Honda CBR 1000RR - Honda Superbike Classic April 22-23 2006

I attended the Honda Superbike Classic down at Barber Motor Sport Park in Leeds, AL this past weekend and it was awesome. The weather was perfect with highs in the mid to upper 70s on Saturday and mid 80s on Sunday with crystal blue skies. The racing action was intense and I was able to capture some great shots of riders. Barber is only about 3 hours from where I live so I make this a yearly trip. My girl friend and I traveled down in the cage with a cooler full of snacks and water and our lawn chairs. Apparently Friday night had heavy rain as the field parking areas were more like mud bogs than parking lots. Good thing the 4Runner had 4WD.

Barber is one of the nicest racing facilities in the U.S. and has THE BEST motorcycle museum in the world. I can't even guess how many bikes of all makes and models were on display in the museum. There are also a few exotic race cars as well. I was told by one of the museum attendants that every bike in the place was minutes from being able to be started and that they would pull some and start them up at various times. He also told me that anything post 1986 had probably never even been cranked, although the mechanics kept them ready just in case. They have two buyers that travel around looking for new exotic and rare bikes to purchase and only three mechanics that keep all the machines in pristine condition. We got to witness a Formula 1 car get started right in the museum as well as a 1960s era Honda race bike and a 1970s era Honda CBX inline 6 street bike. Very cool indeed.

I'm also a photographer and some of these images are available as prints. Those available are noted in yellow. If you're interested in one e-mail me for details. Prints are professionally printed on high quality Kodak Endura photographic paper with a display life of about 100 years.

The Barber Museum, a beautiful facility.

Interesting statues.

Bikes were literally from floor........

to ceiling.

There were 4 stories of bikes and a restoration shop in the basement.

There were also some very nice displays.

This Honda was the first bike purchased for the museum.

This is number 7 of the 10 Britten's that were built.

Photographic Print Of This Image Available

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This 1960s Honda race bike was one of the bikes started the day I was at the museum. The museum attendant actually rode up on it! That alone was worth the price of admission.

A custom built pocket bike.

WMV Video of Honda 1970s Honda CBX Inline 6
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WMV Video of F1 Car
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There is a vendor area where you can buy bike gear, hats, shirts, decals, food, you name it. It's affectionately referred to as "Squid Row".

Paddock passes were only $10 and well worth it. You get the see the racer's bikes up close and personal and if you're lucky the racers themselves. You can get autographs and watch the factory mechanics work on the race machines.

I dig Pegram Racing's retro paint scheme on these new 600RR and 1000RR bikes.

The Honda Factory tent; mechanics having a cook out.

Inside, the other staff were hard at work.

There's a life flight helicopter on hand for emergencies and it does a test run before the race.

Now for the good stuff.....Miguel DuHamel on the Honda 1000RR

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Matt Mladin on the GSXR 1000.

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Another of Matt Mladin.

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One more of Matt.

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Ben Spies on the GSXR 1000.

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Another of Ben Spies.

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Matt Mladin leading Miguel DuHamel.

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Ben Spies in the lead of Saturday's Race.

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Jake Zemke moving up the inside of Tommy Hayden.

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Jake Zemke and Miguel DuHamel leading a pack of riders.

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I love the retro paint and leathers of Larry Pegram's number 72 1000RR.

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Ben Spies having a bottle of water a fan gave him after his GSXR 600 had technical issues in Sunday's Supersport race forcing him to pull off the track.

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Once the Supersport race was over, Graves Yamaha pilot Jamie Hacking gave Ben Spies a ride back to the pits on the back of his R6.

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