American Motorcycle Museum Holland (AMMH)

16/10/2026

11/10/2026

Old motorcycles usually come with good stories. (Just ask… and you might be there a while. 😉) A Harley bought with every franc a nineteen-year-old could find. A restoration finished just in time. A son keeping his father’s memory alive, one carefully researched detail at a time.

We love hearing the stories behind the motorcycles. Some of those shared at the annual European AMCA Swapmeet in Raalte are now featured in the fall issue of The Antique Motorcycle: “Rain, Rare Motorcycles, Remarkable Stories.” (Words and photography by Kim Middelbosch)

Enjoy a little Sunday reading! You’ll find the full article in the current issue, available to AMCA members. And honestly, the magazine alone is a great reason to join: beautiful photography, fascinating stories and plenty of pages to get lost in. There are lots of other membership benefits, too. Have a look: www.antiquemotorcycle.org

Happy Sunday!

06/10/2026

A red fairing, a tiny racing seat and an open exhaust. Our Aermacchi Harley-Davidson racer, wearing number 45, has little in common with the big American V-twins you see here most of the time...

In 1960, Harley-Davidson joined forces with Italy’s Aermacchi. Lightweight single-cylinder motorcycles with a distinctive horizontal cylinder brought a very different flavour to the Harley-Davidson name. Aermacchi’s celebrated Ala d’Oro racers belong to that same Italian racing story.

Two names on the tank. Plenty to look at beneath the fairing. Swipe for a closer look — or better still, come and see it for yourself.

📍 American Motorcycle Museum Holland, Raalte - Open every Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 11:00–17:00.

06/10/2026

One last win. Then… ‘clink clink clonk’. [NEDERLANDS ONDERSTAAND]

At Race the Waves in Bridlington, Niels won his last race before our 1929 Harley-Davidson JD decided that was quite enough.

Some love and hugs from his teammates, and off the beach with the Chickenhead of Shame. Niels absolutely rocked it. (Though he had absolutely nothing to be ashamed of.)

With the JD out of action, our mechanical wizard kept busy helping friends and strangers in the car park and on the beach. Always ready to lend a hand. Or give Pel a push.

Back in the museum workshop in Raalte, Niels and Peter investigated that unfortunate soundtrack. The verdict: a piston broken in two, its lower half chewed up by the moving parts below.

The likely culprit? A piston pin - the pin connecting the piston to the connecting rod that had slipped sideways, damaging the cylinder walls and probably causing the engine to seize. Whether its retaining hardware had been missing all along or somehow come loose remains a mystery.

Next: assess the full damage, find the parts and get the JD back on track. There may already be a lead on replacement JD cylinders… (Having your workshop in a motorcycle museum has its advantages.)

And Niels? Still smiling. Still ready to lend a hand. Pistons may fall apart; a good Petrolhead keeps it together.

To be continued. Preferably with fewer clinks and no more clonks. 🏁

NEDERLANDS: Hij liet een Knuckle, een BSA en een WL achter zich… en toen: ‘kling kling klonk’. Einde Race the Waves voor de JD uit 1929.

Voor Niels volgden troost van zijn teamgenoten en een lift van het strand door Clare - mét de Chickenhead of Shame. Die hij absoluut rockte.

Wie denkt dat hij vervolgens beteuterd aan de kant bleef zitten, kent Niels niet. Hij hielp iedereen die een handje of een duwtje kon gebruiken, op de parkeerplaats én op het strand.

Afgelopen weekend kwam in de museumwerkplaats in Raalte het antwoord op dat ‘kling kling klonk’. Niels en Peter troffen een zuiger in twee stukken aan. De bovenste helft zat nog keurig in de cilinder. De onderste helft was door de draaiende delen in het carter opgevreten.

De vermoedelijke oorzaak: een pistonpen die aan de wandel is gegaan, met diepe krassen in de cilinderwanden en waarschijnlijk het vastlopen van het blok als gevolg. Was de borging vergeten? Of later losgeraakt? Dat weten we nog niet.

Dus: carter splitsen, schade in kaart brengen en onderdelen bij elkaar zoeken voor de wederopbouw. Mogelijk zijn er al vervangende JD-cilinders gevonden. (Je werkplaats in een motormuseum hebben is op zulke momenten best praktisch.)

Wordt vervolgd. Liefst met wat minder kling en zonder klonk. 🏁

📷Kim Middelbosch

04/10/2026

⚠️ If vintage motorcycles, salt water and sand together make you nervous, this is your cue to scroll. Leave an angry comment and your algorithm might decide you LOVE beach racing 💛

With The Race of Gentlemen tearing up the beach in Wildwood this weekend, we’re throwing it back to our own salty, sandy fun at Race the Waves in Bridlington, UK, three weeks ago. Different beach. Same love for old machines and playing outside.

Beach racing is for gentlemen and gentlewomen who take a free facial scrub and a mouthful of sand in their stride. Who love the machines, the beach and the people they share it all with. For us, the fun also comes with the work. Ride. Get filthy. Strip down, clean, repair. Do it all again.

To everyone racing at T.R.O.G. this weekend: have a blast. We’re cheering from this side of the Atlantic!

Sound like your kind of people? Welcome.
We’ve still got plenty of salt and sand to share.

Worth every splash. 💛🏁

📷 Kim Middelbosch

03/10/2026

Thanks, Harley's Chrome Stars - for showing our old beauties so much love 🖤 beautifully captured!

28/09/2026

Dziękujemy Harley's Chrome Stars for these beautiful images of our sunny AMMH Swapmeet. You captured the old iron, the passionate people and the whole atmosphere so nice - what an eye you have! 🙌