Upstater Destinations: Motorcyclepedia Museum, Newburgh

  |  November 29, 2013
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Old racers on display at the Motorcyclepedia Museum, Newburgh

The Doerings have spent the better part of the past seven decades amassing an impressive collection of motorcycles. After running a successful motorcycle parts enterprise with his father, Gerald, Ted Doering took his and his father’s motorcycles, moved them into the old Miron Lumber building on Lake Street, and christened it the Motorcyclepedia Museum.

The 85,000 square foot space houses a collection of 400 motorcycles, plus exhibits featuring photos, parts, tools, and every other type of chopper-related ephemera that comes to mind. The motorcycles themselves, according to the Motorcyclepedia’s website, range from “hill climbers, Harleys from throughout the years, Military and Police motorcycles, Choppers, Japanese motorcycles, and motorcycles from American manufacturers from years past such as Pierce, Thor, Flying Merkel, Reading Standard, Cleveland, etc.” We know those names must mean something to motorcycle enthusiasts. We certainly don’t fancy ourselves experts on motorcycles, but we know a cool museum when we see one, and the Motorcyclepedia definitely qualifies.

One of the highlights of the museum is the three Wall of Death/Motordromes on display, two in the bottom floor of the building and one that gets erected periodically for special events in the parking lot. A Wall of Death is essentially a giant cylinder constructed of wooden slats with a platform at the top where spectators can stand and watch while a  motorcyclist enters the bottom of the cylinder and makes his way up the sides of the wooden tube at speeds of around 40 mph. Aaaaand now we know why it’s called the Wall of Death. Anyway, the Motorcyclepedia’s got three of these suckers, and judging from the photos in their gallery, somebody is riding a motorcycle around inside of them. Scary!

We love local museums, and this one is getting bumped to the top of our list for a Must-Visit while in Newburgh. Have you been? Did you watch a guy defy death and ride a motorcycle around the inside of a wooden tube? Tell us about it in the comments.

Motorcyclepedia Museum Website.

GMAP

motorcyclepedia wall of death

Wall of Death, via MotorcyclepediaMuseum.org

About Kandy Harris

Kandy is a writer and musician/music teacher living in Saugerties, NY.

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