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House of Harleys: Shop, museum, cafe celebrate classic cycles and their riders
Journal Photo by David Rolfe
A 1936 "Knucklehead" Harley-Davidson (left) and a reproduction of the "Captain America" bike ridden by Peter Fonda in Easy Rider in the American Classic Motorcycle Co. Museum.
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» AUDIO SLIDESHOW: American Classic Museum of Harley Davidson Motorcycles
Published: October 3, 2008
ASHEBORO -- Ed Rich is a stocky man of average height with broad shoulders and strong, stubby hands that hint of a life spent working with tools. He leaned on a glass display case in his Harley–Davidson motorcycle museum and let his gaze linger on a row of Harleys.
He sees more than metal, rubber, and chrome pipes. He sees the riders who rode the wind on those old bikes for over half a century.
"They're interesting," Rich said. "I like 'em because they're interesting pieces of machinery. There's no other ... maybe an airplane, but an airplane is out of reach of the normal man, money-wise. But the Harley isn't."
Rich stands on the second floor of the American Classic Motorcycle Co. in Asheboro, a homegrown Mecca for Harley-Davidson fans. Downstairs is his mechanic's shop, where Rich restores and repairs vintage Harleys. Sharing the downstairs space are his small parts and motorcycle-clothing shop and a breakfast-and-lunch cafe run by his wife, Ginny.
"It's the people involved that's very interesting to me, as much as the bikes," Rich said. "They have a mystique … there's something about 'em that you can't pinpoint.
"There've been some colorful characters on these things, to say the least."
Rich said that his museum is a showcase for the individual as much as it is for the motorcycles.
"Most motorcycles you don't get stories with 'em, you don't get any history with 'em, and some you do."
He points out a gleaming black motorcycle. On its front fender is a yellow sign that reads, "Western Union." The 1947 "Knucklehead," is one of three that belonged to the late Vernon Moore, who delivered telegrams in Asheboro and Randolph County from 1927 to 1968.
"He would deliver death certificates during the war (World War II). Older people would tell me it would scare them to death to hear that motorcycle coming -- if they had somebody in the war.
"He delivered telegrams, candygrams, just all kinds of stuff. You hear a lot of interesting stories about the man, and you don't always get that history."
Rich makes his way along the displays and points out items on the walls -- racing posters, vintage ads, battered helmets and racing suits hanging limply from hangers. Long shelves are crammed with novelty cans of beer bearing the Harley logo, commemorative plates, trophies, ashtrays, old motorcycle parts and Christmas ornaments -- including a snow globe with Santa at the North Pole, a Harley parked at his feet.
On one shelf stands a pair of Ken and Barbie dolls, dressed in biker outfits. Below the dolls are plastic, kid-size Harleys and a biker Miss Piggy lolling provocatively near a Steve McQueen toy motorcycle.
Standing near the corner is a red 1950 Hydra Glide, a large Harley with a third wheel to support a box on the side. It is stenciled with "Star News Newspapers -- Morning-Evening-Sunday."
"That's out of Wilmington, North Carolina," Rich said. "I talked to the old man who used to ride it. If someone didn't get their paper, if the dog ran off with it, if it landed in a mud puddle, if the neighbor got it, they'd throw 'em in this thing and run out and deliver it."
The museum houses about 40 Harley-Davidsons, some on loan from other enthusiasts, some owned by Rich and a partner, Rick Allen. All the bikes were manufactured from 1936 to 1972. Many have been restored, but some remain just as they came off the road, bearing the scars, dents and scrapes of hard riding. All but two are in running condition.
The oldest bike in the collection is a 1936 "Knucklehead," one of only three known to exist in its original condition, according to Rich. He calls it the "grandpa" of modern motorcycles, and with it began the custom of naming the Harleys after the shape of their engine head. Later models were known as "Panheads," "Shovelheads," or "Flatheads."
The sounds of laughter and clinking plates drift up the stairs from the cafe. A regular clientele keeps flowing into the Heritage Diner, which maintains the Harley theme with a gallery of Ed Rich's motorcycle paintings on the walls and clever names on the menu.
Early-bird patrons fill up on "Dunlops," "Flywheels" and "Sidecars" -- pancakes or waffles, and side items like bacon, sausage, or biscuits. The lunchtime crowd chooses from "Low Rides," "Road Wings," "Axles" and "Fluids" -- a.k.a. salads, chicken sandwiches, mozzarella sticks and drinks.
After satisfying their hunger, curiosity leads many diners to shuffle up a set of stairs beneath a green sign that says, "HARLEYVILLE."
Ernie Meade, of Abingdon, Va., and two buddies, Ronald Miles and Don Adams, did just that recently. They had stopped for lunch and were pleasantly surprised to discover the Harley museum upstairs.
"He has got it," said Ernie Meade, expressing his approval of the collection.
"We'll come back and spend some more time," Adams said.
Todd Dudley and Thomas Dennis, of Lexington, had passed by several times before stopping.
"There's a lot more here than what I thought there'd be," Dudley said.
"They're some beauties," said Dennis, a former rider who parked his own bike many years ago. When asked why he quit riding, he said, "You don't heal so well as you get older."
Ed Rich was invited to take some of his collection to Milwaukee recently to help celebrate Harley-Davidson's 105th anniversary.
"There were only four museums invited to participate," Rich said, "and we were one of them. It was a real honor."
Rich opened his doors in 1993 after he and other Harley-Davidson enthusiasts became concerned that too many Harleys were being siphoned overseas by foreign collectors. He and his wife opened the cafe first, then started filling the upstairs space with motorcycles and Harley-Davidson mementoes.
"This is a rare museum in the fact that it has all of this old, original Harley stuff," Rich said. "You see a lot of museums that have bikes and posters, but they don't have as much paraphernalia like we have here. Someone who likes to read and find history and odd things, this is a great place to come."
"And it's free. You can't beat the price."
If you go
Admission: Free.
Hours: Monday, 6 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Tuesday to Friday, 6 a.m. to 5:50 p.m.; Saturday, 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. Closed Sunday. The Heritage Diner is open Monday to Saturday, 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. Closed Sunday
DAVID ROLFE
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