It appears that there is an appeal for photographs etc to assist in the rebuilding of the Motorcycle Museum........

Has anyone had contact made ??

I would be interested to know what sort of items are needed.

I have passed on the e-mail I received to Mr Snelling who must be the prime target ??

Would it be fair to say that the (privately owned)National Museum and profitable conference centre got our money before and lost it in a preventable fire?

Would they like some more money? They can get stuffed.

The Museum should be on the Isle of Man where motorcycle racing started.
A not-for-profit establishment run by enthusiasts for enthusiasts funded by visitors and the Manx Government.
It could be housed in an heritage building with a bullet proof fire prevention system.
I think a few out there know where it should be,
and now is the time for a proposal to be made.
Such a disaster must never happen again.

I'd like to know how they failed so disastrously to protect other people's bikes when their argument a few years ago, against lending the Abus Norton for a Scottish event was that its safety couldn't be guaranteed.Their final argument was that anyone who wanted to see it could come to Birmingham. It is NOT a National museum, but a private business.
How on earth could they have the sort of things they had, in a building with no proper fire warning or prevention. What have the insurance companies got to say?
It breaks my heart to think of some of those bikes...the Kirby BSA, Slippery Sam,I don't know exactly what was still there as I have not visited for years, and some may have survived, but we need to ensure that the custodians of such historic machines take better care and are more accountable.
Don is right about where it should be, too.

I will help wherever I can to help replicate the lost machines.
I must admit to have been disappointed, when visiting the Museum a few years ago, to view rows of polished, painted and chromed machines; to my mind the exhibits had no 'dirt under the fingernails' if you understand my feelings.

It was as if they had all been stuffed!
They needed the input of some of the mad club people who do little "sets" for their stands at the NEC, with jukeboxes, teddy boys etc, or trials courses with real grass!

A sad loss, But last year we had the chance to visit a private collection of race bikes, over 400 race bikes in one shed alone, awsome,Knock the spots of the National

I've seen a couple of amazing collections in Ireland...nothing like that scale, but beautiful bikes, cared for, but not jazzed up.
So sad that Slippery Sam is gone. Some things can never be replaced. A replica Sam would be like having a wazwork instead of a person.

It would be like a blow up Marilyn Monroe!!

You seem to have more experience of this than of ostriches, Don!

Seriously, I seem to have cursed the Museum by promising myself (having first obtained a travel permit from my wife) a first visit to it this autumn. Days later it burned.

I think that there should be a motorcycle museum at St Johns!

The St John's he is referring to is in the US Virgin Islands.
Little does John know but the Americans bought it from the British in 1917 and it has never looked back.
Of course we are all waiting for him to be canonised or whatever they do to make people saints,so he can fly over there under his own steam.
He is bound to be disappointed though as there are very few virgins left, so I am told.