Billy Joel's Motorcycles

Sorry about the Porsche hat in front of Billy Joel's 20th Century Cycles. 

Yes, THAT Billy Joel, the Piano Man. He's a big motorcycle guy and has a lot of them. So many in fact, that he has a garage in Oyster Bay NY (on Long Island) where he keeps them. The bikes also get maintained here, and it looked like every bike had a battery charger on it, so they all get ridden. You might have seen this place in an episode of Jay Leno's Garage when Jay visited Billy in 2019. Anyway, I'd driven by the place before, but today finally stopped in to look around. Oh, and here's the link to the Jay Leno clip:

            Jay Leno Billy Joel

            

Funny warning sign

The garage is named 20th Century Cycles, and even if you are not a motorcycle fan it's amazing to see bikes from various makes, different ages, and see that with the garage and workshop that they are being maintained and driven. So, in other words, it's not a museum, it's plain and simple Billy Joel's garage for his motorcycles, with the bonus that the rest of us can visit! For all the details, check out their website: 

                20TH CENTURY CYCLES LINK

Here's a quick look around with a quick video and then some photos.  

While I'm not a motorcycle expert, it was a fun visit to see the garage and such a wide variety of motorcycles. Here we go: 

The Jaguar was very nice! Billy is way past 21 monthly shows at Madison Square Garden, currently up to about 80 this fall!

Moto Guzzi

Harley Davidson with sidecar

Harley Davidson

A couple of Ducatis

Italian motorcycle police riding in style!

BMW 1800cc

Indian

I think it's a Moto Guzzi, with a sidecar.

Ducati

Chevrolet truck with the shop logo on the door

The badge says Yama Moto

German NSU motorcycle. From reading a bit on line, the company had a long history that eventually was folded into the Audi company. The name NSU was taken from the company's home on the rivers Neckar and SUlm. You might know that NSU was the first to develop the Wankle rotary engine for their automobiles. Whew, there's a lot of history out there!

This badge was on the gas tank of this NSU motorcycle. I'd seen a few NSU cars, but never one of their motorcycles. As you can read in German, World Champion 1953, 1954 in 125cc and 250cc. 

Top: Moto Guzzi, bottom: Vincent

The street sign over the door is Bosendorfer Street, Bosendorfer being a piano manufacturer.

Harley Davidson, and Deus (from Australia)

Left to right: Norton, Triumph, Triumph

Two from Moto Guzzi

Norton

Puch two-seater

Indian