After years of looking for an elusive Czech “ice bike,” we finally found an original racer in England, still carrying its patina from the last race: a 1970 Jawa DT 500cc.

Did you know that famed Spanish brand Bultaco once made a purpose-built flat track bike called the Astro? The bikes date from 1974 and have the model name 123 Astro. “Most all the Astros were exported to the United States—there were only 300 made.

Our Vintage Flat Track Day included some historic Hondas, thanks to local enthusiast and collector Anthony Giammanco, who came in the company of friend and former Honda factory rider Jeff Haney.

We had a chance to  chat with three-time world champion and local legend Wayne Rainey at our recent Vintage Flat Track event. Here, he talks about the value of dirt track, and this bike from his former tuner, Shell Thuet.

More than 100 people attended our Vintage Flat Track Day. It included appearances by famous local racers including three-time world champion Wayne Rainey, AMA Hall of Famer Don Castro, and former Honda factory rider Jeff Haney. 

This 1971 Suzuki TS185 flat tracker was built and raced by Nelson Gong, a Monterey rider who worked and was sponsored by Rod Powell, the custom car and bike painter. He won nine straight races on this bike!

What’s speedway? Think of it as flat track on steroids. These bikes have no brakes, no gears, minimal front suspension, no rear suspension, and methanol-burning engines. Moto Talbott has several Speedway bikes on display.

With a beautiful 75° day, it was finally time to take out the “black widow.” In 1977, the stock R 100 RS was BMW’s ultimate tourer. Our bike was parked after only 17,500 miles, uncovered, in a field in Carmel Valley for 25 years. 

Have you ever seen how sano today’s race bikes are? Things were different back in the ‘60s, as you can see from this 1968 Hodaka Steen Racer. Amazingly, this tiny bike raced at Daytona in 1969! The ACE (Hodaka) 100 cc bike was raced in the Sportsman 100 class.

Can motorcycles save lives? This modest little Yamaha has. Several years ago, at the local Moto GP race Robb Talbott met representatives from Riders for Health, an organization that uses motorcycles to provide medical supplies and transfer test samples to and from remote African villages.

You’d be right if you called this bike ugly—and museum founder Robb Talbott wouldn’t challenge you. But it’s ugly in a beautiful kind of way, don’t you think?  This 1978 Chang Jiang CJ750 Yangtze is a Chinese copy of a Russian copy of a German BMW R71 built in 1938. You might say it lost a lot in the translation! 

We've got near-perfect examples of historic motorcycles—but we also have bikes that are just, well, cool. Phil Cross and museum founder Robb Talbott began talking about a '60s “Frisco” chopper three years ago, and it’s now on display.

Running a motorcycle museum can be hard work. So sometimes, you need to just get away…and ride. Founder Robb Talbott did just that last month, when he took his new Ducati Scrambler to Colorado, where he used to live and race. He was joined by his daughter, Kalin. 

Call it a tale of two MV Agustas: we acquired both these 1954 175cc CST models at the same time, from an owner in Tehachapi, California. Believe it or not, at that point they both looked the same. You can see both on display at the museum—it’s a remarkable contrast! 

AMA Hall of fame rider Don Castro lives and owns a shop, Racers Edge, not far from the Moto Talbott museum. He and museum founder Robb Talbott have a friendship resulting in a trove of historic memorabilia and a rare 1960 Montesa flat-tracker.

We feel lucky to have recently acquired this Ducati 851 “Kit”—one of just 201 that were homologated as part of the company’s race effort in 1988. Back then, it was about as close as average folks like us could get to owning a competitive world superbike. 

Robb Talbott came of age helping his family make a fortune in the luxury necktie business. Then he turned to grapes, and with his father made another fortune with Talbott Vineyards, an upstart Carmel Valley winery that became one of the premier central California labels.

Tuner Erv Kanemoto, four-time 500-cc world champion Eddie Lawson, and museum founder/owner Robb Talbott, in front of one of Wayne Rainey's race bikes.