The John Parham Estate Collection // September 6-9, 2023 // Anamosa, Iowa

The renowned National Motorcycle Museum of Anamosa, Iowa, will close its doors for the final time this September, after decades of serving as a successful steward within the realms of historic motorcycle preservation and education. Originally founded back in 1989 by passionate enthusiasts, the museum has been home to countless motorcycles and memorabilia items over the years, and its remaining 300-plus motorcycles and thousands of Road Art items will soon take to the Mecum auction block at an on-site offering to be held this September 6-9. The National Motorcycle Museum has been a must-see stop on every motorcycle enthusiasts’ list since it was first relocated to its current home in Anamosa back in 2001. Before that, it was located in the city that remains home to the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum & Hall of Fame and the long-running annual world’s-largest Motorcycle Rally. “(The museum) actually was transferred here from Sturgis, South Dakota,” Museum President and board member Jill Parham explained. “(My late husband) John and I were on the board of that museum when it was in Sturgis. They wanted to close it, and so we took on the debt personally and brought it back to Anamosa, Iowa, and then formed a nonprofit—so it’s a 501(c)3 now.” The capital for the museum purchase came from the couple’s own private coffer, which contained the savings they’d managed to squirrel away during their years operating J&P Cycles, a business focused on offering components, apparel and gear for the American V-twin motorcycle rider that the two established in 1979 and spent two decades building into a thriving venture. Now housed in a 36,000 square foot facility just a mile away from the original J&P Cycles home base, the museum is home to more than 400 motorcycles that range from vintage 1900s relics to modern Harley-Davidsons, custom choppers and more. “I would like to say that John had a theme when he was starting to collect, but he loved everything,” Parham said. At its peak capacity, the museum housed 550 motorcycles, many of which were loaned to the museum by other passionate collectors to further enhance the variety on display. By the time all is sorted out for the September auction, there will be just over 300 motorcycles available among the auction lineup, most of which hail from the personal collection of the late John Parham. As described by the former Special Projects Director of the National Motorcycle Museum Mark Mederski, John “was studied, very much a connoisseur—especially of early American machines such as Curtiss, Thor, Reading-Standard, Sears, Yale and Merkel.” Mederski said that John also amassed a huge collection of Harley-Davidsons and a couple dozen key Indians, along with Vincents and Broughs as well. However, as Mederski puts it, “wealth never promises health, and sometime back, John was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis, an inherited disease of the lungs, often devastating.” For John, the diagnosis was indeed devastating, and on April 20, 2017, he took his final breaths. Since that time, Jill has been actively involved in the museum, along with longtime employees who are assisting her until it ends, and while saying goodbye to something that she and John invested so much of their lives into building is certain to be difficult, Jill said it will be a bittersweet farewell, as she’s looking forward to beginning a new chapter in her life. In addition to the more than 300 motorcycles slated to take to the Mecum auction stage this September, there will be more than 6,000 Road Art and memorabilia items constituting more than 1,000 lots on offer as well. From vintage posters and advertisements, to oil cans, toys, race jerseys, gas pumps and more, the selection is an encompassing one.