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Juris Ramba, a longtime AMCA member who lives in Latvia, is hosting a show of old bikes in August. If it were closer and travel was allowed, I'd be there in heartbeat! Here's the press release:
"Exhibition “Forgotten Antique Motorcycles”.
Press Release.
This exhibition is about Ogre resident, antique motorcycle collector and enthusiast Juris Ramba’s challenges and stories of unbelievable sheer luck finding antique motorcycles, in most unusual places, over half a century.
Antique motorcycles have been pulled to daylight from ditches, flooded basements and attics with leaking roofs. They have been found buried behind a church wall, dug up from in the ground and lifted off a 7th floor balcony. They’ve been exchanged for a book, a camera, a dog kennel, a small lathe and even swopped for a couple of bottles of vodka.
Contrary to the lucky finds there will always be one bad luck story such as how several dozen Compressor DKW racers WW2 triphies, were destroyed by “walking the plank” – being thrown onto a concrete floor from the 2nd floor and then buried in a ditch somewhere in Russia…
The author of the exhibition has put back together several motorcycles from their original components as scattered and found in a 100 kilometre radius around Latvia.
Some machines needed a worldwide search for parts in the 1990ies when we became independent – from South Africa to Japan, USA and Europe included.
During Iron Curtain times a whole generation over here grew up and was educated with confidence that “burgeiose” antique vehicles and, especially antique motorcycles were worthless “scrap” and the consequences of this education can be felt till this day and age…
The exhibition will reveal the antique motorcycle collector’s problems and mission responsibility to our ancestors’ historic vehicle heritage – vehicles from pre-war free Latvia. It will show the importance of craftsmanship in historic vehicle restoration as art, science and magic.
This will be a revelation about the resurrection of antique motorcycle “pearls” from scrap heaps and their cherishing for ½ century rather than selling them abroad, which is the current tendency here.
One such rarity is a fully restored survivor of the 1917 Russian military Sunbeam/JAP 5 HP model. It is from a small batch made exclusively for the Tzar’s army. It is known to have been used by the Latvian army after 1919.
Visitors will be enlightened about the experiences of riding machines over 100 years old in different historic motorcycle rallies in Western Europe and at the Kurland Rally in Latvia for the last 30 plus years.
Commemorating 100 years of the famous VEF factory, visitors of the exhibition will be able to see the lathe that was used to manufacture parts for the world-famous VEF-MINOX miniature photo cameras.
The exhibition will also provide an answer to the question: What the Stars of the Freedom Monument in Riga were doing in Ogre back in 2001?
Several antique motorcycles, which had been produced from the start of the motoring era up to the beginning of WW2 and which had been successfully ridden in once the richest Baltic country – free Latvia, have been restored with love and affection.
Rare artefacts of antique vehicles from the beginning of 19th century – engines, motorcycles, tools, photographs and documents will also be on display. "
"Exhibition “Forgotten Antique Motorcycles”.
Press Release.
This exhibition is about Ogre resident, antique motorcycle collector and enthusiast Juris Ramba’s challenges and stories of unbelievable sheer luck finding antique motorcycles, in most unusual places, over half a century.
Antique motorcycles have been pulled to daylight from ditches, flooded basements and attics with leaking roofs. They have been found buried behind a church wall, dug up from in the ground and lifted off a 7th floor balcony. They’ve been exchanged for a book, a camera, a dog kennel, a small lathe and even swopped for a couple of bottles of vodka.
Contrary to the lucky finds there will always be one bad luck story such as how several dozen Compressor DKW racers WW2 triphies, were destroyed by “walking the plank” – being thrown onto a concrete floor from the 2nd floor and then buried in a ditch somewhere in Russia…
The author of the exhibition has put back together several motorcycles from their original components as scattered and found in a 100 kilometre radius around Latvia.
Some machines needed a worldwide search for parts in the 1990ies when we became independent – from South Africa to Japan, USA and Europe included.
During Iron Curtain times a whole generation over here grew up and was educated with confidence that “burgeiose” antique vehicles and, especially antique motorcycles were worthless “scrap” and the consequences of this education can be felt till this day and age…
The exhibition will reveal the antique motorcycle collector’s problems and mission responsibility to our ancestors’ historic vehicle heritage – vehicles from pre-war free Latvia. It will show the importance of craftsmanship in historic vehicle restoration as art, science and magic.
This will be a revelation about the resurrection of antique motorcycle “pearls” from scrap heaps and their cherishing for ½ century rather than selling them abroad, which is the current tendency here.
One such rarity is a fully restored survivor of the 1917 Russian military Sunbeam/JAP 5 HP model. It is from a small batch made exclusively for the Tzar’s army. It is known to have been used by the Latvian army after 1919.
Visitors will be enlightened about the experiences of riding machines over 100 years old in different historic motorcycle rallies in Western Europe and at the Kurland Rally in Latvia for the last 30 plus years.
Commemorating 100 years of the famous VEF factory, visitors of the exhibition will be able to see the lathe that was used to manufacture parts for the world-famous VEF-MINOX miniature photo cameras.
The exhibition will also provide an answer to the question: What the Stars of the Freedom Monument in Riga were doing in Ogre back in 2001?
Several antique motorcycles, which had been produced from the start of the motoring era up to the beginning of WW2 and which had been successfully ridden in once the richest Baltic country – free Latvia, have been restored with love and affection.
Rare artefacts of antique vehicles from the beginning of 19th century – engines, motorcycles, tools, photographs and documents will also be on display. "