The Shestakov Restoration Workshop Museum

It all started back in 1983, when friends gave our father a BMW R-5 motorcycle. At that time, it was the only vehicle in our family that my father operated the entire summer season.

Over time, when my sister and I grew up, the need for family transportation grew. First, a K-750 motorcycle with a sidecar appeared, and then a Victory model car. The 35-th had already been a native in our family for many years; it was moved without having been driven into the technical room of our garage. It received its second life in 1995 when after seeing a report on television about the BMW R-12 motorcycle (which was also in our city), the decision was made to put it in order. Then our museum activity began. Together with like-minded people, we organized a permanent exhibition at the Lenin Museum, including several motorcycles of various brands, domestic and foreign. This exposition lasted about two years, and then part of the equipment again went into garages, and part was sold for one reason or another. In 2000, our 35-th underwent another revival and was completely repainted in modern colors, for which we were subsequently criticized by respected restorers from the Baltic states. Since the concepts of restoration were new to us at that time, we took the criticism calmly – what are you going to do? – and we learned from our mistakes. This probably gave an impetus to a new round in our motorcycle history, and since 2002 we have been actively buying up all the equipment we come across, while studying the principles of restoration. So, a seemingly unattainable Harley Davidson model WLA-42 appeared in our garage. It took about two years to restore it and since we had scanty information about the real color of the motorcycle at that time, we picked out paint from a photograph in a magazine. Basically, the so-called word of mouth helped us a lot in the search for equipment, and information about us began to spread around the neighborhood. There are many stories related to the acquisition and restoration of each motorcycle, and we can talk about them excitedly for hours. We regularly take part in exhibitions, various runs, and city events. Three years ago, we even took part in the filming of a feature film, playing the role of Germans on their motorcycles.

Currently, there are 15 motorcycles from the 30s-50s in the permanent exhibition.