CN
III ARCHIVES
BY LARRY LAWRENCE
F
rom the outside, Donelson
Cycles in the St. Louis sub-
urb of St. Ann looks like any of a
number of longtime established
motorcycle dealerships. You
wouldn't expect that just inside
the dealership's door sits one of
the most amazing assemblies of
historic racing motorcycles to be
found in the country. I dare say
that there are more pedigreed
national championship race bikes
per square foot packed into one
P122
HIDDEN GEM
IN THE HEARTLAND
national flat track race, it was also
the same bike Rice infamously
crashed through the fence at the
Sacramento Mile featured in the
movie On Any Sunday! I was just
starting to let that sink in when
Carl then turned me around and
pointed out the Yamaha Darryl
Hurst rode to victory in the 1975
Houston Astrodome Short Track
National, then the Triumph that
Gene Romero won San Jose on
in '73, which was the last time a
British bike won an AMA Grand
National Mile. And there was
Nicky Hayden's Springfield TT
winner! And it just went on like
this, bike after historic bike.
room of Donelson's than you'll find
anywhere else in the country.
As owner Carl Donelson and his
daughter Kim Keen were giving
me the tour of the museum, it was
almost too much to take in. Just
past the GP racing leathers and
helmet and biography book of
Kevin Schwantz that greet you at
the door, there sits the Jim Rice
BSA Rocket III built by legendary
tuner Tom Cates. That very BSA 3
was not only the first multi to win a
(Left) Carl
Donelson started
his museum in
the mid-1990s
with just a
few restored
motorcycles.
Today the
museum has
blossomed
into one of the
most impressive
collections
of racing
motorcycles
in the country.
(Right) A view
of some of the
museum goodies
at Donelson
Cycles in St. Ann,
Missouri.
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
LARRY
LAWRENCE
