Moto Museum

Spanning nearly 100 years of motorcycle history, the MOTO Museum in St. Louis is home to a massive collection of rare and important motorcycles. 

Started by architect and retail developer Steve Smith in 2007, the collection is housed in a modern, industrial space adjacent to a boutique hotel. It includes roughly 75 vintage motorcycles from 21 European countries. The bikes range in age from the early 1900s to 1975.

Each motorcycle shares a unique story. The oldest bike on site is the 1914 British AJS Model G 350cc, one of the earliest examples of an internal combustion engine. The rare and unusual Böhmerland, one of the first bikes you see when you enter the gallery, was made in the 1920s, and, as one of the longest motorcycles ever made, was built to seat three people. 

The 1926 Polish-made Junak motorcycle took quite the journey to get to Smith’s gallery. After purchasing the bike on eBay from a Polish seller, it first traveled to Dresden, Germany, where a friend of Smith’s drove it to Mannheim to be shipped to Belgium. From there, the Junak rolled aboard a U.S.-bound ship to Virginia, was delivered by train to north St. Louis, and eventually by truck to the museum. Smith believes that it might be one of the only Junaks in the United States.

A vintage NER-A-CAR 1921 220cc and Simson 1962 SRE-2 50cc from East Germany are also draws, and the Scott 1935 Flying Squirrel 500cc, also featured, was one of the first water-cooled motorcycles ever built. 

Through its events arm, Smith & Company, the museum also hosts weddings, fundraisers, and other special events throughout the year.