Too Much of a Good Thing
David Dewhurst
The Barber Motorsports Museum Vintage Festival is living proof that you really can have too much of a good thing. The good things in this case are vintage motorcycles, and the 800 acres of Barber Motorsports Park are filled with more bikes than anyone can take in during the Festival weekend.
Where else can you find tens of thousands of spectators coming together to watch road racing, motocross, trials, and flat track simultaneously at a single location? Throw in a giant swap meet, manufacturer demo rides, and the world’s biggest motorcycle museum, and you have the mother of all motorcycle events. It could be argued that Daytona Bike Week is equally massive, but it lasts for a whole week, so it feels like there is time to explore, relax, and take things in. Barber, by contrast, packs just as much racing and riding into just three days. Trying to take in all those sights and the racing can feel a little overwhelming.
The only way to maximize the Barber experience is to make a plan and not get distracted by all the shiny objects that will inevitably tempt you. The first priority on Friday should be to scour the endless rows of bike parts and memorabilia in the giant swap meet. That’s when you’ll find all the best stuff, and the crowds are not as crazy as they are on Saturday and Sunday. It’s also registration and setup for most of the racing, so you won’t miss anything on the tracks.
If you find the 1957 Triumph headlight or the Bultaco Sherpa fender stay you were looking for at the swap meet, and yes, you will find them, you can always spend a few hours just up the circular access road at one of the many manufacturer demo ride areas. All the major brands are on hand with lines of street and adventure bikes that can be ridden around the curving roads of the Alabama countryside.
It’s easy to get distracted by the sounds of motocross bikes practicing on the all-new state-of-the-art race track or megaphoned vintage bikes practicing on the sinuous ribbon of asphalt that forms the road race circuit. Don’t take the bait. The real races don’t start until tomorrow. Stay focused.
If your aching feet still have any life in them, you could make the first of multiple visits to the breathtaking bike museum. The adrenaline high of seeing one thousand perfectly restored bikes will keep you going for a while, but with so much amazing beauty on display, you will have to plan on returning repeatedly over the weekend.
After a pulled-pork sandwich at the Buc-eees mega gas station and a good night’s sleep, it’s time for the first big day of racing. Saturday is when the AHRMA organized racing really gets underway. It’s probably best to first wander down the hill to the amazing new motocross track to see the older bike classes in action. The Barber Motorsports crew only started cutting down trees on the wooded hillside three months before the metal gate dropped, but the all-new track is fantastic.
It’s a genuine vintage track with no double jumps or rhythm sections. In fact, the only thing it has in common with most modern tracks is the concrete-based metal starting gate opening up into a broad, sweeping first turn. From there, it’s a beautiful ribbon of dirt that winds up and down the hillsides between the tall canopy of trees.
From elevated vantage points on the steep terrain, you can see everything from a 750 Triumph Metisse to a Combat Wombat battling for victory. The racing is close, and the AHRMA crew keeps the action flowing all day long. But you can’t stay all day because there is a trials event to watch on the other side of the Barber estate. It’s a long walk, but Barber has a constant flow of shuttle vehicles to take you around the whole property.
Not far from the trials event is the demo ride area, where spectator bikes are parked twenty deep as their owners try out the latest models from Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki, Suzuki, and Royal Enfield. Even more flood the BMW riding area, where a riding stunt show adds to the carnival atmosphere. But the wheelie show is ending soon because AHRMA has to clear the area to set up for the evening’s asphalt flat track event.
With only plastic K-rail barriers separating the racers and spectators, the flat track is as close as you’ll ever get to the racing at Barber. Luckily, those barriers do their job well when perennial racer David Aldana loses his rear brake and crashes spectacularly in practice. Later, x-rays prove he’d broken some ribs, but in typical Aldana fashion, the pain does not stop him racing.
The huge crowd stands four deep against the barriers as the long evening of racing gets underway. Bultaco Astros outnumber the Kawasakis, Hondas, Triumphs, and Rotax machinery. But, no matter what the bike or the rider is, there is close racing in every class. The races go off in rapid succession, and as the sun lowers towards the horizon, few people turn away to the bike concours competition in the large grass area just yards from the flat track finish line. As we said, it’s a case of motorcycle overload, and there is still a full day of racing left on Sunday.
The last day of the Vintage Festival is the best time to head up the hill to watch the roadracing. The swap meet is winding down, the flat track and trials are a distant memory, and only later-model motocross racing is left to compete with the guys on asphalt. So it’s time to hop on the shuttle tram and head over to the massive tiered pit area and the imposing finish-line buildings. From high atop the multi-story pits, you can get a great sense of just how huge the Barber property is.
Off to the horizon are rolling hills and tall pine trees, but here in the clearing, the perfect asphalt surface winds back and forth amongst the perfectly manicured grass. There’s a tall scoring tower in the middle distance, and off across the open valley is the shining glass and steel building that is home to the museum. It’s tempting to head back over there and see the hundreds of bikes you missed on the earlier visit, but there’s too much action on the track to prevent that distraction.
Like all AHRMA road races, Barber has a huge and eclectic mix of machines in action. From early Matchless and AJS singles through more recent Japanese four-cylinders, even a large class of sidecars, there’s something to excite every racing enthusiast. The sheer number of race bikes is difficult to take in, but the AHRMA officials keep the show rolling with amazing precision. One close race after another roars around the track as, off in the distance, a slow line of spectators slowly winds their way out along the Barber exit road.
It’s been a long weekend, and despite everyone’s great enthusiasm, the overwhelming nature of this event is starting to show. As the vast parking areas slowly empty out towards Interstate 20 and the long drive home, there are still people making their second or third visit to the museum, not wanting to miss a single part of what the Barber Vintage Festival has to offer. But there is only so much even the greatest enthusiast can achieve in three days. We would suggest you start making plans for October 3-5, 2025, now because it turns out that having too much of a good thing is a really good thing.
Barber Motorsports Park
6040 Barber Motorsports Parkway
Leeds, AL35094
www.barberracingevents.com
