Motorcycles. Some people love them and some people hate them. If you’re one of those who enjoys the thrill of travel on two wheels and the wind in your hair, you know a special kind of joy and freedom those who confine themselves to four wheels (or more) will never experience. If you fall into the category of people who just don’t “get” the love of motorcycles… as the saying goes, if I have to explain it to you, you wouldn’t understand anyway.   

But for those who do get it, the fascinating National Motorcycle Museum in Anamosa, Iowa is well worth taking the time to get off the Interstate for a visit. Here you will find a marvelous collection of antique and classic bikes chronicling every phase in the history of motorcycles.

Founded in 1989 by people who love motorcycles, the museum is committed to honoring the builders, racers, and riders who laid the groundwork for today’s modern motorcycle. Starting with just forty motorcycles when it opened, today the museum’s collection has grown to nearly 200 bikes, ranging from rare one of a kind antique motorcycles to custom choppers and vintage models from the United States and abroad.

When you step thorough the doors of the National Motorcycle Museum you are greeted by a replica of a wooden 1885 Daimler Einspur that was the forerunner of today’s motorcycles. Built by the famed German engineer Gottlieb Daimler, who has been called the Father of the Motorcycle, the bike had a top speed of 7½ mils per hour and used an alcohol burner to heat a glow plate for combustion.  

Once on the museum’s two exhibit floors, you are transported back in time as you marvel at the bikes on display dating back to 1903. Here you will find rare motorcycles you never knew existed, including a steam-powered motorcycle built in 1934, a 1916 Thor, 1910 Sears belt drive motorcycle, and a 1912 Henderson so original that it still has the same tires it came out of the factory with, almost a century ago!

Several famous bikes are also on display at the museum, including the original Captain America chopper from the 1969 movie Easy Rider. Actually, four or five identical bikes were used in the film, due to the hard use they withstood. The bike on display at the National Motorcycle Museum is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity signed by the movie’s star, Peter Fonda, stating that this is the only surviving original one left, and was used in the famous crash scene at the end of the movie. When filming was done, Fonda gave the motorcycle to his friend, actor Dan Haggerty, who restored the motorcycle. The certificate of authenticity claims that no other authentic Captain America exists, though we saw an identical motorcycle last year at the Riverside Casino Auto Museum in Laughlin , Nevada that also had a sign claiming it had been used in the movie. I am not sure if these are the same bikes or not, and the lady on duty at the museum could not tell me. I understand that there is a second (or third) Captain America that is brought to the big motorcycle rally in Sturgis , South Dakota and is also proclaimed to be from the movie. I’ll give credence to the bike at the National Motorcycle Museum , since it is the only one I have seen with any documentation of its history.