I recently had to make a trip to Leiston, Suffolk, so while I was there it seemed appropriate to visit the David Silver Honda Museum. Now I’m not really a Honda person. I’ve owned two, a VF400 which was OK, but I was never a fan of the inboard brakes and an NX650 Dominator, which I loved, but was a bit tall for my little legs. The Dominator was eventually replaced by a Yamaha SRX400 and then an SRX600, which allowed me to sample the delights of a big single cylinder engine and still reach the ground! But, I digress.
The museum is set out to lead you along a timeline of Honda’s motorcycling history. A frieze runs around the walls, giving more details of the bikes on display as well as more general background history on the Honda corporation. Some of the bikes are in pristine, restored condition and some have the patina of their previous lives.
You don’t really appreciate the size and diversity of Honda’s motorcycle range until you realise that the museum has 150 bikes and that’s a long way short of being one of everything. There is for instance no VF400 or NX650, so I couldn’t even do the ‘I had one of those’ bit. None the less it was an entertaining visit, although it only takes a hour or so to ‘do’ the museum.
Entrance costs £10 for adults, cheaper if you’re younger, or older. There is also a small selection of bikes for sale, so prepare to resist temptation. For further details, opening times etc., please refer to: www.davidsilverhondacollection.co.uk/
