard museum exhibit pays homage to vintage motorcycles

By Kristine Gill

kgill@vindy.com

warren

Growing up in Cortland, Bruce Williams rode his first homemade motorcycle through the woods.

“I wasn’t allowed in the streets then,” said Williams, who was 11 at the time.

He bought the bicycle from a kid down the street for $10. It was powered by a lawn-mower motor.

“I’m definitely a motorcycle guy,” said Williams, now 62.

His lifelong love earned him his role as curator for the motorcycle exhibit at the National Packard Museum at 1899 Mahoning Ave. NW in Warren.

Williams’ 1953 Victoria Vicky model F38M from Nuremberg, Germany, and 29 other bikes are on display for the “Motorcycles on Main Street Exhibit” at the museum through May 29.

The bikes mostly are on loan from individuals in Ohio with the exception of one from a collector in Florida. They date from 1908 to 1974.

The 1908 Crouch on display is one of only four left in existence. It sits in the main gallery alongside Harley Davidsons, Hondas and numerous bikes from overseas.

Caf racers are smaller bikes Europeans used to race one another from one caf to the next.

“I think we call it bar hopping,” Williams said. “Whoever beat everyone to the caf got free beer or coffee.”

Among the rarest of bikes on display are those from the era shortly after World War II. These include the 1945 Harley-Davidson made at a time when materials such as rubber were scarce.

Williams said the Harley-Davidson model of that year would have been made into the 1950s with saddle bags and big seats to qualify it as a tour bike. It had the biggest motor at that time.

Read the full story Monday in The Vindicator and on Vindy.com