100 years of motorcycle design on display in Portsmouth

PORTSMOUTH

This summer the Courthouse Galleries space is looking more like its Olde Towne neighbor, the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame.

Inside, motorcycles are everywhere.

There are 40 of them spanning a century in design, from a 1912 Triumph once owned by an Irish outlaw to a 2009 Zero that runs on electricity.

Visitors will find racing and riding garb from notable bikers, even from the Motor Maids, a national association of women riders founded in 1940. A section on local legends and videos of races round out the resemblance to a sports center.

But maybe this show, called "Freedom: Evolution of the Motorcycle," is just as appropriate for an 1846 courthouse-turned-gallery, since a court of law is where the occasional speed-crazed biker ends up. And speed, according to curator Gayle Paul, was among the top factors that drove the design.

Precedents exist for fine-art centers showing motorcycles and the like, with a focus on design. In 1998, the Guggenheim Museum in New York City opened a landmark exhibition, "The Art of the Motorcycle," which drew complaints from art snobs but was extremely popular.

Likewise, the local museum was packed for opening events. Certainly, the Courthouse's budget is minuscule compared to the Guggenheim's. Still, the Portsmouth venue unearthed some extraordinary examples.

Paul knew little about motorcycles when she got started two years ago. By now, she could stand before a motorcycle club and lecture on the evolution of the tailpipe. The show offers tons of text regarding the history and sociology of motorcycles and the stories behind each one on display, all of it researched and written by Paul.

She enlisted the aid of many in the field, but especially the people at Bayside Harley Davidson in Portsmouth and Velocity Motorcycles in Richmond. The dealerships helped locate collectors.

About 20 collectors lent bikes, and six others let the museum borrow memorabilia.

A Velocity parts manager, Brian Condra, who is an artist, co-designed the show with Pat Jensen, the museum's exhibit specialist. The large, open main gallery resembles a gleaming showroom, with a blue racing stripe.

Motorcycles evolved in the late 19th century from the bicycle. An example of an early bicycle-turned-motorcycle via an attached motor is the replica of a 1910 Harley Davidson at the show's entrance. To spark the motor, a rider had to start off pedaling.

Stories are attached to many of the bikes. The 1912 Triumph was owned by an Irish criminal who had used it as a getaway vehicle. He disappeared in the 1930s from a Scottish farm, leaving behind his bike and diary.

After the farm family read about his exploits in the diary, they were ashamed he had worked for them and told no one, Paul said. The bike finally came to light and was sold in 1980 to a Chesapeake couple, Terry and Susan Bond, who lent it for the show.

Terry Bond told Paul that a model just like his sank in 1912 on the Titanic.

Almost all of the motorcycles are vintage. Only two are replicas, including a 1939 Brough Superior, one of the finest of its day and the bike of choice for T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia), who died riding one.

The show features British, French, Belgian, Japanese, German, Italian, Spanish and American bikes. Brand names include Kawasaki, Honda, Royal Enfield and Yamaha.

The 1960s bikes look mod, straight out of a comic book. Later ones resemble robotic insects or Japanese anime figures.

A 1998 chopper representing the "Easy Rider" era was designed through a competition between two Harley Davidson dealerships.

Among the current-year models, the BMW R 1200 stands out for its ability to move over the roughest imaginable surfaces. Said Paul, in an admiring tone: "It'll take you anywhere, to the ends of the earth."

Teresa Annas, (757) 446-2485, teresa.annas@pilotonline.com