For baseball followers, it’s Fenway Park. For golfers, Pebble Seashore. However should you’re a fan of classic bikes, the Barber Motorsports Museum is your mecca—and the Barber Classic Competition is the occasion of the yr.

The 18th operating of the pageant was no exception. Hosted on the 880-acre grounds of the Barber Motorsports Museum in Birmingham, Alabama, and introduced by BMW Motorrad USA, the 2023 Barber Classic Competition was three days of classic motorbike bliss.

Fanatics began arriving on Friday morning—and by the top of the present on Sunday night an estimated 85,000 attendees had handed by way of the venue.

The Barber Museum homes greater than 1,600 bikes over 5 flooring, however for the Classic Competition, the moto goodness spills over onto the encompassing grounds. This yr’s highlights included a BMW fan zone with a ride-in bike present, open to any BMW that rode in by itself energy.

Revival Cycles hosted it, providing a spot of their Handbuilt Present to the most effective BMW in every class. The combination was fairly eclectic, starting from a BMW R1200GS with a sidecar to an R90S café racer, full with lovely silver and gold leaf accents.

Elsewhere Vahna Journal and Triumph curated a set of 20 customized and traditional Triumphs on the ‘Isle of Triumph.’ Guests might scan a QR code to vote for his or her favourite bike; my vote went to the mint One in every of a Thousand-made 1977 Jubilee Version Triumph Bonneville 750.

If that left you impressed, you might wander over to the swap meet space, which boasted over 500 distributors from throughout the US.

Whereas some festival-goers have been in search of that elusive half to complete a undertaking, others have been searching only for the sake of curiosity. And should you have been with out a undertaking, there have been loads of collectors who have been trying to promote partially-built and full bikes too.

The swap meet generated such a buzz, that the social media was brimming with attendees making an attempt to attach with sellers after the occasion.

Whereas the camp areas and parking tons will not be formally a part of the present, it pays to stroll round together with your eyes open. Barber’s Classic Competition boasts among the widest choices of any motorbike present I’ve been to. From extremely personalized mini bikes to a tenting space devoted solely to classic Nortons, there’s one thing for everybody.

It’s greater than only a huge conglomeration of traditional bikes although. Attendees to the pageant who have been trying to advance their data might additionally absorb a wide range of seminars. Matters ranged from ‘Superbike: An Illustrated Early Historical past’ hosted by Kevin Cameron, John Owens, and Matthew Miles, to old-school pin-striping with Michael Swain.

For these in search of somewhat extra pleasure, the American Historic Racing Bike Affiliation was on web site with its classic race collection. The weekend noticed 600 riders throughout 40-plus classes take to Barber’s 2.38-mile [3.83 km], 17-turn highway course.

These fortunate sufficient to stroll by way of the paddock have been handled to all kinds of bikes. From trendy liter sportbikes, to classic Ducatis, BMWs, and Nortons that show that classic iron nonetheless has a lot to supply.

There was additionally a ‘Proving Floor’ demo space, the place marques like BMW, Ryvid, Indian, and KTM had literal truckloads price of bikes to test-ride. Most of the demo rides have been booked effectively prematurely and one might simply spend a whole day testing the most recent choices.

If you happen to’re contemplating attending the Classic Competition subsequent yr, journey is straightforward. The Barber Museum is 15 miles from the Birmingham airport and two hours from Atlanta, Georgia, making it straightforward to get to. Barber does an excellent job with scalable occasion costs too; attendance begins at $35 a day (with out admission to the museum), and children underneath the age of 15 get in free of charge, making certain the following era of gearheads.

On-site tenting is out there for a further payment for individuals who wish to be near the motion, however there are additionally a wide range of inns in Birmingham, simply 25 minutes away.

My largest remorse was not giving myself sufficient time to take all of it in. I might simply have spent three days within the museum alone—however with the pageant combined in, I might have stretched that to per week. If you happen to take into account your self a fan of classic bikes, go forward and add the Barber Museum and its Classic Competition to your checklist of must-attend occasions.

With due to BMW Motorrad USA | Pictures by Tom Gosselin