Author Topic: The 5 Most Awesome Classic Movie Motorcycles (Read 5932 times)

baird4444 · **on:** January 29, 2014, 05:29:40 pm

The 5 Most Awesome Classic Movie Motorcycles

http://www.bikebandit.com/community/articles/most-awesome-classic-movie-motorcycles?roi=echo3-18688516822-17352569-966d5aca7014a0b8c0697cc611ca61cf&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=BB_News_012914&utm_source=Wednesday_012914&utm_content=Awesome_Classic_Movie_Motorcycles

boggy · **Reply #1 on:** January 29, 2014, 06:09:14 pm

That's a good list. In the behind the scenes for Mad Max they mention all those motorcycles were donated by Kawasaki. Not a bad bit of advertising.

Not a motorcycle movie but Maverick racing a taking off F-14 on a Ninja left it's mark on me. Is that why I moved to San Diego?

You older gents most likely don't know it but there are some great motorcycle scenes in the graphic novel, Akira, that was later animated in the 1988 film version. Very influential for me, and to a whole bunch of artists and designers of my generation.

Great quote on this page:
http://animerulezzz.org/?ttl=Manga%20Online:%20Akira%20-%20Volume%201%20-%20Page%2015&t=MangaReader/view_read&aid=1&attl=Akira+-+Volume+1&p=15&lang=en

Blltrdr · **Reply #2 on:** January 29, 2014, 06:47:21 pm

How about the masochistic mustachioed racer from the movie Gumball Rally. He road a cafe'd KH400.
http://www.videodetective.com/movies/the-gumball-rally/599281

cyrusb · **Reply #3 on:** January 29, 2014, 07:27:30 pm

Have to add a single. Check out the Norton in "The Motorcycle Chronicles".

Blltrdr · **Reply #4 on:** January 29, 2014, 07:44:23 pm

Quote from: cyrusb on January 29, 2014, 07:27:30 pm

Have to add a single. Check out the Norton in "The Motorcycle Chronicles".

You probably mean, The Motorcycle Diaries.

cyrusb · **Reply #5 on:** January 29, 2014, 07:51:22 pm

Yeah, that's it. Good story about a commie and his Norton.

jdrouin · **Reply #6 on:** January 29, 2014, 09:16:42 pm

Boggy, you reminded me how much I liked the Cyclone cycles on Robotech when I was a kid.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xq7CYrH-_Kc&noredirect=1

Quote from: boggy on January 29, 2014, 06:09:14 pm

You older gents most likely don't know it but there are some great motorcycle scenes in the graphic novel, Akira, that was later animated in the 1988 film version. Very influential for me, and to a whole bunch of artists and designers of my generation.

Great quote on this page:
http://animerulezzz.org/?ttl=Manga%20Online:%20Akira%20-%20Volume%201%20-%20Page%2015&t=MangaReader/view_read&aid=1&attl=Akira+-+Volume+1&p=15&lang=en

boggy · **Reply #7 on:** January 29, 2014, 10:03:58 pm

Quote from: jdrouin on January 29, 2014, 09:16:42 pm

Boggy, you reminded me how much I liked the Cyclone cycles on Robotech when I was a kid.

The only thing I wanted more than a motorcycle as a kid, was a motorcycle that transformed into a robot and/or power-suit.

ERC · **Reply #8 on:** January 29, 2014, 10:58:48 pm

Boggy just watch the comments about older gentlemen. Hope Redcat doesn't see that.

ERC

barenekd · **Reply #9 on:** January 29, 2014, 11:04:17 pm

Quote

The only thing I wanted more than a motorcycle as a kid, was a motorcycle that transformed into a robot and/or power-suit.

I'm sure glad I was never distracted by motorcycle/robots when I was a kid. Just airplanes, and trains, for awhile. At least trains lasted until the steam engines disappeared, airplanes, never. When I was a kid about2 years old, I used to run off to the switchyards to watch the trains. The RR cops would get me and call my mother to come and get me. I was kind of a regular nuisance down there! I was having a blast! I can still remember some of the views I had there. Kinda like flashbacks to old movies I saw back then.
Bare

barenekd · **Reply #10 on:** January 29, 2014, 11:32:00 pm

It's amazing, talking to people how many of them think the bikes the the "Wild One" were Harleys. I don't think there were more than two Harleys in the movie, one that got stuck under the old guys car, and another it seems was just part of the mob. That one may have been the same one not knowing what order the movie as shot in. At least it was a K Model, probably my favorite Harley anyway.
There were several Matchlesses, BSAs, Ariels and other Brit bikes that did have their badges removed or inverted.

azcatfan · **Reply #11 on:** January 29, 2014, 11:49:08 pm

Well I know it's movies, but, Fonzie rode a Triumph, that definitely made me want to ride as a kid...

boggy · **Reply #12 on:** January 30, 2014, 12:07:37 am

Quote from: barenekd on January 29, 2014, 11:32:00 pm

It's amazing, talking to people how many of them think the bikes the the "Wild One" were Harleys.

Quote from: azcatfan on January 29, 2014, 11:49:08 pm

Well I know it's movies, but, Fonzie rode a Triumph, that definitely made me want to ride as a kid...

As with Brando, I'm willing to bet most folks would answer with "a Harley" if you asked them what kind of bike they thought Fonzie had.

High On Octane · **Reply #13 on:** January 30, 2014, 12:59:34 am

Eeeeehhhhhhhhhhhhh! I'm from Wisconsin, so I KNEW The Fonz rode a Triumph.

Scottie

mattsz · **Reply #14 on:** January 30, 2014, 01:04:33 am

Quote from: boggy on January 29, 2014, 06:09:14 pm

You older gents most likely don't know it but there are some great motorcycle scenes in the graphic novel, Akira, that was later animated in the 1988 film version. Very influential for me, and to a whole bunch of artists and designers of my generation.

Great quote on this page...

ZBAM!

Oh, wait... that's probably not the quote you're talking about...

Arizoni · **Reply #15 on:** January 30, 2014, 01:37:42 am

Actually, The Fonz never rode that Triumph. He didn't know how to ride a motorcycle.

azcatfan · **Reply #16 on:** January 30, 2014, 01:57:01 am

I beg to differ...

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xu5jqz_the-fonz-on-his-motorcycle-henry-winkler_people

rvcycleguy · **Reply #17 on:** January 30, 2014, 02:59:04 am

I differ that he did not really ride. He was towed, pushed, trailered, etc.

http://fonzies.webs.com/motorcycles.htm

azcatfan · **Reply #18 on:** January 30, 2014, 03:05:25 am

In the interview above he stated he rode it 5 feet and crashed, then they towed him on a board, but FTR - The Character Fonzy rode a Triumph - Henry Winkler on the other hand, was Henry Winkler

Arizoni · **Reply #19 on:** January 30, 2014, 04:15:54 am

Sounds like Fonz's (Henry Winkler's) double rode the motorcycles in Happy Days.

Fonzie rode a board (after his first and last motorcycle ride).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fonzie

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Winkler

cyrusb · **Reply #20 on:** January 30, 2014, 12:17:17 pm

I believe it was a knucklehead in the first episodes. no? He didn't have the stones for it so they went to the tri.http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=8dAILPrdY1VhdM&tbnid=ZowGF5prLIbXdM:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jockeyjournal.com%2Fforum%2Fshowthread.php%3Ft%3D42648&ei=SkPqUozYL67gsASJ-oCQBw&bvm=bv.60444564,d.aWc&psig=AFQjCNE7I9zKuEB_gHMlA5pwX7HNUndwSg&ust=1391170761682541

cyrusb · **Reply #21 on:** January 30, 2014, 12:27:26 pm

Here ya go...

azcatfan · **Reply #22 on:** January 30, 2014, 03:10:30 pm

Yes, in the first episodes Fonzie had a knucklehead. Once they got over not wanting to show him wearing leather on TV, they began showing him on a Triumph.

I enjoyed this show so much in my childhood, a leather jacket and a motorcycle were embedded in my future from watching that show. Whether or not Winkler could ride is unimportant to me, Fonzie could, and did

Suspension of disbelief and Hollywood magic

rvcycleguy · **Reply #23 on:** January 30, 2014, 03:28:59 pm

I had the opportunity to visit the TV set of CHIPs. The CA motorcop show with Ponch and John. On most shows, the bikes were mounted on a trailer and pulled around the streets of LA. In fact, the trailered bikes were only 1/2 bikes. No front forks, Or front wheel. Only a handlebar. This is evident when they were obviously riding next to each other and talking at the same time. My brother and I sat on the bikes and had a photo op.

tooseevee · **Reply #24 on:** January 30, 2014, 06:19:02 pm

Quote from: rvcycleguy on January 30, 2014, 03:28:59 pm

The CA motorcop show with Ponch and John. On most shows, the bikes were mounted on a trailer and pulled around the streets of LA. In fact, the trailered bikes were only 1/2 bikes. No front forks, Or front wheel. Only a handlebar. This is evident when they were obviously riding next to each other and talking at the same time.

Obvious yes. Painfully obvious.

tooseevee · **Reply #25 on:** January 30, 2014, 07:30:20 pm

Quote from: barenekd on January 29, 2014, 11:32:00 pm

It's amazing, talking to people how many of them think the bikes the the "Wild One" were Harleys. I don't think there were more than two Harleys in the movie, one that got stuck under the old guys car, and another it seems was just part of the mob. That one may have been the same one not knowing what order the movie as shot in. At least it was a K Model, probably my favorite Harley anyway.
There were several Matchlesses, BSAs, Ariels and other Brit bikes that did have their badges removed or inverted.

Lee Marvin rode a panhead harley & his group whatever mostly rode harleys although they were seen hardly at all. I don't recall the bike under the car (a K you say?); I haven't watched the movie for a lonnnng time. I find it silly now, almost as bad as being forced to watch those two "CHIPs" idiots ride around LA on trailers. There were very few (1?) so-called biker movies that I could force myself to watch more than once without throwing up & cable has made it even worse beginning with that idiotic OCC clown show what? 15 years ago that went on & on for years & would not die like some kind of Evil Dead? I can't express the disdain I have for that whole bunch including the producers.

Yeah. I have issues

cyrusb · **Reply #26 on:** January 30, 2014, 08:14:06 pm

I hear ya on that 2cv! I always thought Marvin and his group rode Harley's, And Douchebag Brando and his Beetles rode britbikes. And Brando was a huge douche!

tooseevee · **Reply #27 on:** January 30, 2014, 10:00:36 pm

Quote from: cyrusb on January 30, 2014, 08:14:06 pm

I hear ya on that 2cv! I always thought Marvin and his group rode Harley's, And Douchebag Brando and his Beetles rode britbikes. And Brando was a huge douche!

What do you base THAT opinion on? The Wild One alone?

The man made some damn good, amazing movies (& I'm only talking about his acting not his politics) & I certainly wouldn't put him in the huge douche or douche bag category (& there are MANY that I DO). Migod, Streetcar & Waterfront ALONE make the man stand alone & there's no apostrophe in the plural of harley.

cyrusb · **Reply #28 on:** January 30, 2014, 10:04:19 pm

The "Johnny" character. They could not have made that part any worse. No? Not brando's fault. Hey, I like his other work.

Blltrdr · **Reply #29 on:** January 30, 2014, 10:46:15 pm

Who knows maybe Brando was a douche. If you believe in karma and then relate that to his later life you could make a point that maybe he did do some douchey stuff earlier on. Ultimately his douchey kids put him in his grave. Don't know him, can't judge him except for his acting skills which are top tier in my book.

"Most successful people in Hollywood are failures as human beings" - Marlon Brando

tooseevee · **Reply #30 on:** January 30, 2014, 11:03:27 pm

Quote from: cyrusb on January 30, 2014, 10:04:19 pm

The "Johnny" character. They could not have made that part any worse. No? Not brando's fault. Hey, I like his other work.

I was hoping you meant the character.

I'm gonna avoid getting into how horrible Hollywood interprets things then AND now because it's just all too frigging complicated. Suffice it to say that Hollywood has totally twisted history & reality in every subject since the camera was invented from the Pilgrims to cowboys & Indians to bikers. They (Hollywood) had to do something with the twisted, mostly invented, media story about what went on in Hollister & The Wild One was the result. Accuracy? Since when has THAT ever been a criteria?

rvcycleguy · **Reply #31 on:** January 30, 2014, 11:19:05 pm

It's called entertainment. Hollywood artistic license....nothing more, nothing less.

heloego · **Reply #32 on:** January 30, 2014, 11:32:59 pm

The big problem with "artistic license" is stupid, inane use of it.
It ain't art if it doesn't speak volumes to everyone.
"Art" my ass.

rvcycleguy · **Reply #33 on:** January 31, 2014, 12:16:21 am

Art.. It's in the eye of the beholder! Art to some, garbage to others. Critics everywhere.

heloego · **Reply #34 on:** January 31, 2014, 12:35:34 am

I totally agree about it being in the eye of the beholder, but I stand by my assertion that the vast majority of it is crap. Entertainment, yes. Art. Nope, not no way, not no how.

boggy · **Reply #35 on:** January 31, 2014, 08:10:01 pm

Forgot to mention Tron and Return of the Jedi. Conventional bikes? No. But Light-cycles and Speeder-bikes also contributed to the development of my brain. Both make for great scenes in those movies. Tron is why I like the Monotracer so much. http://bikeweb.com/files/images/blezdrivesmtsideweb061-1598.preview.jpg

The_Rigger · **Reply #36 on:** January 31, 2014, 09:42:58 pm

Hey, Boggy! I'm one of the Older Gents, and I wanted the red bike that Tetsuo rode in Akira in the worst way possible!

As for the URL list, what happened to On Any Sunday? I'll put OAS up against both The Wild One and Easy Rider as the best motorcycle film ever made.

ace.cafe · **Reply #37 on:** January 31, 2014, 10:59:41 pm

Ghost Rider

Hahaha!

barenekd · **Reply #38 on:** January 31, 2014, 11:09:46 pm

The list of M/C movies I have in my collection. there are some good ones in there. Little Fauss and Big Halsey is one of them. I can pass on the '60s Hells Angels creations. Those were terrible.

Girl on a Motorcycle
Joey Dunlop
Leather Boys, The
Little Fauss & Big Halsey
On Any Sunday
On Any Sunday 2
Quadrophenia
Sidecar Racer
Wild One, The
World's Fastest Indian, The
Easy Rider
Then Came Bronson

boggy · **Reply #39 on:** January 31, 2014, 11:16:07 pm

On Any Sunday is without a doubt the undisputed, heavy-weight champion of motorcycle movies, but it's a work of non-fiction. I think that list was Hollywood movies with bikes in the foreground.

Rigger, people share your love for that bike. Many have tried to recreate it in real life.

See if this link works. If not google "akira motorcycle":
https://www.google.com/search?q=akira+motorcycle&safe=off&espv=210&es_sm=122&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=wyvsUqHrGPDnsASc2oKQAw&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAQ&biw=1104&bih=798

barenekd · **Reply #40 on:** January 31, 2014, 11:20:51 pm

Looks like an Alligator without the fairing
Bare

mattsz · **Reply #41 on:** February 01, 2014, 12:56:44 am

There was an "On Any Sunday 2"??

baird4444 · **Reply #42 on:** February 01, 2014, 01:15:06 am

Quote from: mattsz on February 01, 2014, 12:56:44 am

There was an "On Any Sunday 2"??

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEvUbBByqQA

REdmonton · **Reply #43 on:** February 05, 2014, 05:10:43 am

Arlo Guthrie rode a Triumph in Alice's Restaurant. He wrote a song about riding. I saw him about a year and a half ago and he said his bike was parked in his living room waiting for him to get back.

boggy · **Reply #44 on:** February 05, 2014, 03:56:48 pm

Quote from: REdmonton on February 05, 2014, 05:10:43 am

He wrote a song about riding.

Bet he didn't have a pickle parked in his living room.

REdmonton · **Reply #45 on:** February 06, 2014, 12:25:02 am

Another of my favourites is the Brough Superior SS100 in Lawrence of Arabia.

And the pickle was probably in the fridge, because he didn't want the pickle.

baird4444 · **Reply #46 on:** February 06, 2014, 06:17:14 am

for the curious....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g266Uwp6ZnI

Blltrdr · **Reply #47 on:** February 06, 2014, 06:25:12 am

Quote from: REdmonton on February 06, 2014, 12:25:02 am

Another of my favourites is the Brough Superior SS100 in Lawrence of Arabia.

And the pickle was probably in the fridge, because he didn't want the pickle.

Good call. One of the best motion pictures to grace the screen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzPr3R3DNoo

tooseevee · **Reply #48 on:** February 06, 2014, 01:45:10 pm

Quote from: The_Rigger on January 31, 2014, 09:42:58 pm

Hey, Boggy! I'm one of the Older Gents, and I wanted the red bike that Tetsuo rode in Akira in the worst way possible!

As for the URL list, what happened to On Any Sunday? I'll put OAS up against both The Wild One and Easy Rider as the best motorcycle film ever made.

You can't compare & contrast these three movies. They are each a totally different category. OAS is a brilliant documentary. The Wild One I saw as a high school student when it first came out & I knew even then that it was a poor depiction of what I knew as "bikers". Only Lee Marvin was the least bit believable. Easy Rider is also in a class by itself & is not really a motorcycle movie. At least the bikes were actually ridden & the scenes where the bikes are actually ridden on actual roads are still some of the best ever filmed. I won't get into how Easy Rider effected me in '69 as a 31 year old who had been into bikes since he was 11. It's just too complicated. A 20 year old seeing it now for the first time would be a totally different reaction. There are many parts of Easy Rider that are silly to ME now & I fast forward through them.

In closing, all I'll say is that 99% of the Hollywood "biker" movies (starting with The Wild One) were crap & totally ridiculous, especially the ones that tried to depict M/Cs & cable TV has made it even worse.

boggy · **Reply #49 on:** February 06, 2014, 03:32:55 pm

Quote from: tooseevee on February 06, 2014, 01:45:10 pm

cable TV has made it even worse.

Cable TV has made a lot of things worse.