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Museum History

The National Motorcycle Museum opened its doors in October 1984, with a collection of more than 350 motorcycles on display.

The award winning conference venues and banqueting facilities grew out of interest in the museum and followed on in 1985. The venue soon started to attract many of the countries most famous and important machines.

The Biggest & Best

Since opening, this magnificent centre has become the largest motorcycle museum in the world and attracts around 250,000 visitors a year. One of the biggest attractions for many guests is the comprehensive cross-section of machines, spanning the “60 Glorious Year” of motorcycle manufacturing in this country. The museum’s aim is to preserve these pieces of history for future generations to come, as a reminder of this great nations industry, engineering prowess and work ethic. Within the five exhibition halls will be found some 650 plus machines, fully restored to the manufacturers original specifications.

At some point over the past 20 years every classic bike enthusiast would have spent an afternoon browsing through the museums halls, and many clubs and organisations have held rallies and events in the grounds. The National Motorcycle Museum has developed into a focal point for the British motorcycle movement.

Rising From The Flames...

On 16th September 2003 , the museum suffered a devastating fire, resulting in damage to 75% of the structure and some 400 machines. Due to the determination of ownership, staff and contractors, the museum doors re-opened on 1 st December 2004 . Today the museum is home to more than 650 machines, with new acquisitions arriving daily. The conference and banqueting facilities have also been rebuilt with facilities second to none, all suites are lavishly appointed and offer state-of-the-art audio-visual equipment.

I am proud of our unique collection of British Motorcycles and hope that you will find much to interest you in your visit.

The motorcycle industry was until recently one of Britain ’s great engineering achievements and we have done our best to create a comprehensive collection of historic machines.

We are always changing our exhibits so hope to see you here at the museum in the near future.

W.R.Richards
Founder