CHARLOTTE, Mich. — Pennants, trading cards, posters and motorcycle toys are some of the items in Wayne Caveney’s motorcycle memorabilia collection, a collection that fills his basement.
“Anything that is old and has to do with motorcycles, it just gives me a rush,” Caveney said.
There are close to a million items in his collection some dating back to the 1890s. Caveney said he’s unsure how much his collection is worth.
“I have about 1,300 motorcycle toys alone and then a couple hundred thousand cards and stuff. In magazines I got thousands and thousands of magazines that date back to 1910,” he said.
Caveney started to collect items in the 1960s, but it didn’t become a serious hobby until the '90s. He was inspired to expand his collection after he went to someone’s house to pick up motorcycle parts and saw they had a miniature motorcycle collection. The rest was history.
Emily Caveney said she’s amazed by her dad’s collection. She said, when she was growing up, she would come home after school and there would be two to four packages every day on the front doorstep.
“Everybody should have a passion in life, and this is his passion," Emily said. "And I think it’s cool and neat. I don’t really have something that is for me, but I love that he gets so excited about this stuff.
With so many items you think it would be hard to have a favorite, but Caveney’s top pick is one of his 1,300 motorcycle toys. Caveney said the toy is from 1949 and is called Mac.
“You wind it up. He will go around in a circle he’ll stop; he’ll get off the bike and then he’ll get back on the bike and take off. It’s got motor sound to it and everything,” Caveney said.
As to where he finds his prized possessions, many come from the internet, flea markets and antique shows.
Caveney doesn’t only collect he also rides and has been to the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota six times and 30 times to the Laconia rally in New Hampshire.
He has seven motorcycles, three that are rideable and four that need to be worked on. The oldest is from 1948.
Caveney said he would love to open a museum one day in Charlotte to display his items.
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