Billy Joel Rolls Out Bevy Of Classic Motorcycles For Christy's Exhibit In Sag Harbor

By Colin M. Graham | 3 Comments

The Christy’s Art Center on Madison Street in Sag Harbor will be displaying 18 classic motorcycles from Billy Joel’s private collection starting this Saturday, including this vintage Ducati. Photos by Colin M. Graham

Sag Harbor - The Christy's Art Center on Madison Street in Sag Harbor has opened its doors on a very different kind of art exhibition, featuring 18 motorcycles from Billy Joel's private collection accompanied by various motorcycle themed pieces of art.

Royal Enfield.

The show, curated by gallery owner Michael Eicke and co-curated by Rob Schneider, owner of Lighthouse Harley-Davidson in Huntington Station and co-owner along with Joel of 20th Century Cycles, will be displaying bikes in three different categories says Schneider. "The categories will be American Classics, Metric Culture, which will consist of European and Japanese imports and Café Racers including some great bikes made by companies such as Royal Enfield; there will even be some bikes that people have never seen before," Schneider explained. "Billy has a great eclectic collection and he wants to share it with people and see people enjoy the things he enjoys. To have all these bikes just sitting in a private collection is such a shallow existence so he wanted to bring them out and share them with the community. Part of his credo is that he doesn't like to call himself a 'collector' because being a collector implies you don't ride them and Billy rides his bikes everyday."

While none of the bikes will be for sale, "unless someone makes him a crazy offer, Billy might be the music man but he's also a businessman," jokes Schneider, if there is a particular bike that someone wants to own, Schneider explains that 20th Century Cycles has the ability to custom manufacture just about anything on display for interested clients.

Classic American made Harley Davidson.

The original concept for the show was going to combine the showing of the motorcycles with different pieces of automotive themed art works by local artists, that idea was eventually scrapped because Joel didn't want the paintings to detract from what he felt was the real focus of the show: the motorcycles themselves. The art that will be on display will be strictly motorcycle based said Schneider. "All of the art we're going to have was chosen to complement the bikes," he said while setting up for the show, "so we'll try and put each bike near a work that features it in the painting."

In a similar vein to the exhibit at the Guggenheim back in 1998 entitled the "Art of the Motorcycle," Eicke feels that each bike is and of itself a piece of art. "All of these old motorcycles are handmade in the days before automated assembly lines. With motorcycles and even cars that were made 40 or 50 years ago the craftsmanship that went into them was worth ten times what you would pay for the product," Eicke pointed out. "I think the show also works well in this space because it too has history and a sense of craftsmanship."

Schneider seconds Eicke's sentiments regarding the level of craftsmanship that went in to some of these motorcycles. "They say that each Harley is unique," he relates. "Although each one rolled off the same assembly line, they were all hand-painted and hand-pinstriped so how they looked depended on how many beers the guy painting them had for lunch."

Curators Rob Schneider and Michael Eicke.

During the two weeks that the exhibit will be on display, Schneider says that he is sure Joel will be an active participant, popping in and out of the gallery to gauge people's reactions and chat with them about the bikes, but won't schedule regular hours. "Billy wants people to come to see the bikes, not to see him. One of the things that Billy loves is when he can trick people's eye with some of his rebuilt copies of vintage bikes, especially with some of the old timers," Schneider said. "Like when a person comes up to him and says 'what a great bike, it was the first one I ever bought years ago, it might even be the same one,' and Billy tells that that it can't be because his was built in 2004, not 1974. Maybe a quarter of his collection are bikes built with period parts but that incorporate some modern technology to make them more comfortable for daily riding. He calls them 'new scoots for old coots,' or 'modern rides with classic pride,'" Schneider smiles.

"Old motorcycles were hand-made in the days before automated assembly lines" according to curator Michael Eicke.

The exhibit will open at 10 a.m. on Saturday and will be open to 10 p.m. on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays after that and from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday.

Comments

Phil N. from New York says:
David is right. But what Billy joel is trying to feature in this exhibit are the different ways that new motorcycles can have, or be customized to have a vintage look. This show displays original vintage bikes, new stock bikes that look like vintage bikes and bikes with new technology that have been custom built to look like vintage bikes. Joel's company - 20th Century Cycles - builds brand new bikes that look like the old classics. The writer might have been confused by the mix of old and new. Still, It's quite an interesting concept.

David from Fort Lauderdale says:
Nice article. However, the Royal Enfield Military model shown here is not a 1940s motorcycle used during World War II but a product of Royal Enfield in Chennai, India, where they have been made much unchanged since 1955, for civilian and Indian military and police use. You can buy them today in the United States from a network of dealers, with a full warranty! Royal Enfields were used by the British Army during World War II but the modern turn signals, muffler and the Indian style rear pannier boxes identify this one as being of more recent vintage. All best.

Richard Sutton from Huntington, LI says:
Great Format for a show! Good luck on your opening! There's a great deal of visual arts training that goes into product engineering! Even products built according to the Form Follows Function rules! The art of great mechanical engineering, welding, etc., generates an almost archetypal response in viewers when something as iconic as vintage motorcycles become the subject of appreciation. My Dad picked up a trashed Enfield in a transportation dump in 1945 and spent four more years travelling throughout Europe! I can't see one of those bikes without thinking of him, and the freedom he enjoyed!