BadgerFiles

Bob Logue Motor Sports looks like most other Honda dealerships when you walk through the door. The latest ATVs and motorcycles line the showroom floor. Memorabilia adorns the walls. Look closer.

Mixed among the modern machines are precious pieces of Honda’s history. In the front window, buried behind contemporary motorcycles sits an orange snow mobile. It’s a 1973 Honda White Fox – one of three in the world. The snowmobiles never left the prototype stage.

Wind your way through the show room floor, but be careful not to knock over the original Japanese bicycle with a Honda Cub motor mounted to the frame. Stroll past the parts desk, and you’ll emerge in a back room filled with vintage Honda motorcycles. They hang from the ceiling; they extend from the wall; they crowd the floor and form a passageway through the museum that leads to a second room filled with over fifty years of history.

Vintage posters paper the white walls. The nostalgia that greets you at the door is enough to make any enthusiast blush with admiration. The low hanging track lighting reflects Bob Logue’s passion for Honda motorcycles, which began at the age of 9 when his father bought him a Honda Trail 90.

In 1978, at the age of 22, Logue left college to open a Honda dealership. Twenty years later, he decided to turn part of his dealership into a museum after he picked his 1966 Honda 450 Police Special up from the American Motorcycle Association’s (AMA) 50 Years of Honda exhibit. By this time, Logue already had approximately 40 motorcycles in his personal collection and was following in his father’s collector footsteps; his father collected Caterpillar tractors.

At the close of the AMA exhibit, Logue bought about 40 event posters. His museum was born.

When asked how many motorcycles he has has today, Logue pauses and smiles like he’s pondering the answer to a trick question, “125 – that’s a safe number.” While he may not be able to keep track of how many pieces he has in the museum, other numbers roll off Logue’s tongue with ease, such as engine size, year, and sales numbers.

Logue’s favorite bike in the museum is an RTL250 trials bike. Honda sold twenty-five of them in the United States in 1986; he displays two of them, including the one he rode in competition.

When it comes to his favorite street ride, his eyes light up as he recalls a conversation with a Harley-Davidson owner. “When he asked what I ride, I told him a Honda 50cc Ruckus.” A mini-bike is about as counter Harley culture as it comes, where bulk talks. Any hardy feeling Harley rider would certainly scoff at the toy ruckus, and therein lies Logue’s delight. “I’ve ridden hundreds of bikes, including big bikes,” Logue clarifies. “When it comes to riding around the farm and visiting neighbors, I like the Ruckus.”

Turning our focus back to the museum, “Do they run,” I want to know about the museum bike. Again, his father’s influence shows. As his father would say when talking about his Caterpillars, “Do you go to the zoo to see dead animals?” Logue continues, “They all ran when we put them in the museum, but we drained and fogged the tanks. They could be made to run again.”

At 84 years of age, Myron Schroeder takes responsibility for restoring all the bikes. “Myron comes and goes as he pleases. He rides motorcycle every day.” Schroeder’s BMW motorcycle has over 184,000 miles on it. At this stage in his career, the World War II veteran and retired branch manager from National Cash Register Corporation places riding ahead of restoring.

“He learned to fall down on an Indian,” chirps Logue as he fills in Schroeder’s motorcycling history. Indians are a prized and rare collectible American motorcycle.

The museum would make a great marketing tool for his dealership, but Logue does not advertise. “I always loved motorcycles. Making a living is secondary.” Though he’s quick to put his own family at the top of his priority list. Speaking of his youngest son, he notes, “We’re discovering motorcycling together right now. It’s fun.”

Through the museum Logue, shares the motorcycling fun with anyone who visits. Daniel Mendonca, sales manager and self-appointed museum curator, says that people from all over the world find the museum’s web site and send him questions in email. They ask for restoration advice, places to buy parts, and countless other questions. “I try to help as much as I can when I have time. I’ve always loved Honda motorcycles,” Mendonca says.

If you enjoy motorcycles and friendly people, the Bob Logue Honda Museum is a must visit. No purchase is required and admission is free.

Originally published in the Daily Item