Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum to hold Indian Motorcycle Day

From America’s first motorcycles – Indians to 100-year-old Harley-Davidsons and vintage and classics – will be displayed at the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum presented by Automobile Club of Southern California on Oct. 25 for its 2nd annual Indian Motorcycle Day. The event, held in conjunction with California Bike Week, runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and is sponsored by Coker Tire and Duke Video USA.

Part of the festivities is a free seminar with Sam Wheeler, owner, builder and rider of the Kawasaki-powered E-Z-Hook Motorcycle Streamliner at 11 a.m. Wheeler will discuss what it takes to engineer, build and ride a motorcycle that can go more than 300 miles per hour.

Wheeler, a land speed racing legend, attained the amazing speed of 355.303 mph at the Bonneville Salt Flats in September 2006. While not a record, it is the fastest speed ever recorded for a motorcycle.

“Sam Wheeler goes down in the history books of land speed racing,” said Tony Thacker, executive director of the Parks Museum. “I am thrilled that he will be able to talk about his experience as one of the world’s fastest motorcycle riders.”

Admission is free to all who bring a pre-1968 motorcycle (includes entry to the Museum and California Bike Weekend (Saturday only) and Flat Track Racing at Pomona Fairplex on Saturday night.

More than 25,000 bikers will ride into Pomona Fairplex for the final days of California Bike Week, which features the 25th Anniversary of the Love Ride (the largest motorcycle fundraiser), a star-studded concert, stunt shows, and a motorcycle trade show. For more on California Bike Week, visit www.calweek.com.

Currently on display at the Parks Museum:

- Trophy Queens, special photo exhibit on the glamour girls or racing: through Aug. 2009- NASCAR: 60 Years of Racing: through Mar. 1, 2009- Celebrating 60 Years of Hot Rod Magazine: through October 2008

- Coker Tire/Honest Charley Anniversary: “A Tribute to American Ingenuity.” The exhibition celebrates Coker Tire’s 50th anniversary and Honest Charley’s 60th. The exhibit runs through Nov. 16th

Next exhibit coming to the Parks Museum in ’08-’09:

- The 50th Anniversary of Gale Banks Engineering: Dec. 3 to fall 2009. Exhibit.

- 75th Anniversary of the 1933-’34 Ford Model 40 goes from Jan. 23, 2009 to spring 2009. Exhibit, sponsored by Steve’s Auto Restorations, highlights one of the most popular hot rod platforms around, the 1933-’34 Ford. Among the cars in the exhibit will be three of the most famous: the Billy F Gibbons’ ZZ Top Eliminator, the Pierson Brother’s Coupe and the Pete & Jake’s California Kid. Also on display will be the Super Bell Coupe, Big Al and the Mooneyham & Sharp 554 car.

Named for the founder of the National Hot Rod Association, the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum presented by the Automobile Club of Southern California houses the very roots of hot rodding. Scores of famous vehicles spanning American motorsports history are on display, including winning cars representing 50 years of drag racing, dry lakes and salt-flat racers, oval track challengers and exhibits describing their colorful backgrounds.

The Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum is open Wednesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., PST. Current NHRA members are admitted free. Admission for non-members is $7 for adults, $5 for seniors 60 and older, $5 for juniors six through 15, and free for children under the age of five. The Museum is also available for special group tours. The Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum is located at Fairplex Gate 1, 1101 W. McKinley Ave. in Pomona. For further information on special exhibits, museum events or directions, call 909/622-2133 or visit http://museum.nhra.com.