Czech collector establishes one of Europe’s largest Harley-Davidson museums
If you love the smell of gasoline, the roar of engines, and the iconic Harley Davidson motorcycle brand then you should consider paying a trip to the Harley-Davidson Museum in Otrokovice. Spread over two floors, it showcases fifty gleaming examples of the iconic brand — the largest of its kind in Central Europe.
Richard Banát from Otrokovice, near Zlín, was a motorcycle fan from the age of 10 when he rode a Czechoslovak-made Pionýr (ultralight 50cc motorcycle) . He bought his first Harley Davidson at twenty-eight and never wanted to ride anything else again.
It was the beginning of a life-long passion. For twenty years, Banát collected everything connected to the Harley-Davidson name — cars, motorcycles, bicycles, tools, accessories, The Enthusiast magazine, signs, and badges. Today, his collection ranks among the largest in Europe. When his garage could no longer contain them, he bought a bigger estate where he built a restaurant, a small craft brewery, and, above all, a museum to showcase his treasures.
The collection shows everything linked to the Harley production — from snowmobiles and bicycles to golf carts, small trucks, vintage cars, and even a boat. Harley Davidson fans will truly find themselves in heaven.
Richard Banát is especially proud of a blue-and-white Knucklehead model from the mid-1930s.
“Before the Germans arrived, the bike was sold to someone in Czechoslovakia, and during the war years it was hidden in an attic. After the war its owner was able to bring it out and ride it but only until 1968, when it had to be hidden again—this time from the Russians. It had quite a dramatic history and it’s a wonderful machine.”
Most of the exhibits were acquired in the United States. Thanks to the help of diehard Harley enthusiasts overseas, he managed to find rare pieces that are nearly impossible to come by.
Some date back to the early years of the company’s production.
“The oldest motorcycle dates back to 1920. But what is an even rarer piece is a Harley Davidson bicycle from 1918 –there are only three of those left in the world. And overall it is one of the five most rare and most expensive vintage bikes in the world.”
The museum also displays machines with vertically mounted engines, racing types that won competitions, and a 1940s motorcycle of which only about a hundred have been preserved worldwide.
The walls are adorned with drawings of the company’s founders and of Elvis Presley, who bought one of the models in the 1950s and even a guitar made by the company in his honor. The exhibition also includes a replica of a 1930s workshop, a collection of vintage magazines published by Harley-Davidson, biker apparel, historical gas pumps and original Route 66 signs, along with wooden sidecars and trailers — many of them among the few surviving in the world.
The Harley-Davidson Museum in Otrokovice is open every day from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
