1912 Flying Merkel Twin-Cylinder Racer

When you make your way to an airport, most times you?re traveling to another place. But right now through the close of summer, San Francisco International Airport (SFO) is a worthwhile destination in its own right. The SFO Museum offers an opportunity to travel back in time, through a jewel of an exhibition surrounding 14 vintage motorcycles built before 1916. This amazing display includes a rare collection of old-time engines, photographs, and local SF Bay Area motorcycling history artfully blended together into a not-to-be-missed opportunity for riders and gearheads of all types.

Located in the International Terminal,
Departures – Level 3, the “Early American Motorcycles” exhibit is open to the public 24 hours a day (no security screening required).
To give you the inside scoop on this gorgeous exhibit, we asked Daniel Calderon, Curator of Exhibitions at SFO Museum, to fill us in on some of the backstory.

Rider: As Curator of Exhibitions, does your job entail"

Daniel Calderon: I am one of two curators of non-aviation exhibitions at SFO Museum, which means I am responsible for developing exhibitions that draw from outside our permanent aviation collection of more than 250,000 items. These general exhibitions are based on a wide variety of subjects that are both interesting and educational, and we borrow objects from private collectors and from other museums for display. Working with these lenders...