Featured Pages "I wants to make yer flesh creep" Some Gruesome Relics of Bygone Days seen by the Motor Cyclist on Tour
Wayside GibbetsThe Mother of Invention "I recommend that you maintain the business connection with Daimler. His invention is entirely trustworthy, and it will have a future, the magnitude of which we cannot begin to imagine today."
Levassor, Panhard and the woman who brought it all together - Louise SarazinHawker Motorcycles An obscure marque built by an Australian. He is the Hawker of Hurricane and Harrier fame.
Harry Hawker
Address: Rue du Général Leclerc, 21420 Savigny-lès-Beaune, France
Website: chateau-savigny.com
The five hundred year old Chateau de Savigny holds one of the largest motorcycle collections in France with some 250 to 300 motorcycles on display.
Highlights of the collection: One of the three known examples of Givaudan, along with the works of Louis Clément, Blériot and Anzani - all aviation pioneers.
There are of course many examples of Terrot, whose factory was just a few kilometres from the chateau.
The museum has a remarkable collection of 2500 scale model aircraft which illustrates the history of aviation, and displays a handsome array of Abarth racing cars.
Elsewhere in the castle grounds and halls are numerous aviation exhibits including not a few military aircraft - Mirage, Mystères, Fouga, Sikorsky...
From the Chateau's website:
"One of the major motorcycle museums of France. Nearly 250 motorcycles, dating from 1902 to 1960, of almost all origins. From ecclesiastical belt types to racing motorcycles. Prestigious makes: Norton, Vincent, Gilera, Velocette, MV, Rudge, AJS, Terrot, Honda, Bleriot, Peugeot, BSA, NSU, Horex, Sarolea. From the motorcycle of Jean Mermoz to that of G. Monneret through that of Chanoine Kir."