Moto Talbott

There is no logic to the Talbott collection, other than the most logical thing of all: it’s full o

Permanently closed.

The non-profit Moto Talbott museum features more than 170 motorcycles from a dozen countries, including road bikes, dirt bikes, pristine award winners, and nearly untouched barn finds. It’s located in the beautiful Carmel Valley, on one of Northern California’s best motorcycle roads.

05/20/2026

Once again for our three day closing sale, we had motorcycles coming in to visit, it had been almost 2 years so I loved to hear those great sounds again . Robert rode in on his 1969 BSA 441 Victor, the same bike he purchased new when he was only 18 years old and still rides weekly.Sunday he came in again on his Triumph 500 for a pic with Old Yellow our shop truck. Barry and Jason rode their Moto Guzzis in as well as 2 gentlemen riding a KTM and a . BMW GS . “ Horace John” , my nickname for him , rode his great lip Hodaka Ace 100 over the grade to visit , he restored it years ago after pulling it out of our barn find room . My biggest surprise though happened when a gentleman rode in on a 2012 BMW triple black GS 1200 , it took my eye , looking very familiar and for very good reason , it had been my bike back in the day , from track days to old western trips on black ice , I had loved that GS. My red Tail of the Dragon sticker was still on it but was talked into selling it for a Multistrada , which proved a big mistake , as this wonderful GS is the only bike that I have sold and unsuccessfully tried to buy back , the only one!! Many thanks for all the folks that came to our closing sale , it became a celebration of our era and the great run we had ! Ride Safe … Robb

04/19/2026

Why are my son Logan and I smiling,….well it is because we both finally found and agreed upon our Father- Son vehicle to rebuild and take on a long awaited trip all over our favorite western states. The search. took over 2 years in the usual places , but Facebook Market place finally came through with this 1968 Chevy K-10 short bed , 4x4 , It came from a farm in Fresno however after my own life experiences with grape farming I have never advised buying a truck or a tractor from a farmer , because the stuff is generally all “ used up” , but I guess rules are meant to be broken ! Logan and I are now paying the price, never having seen so much baling wire , Duc tape , wrong parts and zip ties holding everything together . So we are now having to go in deep in order to make our new K-10 roadworthy for the coming trip . I learned to love General Motors trucks very early , driving a 1950 3/4 ton for 6 years , and then my 1972 GMC 1 ton for 24 years , it helped build my first cabin , the family ranch and finally our winery and vineyard. We both loved that truck and can’t wait to hit the road again on our coming Father-Son Wester trip .. Robb

04/10/2026

After over 18 months, we are finally finishing moving the last favorite bikes in into our old ranch house.. Heavy rain hit is this morning so it turned out to be the perfect time to air up the tires and move our chosen gems into more appropriate sections , and of course the Italian motos will claim the largest area . 2 dirt bikes that raced up Pikes Peak , one in the summer and mine in the winter will of course be shown as well. I am finally ready to start hanging our Moto artwork, however, over 150 pieces will now be for sale as this tiny 1934 ranch house can only take a few , as it is mostly single pane windows kept in order to preserve its former history . Huge thanks to Chava and Rich who have done the heavy lifting and helped make this extended move possible ! Robb

03/19/2026

There was no need for warming up our tires this morning for our monthly ride, which is rarely now done on our coast because of the horrific traffic, so we headed inland . We rode the usual upper valley out to King City with a great lunch at our favorite place and then left for the Bitterwater road , not stopping at the Red Gate , continuing to the very rough Coalinga road , finally finishing on the Los Gatos road into to Coalinga oil derricks .A few warm hours with only 2 pickup trucks encountered, and they both gave us big waves ! Wonderful small and tight backcountry roads with 4 small water crossings and waist high green grass for the cows , horses , sheep , goats and even a proud Golden Eagle sitting on a fence post enjoying his lunch !! Double Wow!! We learned that Chevron Oil just took over the drilling leases in Coalinga so the derricks are now pumping like they have never before , the hotels are full again and the town is alive again , we actually had a great dinner , that was extremely rare before . I love my old rusty junkers so was thrilled to find the Cadillac Ranch , an old tractor , shade when we could find it , the white buffalo and finally the cool Arroyo Secs River still running under our favorite old Green Bridge Robb

02/28/2026

Our heavy rain and wind storms appear to be finished so it is now time to finish moving our favorite bikes down to Flanders in Carmel. Only a few are left to move as the rest have now been sold, but our “ keepers” will be quite eclectic, much loved and special, in other words, the way I have always rolled , ridden and collected. our Triumph Thruxton Cup Racer. the iconic Ducati 916 and of course my Ducati, final edition, super sport, which I used for years on track days at Laguna Seca , before I low sided on the double apex turn 2 . They will all sit by an early 1950s MV Augusta racer and of course the MV Augusta F4 Ayrton Senna edition. Eventually the wall art will follow after all of bikes are placed , and it be a good feeling to finally display our favorite bikes again . Robb

02/23/2026

The last truck left the Moto Talbott Collection today , loaded with the tiny BMW Isetta , our vintage bicycle collection and all of my antique pedal cars. I started finding most of them in the late 1960s and most of the 1970s but they all will now be happy to be re homed to new collectors . Every single piece has its own story and where I found it , from Maine to Montana I was always looking , for example the English pedal car mounted on an old Montana sled , great ingenuity. I have loved putting them all together and I am sure that they have shared all of their own stories when the lights go out . Nick Smith at Classic Avenue will again be handling the sales and we are now one step closer to leaving our beautiful museum . Robb.

02/19/2026

I have certainly slowed down writing about Motos however when the ultra rare MV 10 “minibike racing “comes up for sale on Bring a Trailer , I’m all in again. We had the good fortune to have a visit a few years back from Phil Reid JR , who confirmed that he was the recipient of the mid 70s 10 inch MV mini bike racing from his father Phil Reid MBE , the world, famous GP motorcycle racer.This tiny racer mirrored the full size 500cc GP bike and was built at the MV factory in Gallarate , Italy in three sizes , the 8” , the 10” and the rarest of the three, the 12” wheel size with 4 speeds. While at our Museum, Phil told us he was only 4 years old when given his bike, not 10 as generally thought and that he rode the heck out of it and absolutely loved it as well. It took us 13 years to find all three wheel sizes, one from San Francisco, one from a used car lot in London, England, and the last one from Gary Kohs Collezione MV Agusta . We actually borrowed the rare 12” from a great MV collector and friend until we could find our own shifter MV and restore it for our display. Our tiny bikes have been displayed at the Talbott tasting room, our home The Quail Motorcycle Gathering and finally our museum. One more interesting story is that Arturo Magni ordered 22 of the 12” shifter variant for his own Junior race team , fun stuff if it’s true. Our little collection is much loved and will always stay with us . Robb.

01/02/2026

I decided to ride the last day of the year alone under cold, dark and cloudy skies down to the tiny town of Jolon. It really isn’t a town anymore but more of just an area near Fort Hunter Liggett ,it was founded back in the 1860s to serve the gold miners who worked in the Los Burros mining district over on the coast . I rode by many of the vineyards that are now being torn out and piled for burning . I have witnessed our Monterey County vineyards come and go in my 38 years in the wine business but never seen so many burn piles as I rode by today. I certainly won’t miss 2025 but am excited about riding new back roads in 2026 . Robb. .

12/24/2025

Our Moto Talbott Museum may have closed but rest assured the many memories of it will go on . Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 🎄

12/20/2025

There has never been one worry about my retiring, the projects have and will never stop for me. However, it was finally time to get back on my Moto Guzy, and the red gate on the bitter water grade is always a favorite for the coastal mountain views. Today we took coast route #1 down to the road closure, the day was warm, the road was devoid of the usual tourist traffic and the Pacific Ocean was “ millpond” calm .Scott and I rode it today in order to beat the coming 6 days straight of Atmospheric River , which may bring huge amounts of rain to our fragile highway 1 , more rockslides , etc. I rode both of these short rides with my neighbor buddy who now rides my beloved 2002 BMW GSA , the bike I rode all over the US , coving 35 states right before I opened our museum , I still love and miss that bike to this day but my dear old friend luckily now lives right next door . Robb.

11/07/2025

Well after 15 months , I am finally toasting a few more bikes that are moving into our restored 1934 California ranch house , a dehumidifier has been installed as well as wi-fi and security cameras. Rich and I brought in 4 favorites to display and yes it has been hard to pick the first ones in , as I still love them all . We will continue to bring in a few each week until our small home is full. This downsizing won’t be easy but favorite bits and pieces will join the bikes , our family treasures like my grandfather’s cast iron toys will stay here. Our loved moto artwork will be the absolutely last thing to be installed , and as it is said , this will be a wonderful process . Robb

Address

4 East Carmel Valley Road
Carmel Valley, CA
93924

Telephone

(831) 659-5410

Website

http://www.mototalbott.com/

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