Tag Archives: Easy Rider

Not So Easy Rider safety film

This 1973 safety film starring Easy Rider star Peter Fonda and legendary stuntman Evel Knievel is not only hilarious, with some great period music, but also still surprisingly relevant today.

While the film doesn’t endorse lane filtering or splitting, most of the information supplied is still as relevant today as it was in the 1970s when the film was produced.

That is not to say that you will agree wth everything they say; for example that you should wear a white helmet to be more visible.

However, it’s an entertaining 17-minute video that features a segment with Evel.

Evel Knievel Harley-Davidson XL 1000 Sportster
Evel Knievel

We particularly love the reference to defensive motorcyclists treating all drivers as either “asleep, blind or drunk”.

There is also some great LA motorcycle police synchronised riding. It’s fascinating to watch, but it doesn’t have much to do with the message about how police cops “riding by the book” are actually safer than police in patrol cars. They quote the statistic of 18 accidents per million miles on police bikes compared with 27 in patrol cars.

There is also a true/false quiz to test your motorcycle knowledge.

And it finishes with a cringe-worthy safety message from Mr Easy Rider himself: “Have a good trip and don’t ride too easy.”

Could the Easy Rider Captain America chopper soon become the most expensive motorcycle in the world?
Peter Fonda on Captain America in Easy Rider

Source: MotorbikeWriter.com

Wheels and Reels: Best-Known Motorcycle Brands In Movies

(Wheels and Reels: Sponsored post)

There are movies and TV shows, not to mention books and comic books, that define their heroes, villains, perhaps antiheroes by the wheels they use to move around. These wheels, two or four, depending on the necessities of the plot, are sometimes placed inside the story by the courtesy of the show’s sponsors, in a practice called “product placement”. This is why various brands are depicted as the most reliable cars in the world. When it comes to motorcycles, though, product placement is pretty rare. This doesn’t mean motorcycle brands are not present in popular culture – but their brands are there not as a means of raising some funding but due to their meaning, mythos, and image.

Could the Easy Rider Captain America chopper soon become the most expensive motorcycle in the world? reels
Peter Fonda on Captain America in Easy Rider

Harley-Davidson is the brand that shows up most often in movies and TV shows, especially since the success of the legendary “Easy Rider” with the late Peter Fonda in the main role. There’s no telling how much of its popularity is due to its legendary status or clever marketing, but the fact remains: it’s arguably the best-known motorcycle brand in the world, with frequent cameos in various movies, TV shows, books, even comic books. Unfortunately, nobody ever made a list of all the movies that feature Harleys but here are some of the most famous ones: Meat Loaf rides a WLA in the cult classic “The Rocky Horror Picture Show”, Sylvester Stallone rode an FLH 80 in “Rocky III” and “Rocky V”, James Marshall rode a 1978 FLH-80 in the iconic TV series “Twin Peaks” (and the follow-up film “Fire Walk With Me”), and to have a more recent example, too, Chris Evans rode a Softail Cross Bones (made to look like a WLA) in “Captain America: The First Avenger).

The World's Fastest indian polaris salt flats reels
The World’s Fastest Indian

Back in the early 1900s, Indian was the largest motorcycle manufacturer in the world. It had quite a few popular models, like the Chief (between the 1920s and the 1950s) and the Scout (manufactured until 1946) but this didn’t stop the manufacturer from going bankrupt in 1953. Since then, several companies tried to revive the Indian brand, with various (usually limited) success.

Indian motorcycles show up in quite a few movies, quite often those taking place in the inter-war period. A 1934 Indian Sport Scout is featured in the 2001 war drama “Pearl Harbor”, Mark Wahlberg rides a customized Indian Scout in Ted 2, Jason Lee rides a blue 1933 Indian Chief owned by enthusiast Dennis Brilla of Plantsville in his movie “Good Ol’ Boy”, and Jean-Claude van Damme rides a beautiful 1950 Indian Chief in the 1999 action flick “Inferno” (also known as “Desert Heat”). One of the “revived” Indian bikes also tried to break into show business: in the forgettable “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines”, Arnold Schwarzenegger rides a 2002 Indian “Police” Chief (the bike was later sold at an auction for under $10,000).

The Great Escape movie poster motorcycle chase reels
The Great Escape

Finally, let’s take a look at the biggest and perhaps best-known British motorcycle brand in history, Triumph, that had its share of Hollywood spotlight. Triumph Engineering, the company behind the brand, was founded in 1885 and started producing bicycles in 1889, and motorcycles in 1902. The original company went bankrupt in 1983 and the brand ended up with its successor Triumph Motorcycles Ltd, becoming the largest UK-based motorcycle manufacturer.

Triumph bikes have shown up in the movies for ages – one of the first to do so is a Triumph Thunderbird 6T that Marlon Brando rode in the 1953 movie “The Wild One” (it was his own bike). One of the most famous performances by a Triumph bike was Steve McQueen’s iconic escape in “The Great Escape” – he rode a modified Triumph TR6 Trophy in the movie, modified to resemble a German BMW. Clint Eastwood  rode a Triumph Bonneville in “Coogan’s Bluff”, Pamela Anderson rides a Triumph Thunderbird in 1996’s infamous “Barb Wire”, Norman Reedus rides a chopped Triumph Bonneville from the 1960s in the popular post-apocalyptic TV series “The Walking Dead”, and Chris Pratt’s character rides a Triumph Scrambler in 2015’s “Jurassic World”.

Source: MotorbikeWriter.com

Peter ‘Easy Rider’ Fonda dies aged 79

Peter Fonda, the actor who played Wyatt riding a Captain America Harley chopper in the 1969 movie Easy Rider, has died at the age of 79.

The hippy film recently celebrated the 50th anniversary of its first screening.

It was shot on a shoestring budget in a haze of pot smoke and with a plot that was made up along the way by Fonda and fellow actor/director Dennis Hopper who died in 2013, aged 77.

Fonda’s screenplay was nominated for an Academy Award, the film was added to the USA’s National Film Registry in 1998 and it is listed as one of the top 100 American movies by the American Film Institute.

The veteran actor died yesterday of respiratory failure due to lung cancer at his Los Angeles home surrounded by his family.

Iconic moment

He starred in many films including the cringe-worthy low-grade bikie movie, The Wild Angels in 1966.

It includes his line: “We want to be fee to ride our machines without being hassled by the man … and we want to get loaded.”

Fonda also made a cameo appearance in the 2007 Wild Hogs that lampoons Easy Rider.

The opening scene of Easy Rider features Peter in an iconic gesture of throwing away his watch.

The choppers then fire up and roar into the desert to the accompaniment of Born to be Wild. Truly a classsic cinematic moment that has stirred the hearts of riders this past half century!

It has also started a fad with riders and other travellers to discard their watches and disregard the constraints of time.

A watch is a symbol of “the man”, society and capitalism that constrain us.

Motorcycles are freedom machines that allow us to escape the rigours of timekeeping.

In a hilarious parody of the famous Easy Rider scene, John Travolta and his buddies throw away their mobile phones before a cross-country ride in Wild Hogs.

“You don’t need a GPS to discover America; you need a bike and you need the road, ok? Freedom,” says Travolta.

Fonda also rides into town to end the long fight scene.

His closing line is also a classic: “Oh, and guys… lose the watches.”

  • What is your favourite scene from Easy Rider? Leave your comments below.

Source: MotorbikeWriter.com

Easy Rider celebrates its 50th anniversary

Today is the 50th anniversary of the first public screening of the cult 1969 movie Easy Rider.

In the USA, many theatres are showing the film again. Here in Australia, you can watch it on DVD and maybe a streaming service.

The hippy film was shot on a shoestring budget in a haze of pot smoke and with a plot that was made up along the way by actor/director Dennis Hopper.

Dennis died in 2013, aged 77.

His film was added to the USA’s National Film Registry in 1998 and is listed as one of the top 100 American movies by the American Film Institute.

50th anniversary

Although the 50-year-old  film may seem anachronistic in these modern times, it still has its merits.

The opening scene where lead actor Peter Fonda famously throws away his watch is a highlight.

The choppers then fire up and roar into the desert to the accompaniment of Born to be Wild. Truly an iconic cinematic moment!

Fad

It has also started a fad with riders and other travellers to discard their watches and disregard the constraints of time.

A watch is a symbol of “the man”, society and capitalism that constrain us.

Motorcycles are freedom machines that allow us to escape the rigours of timekeeping.

In a hilarious parody of the famous Easy Rider scene, John Travolta and his buddies throw away their mobile phones before a cross-country ride in the 2007 movie Wild Hogs.

“You don’t need a GPS to discover America; you need a bike and you need the road, ok? Freedom,” says Travolta.

Exactly!

There are no deadlines on the open road. Even sunset is no limit.

So there really is no need for a watch. Besides, you can’t see it under your jacket sleeve and gloves when riding.

Besides, most bikes these days have clocks, although I have my bike’s screen set to the trip meter, rather than the clock.

  • What is your favourite scene from Easy Rider? Leave your comments below.

Source: MotorbikeWriter.com

What does time mean to an easy rider?

Peter Fonda famously throws away his watch in the cult 1969 movie Easy Rider, starting a fad with riders and other travellers to discard their watches and disregard the constraints of time.

A watch is a symbol of “the man”, society and capitalism that constrain us.

Motorcycles are freedom machines that allow us to escape the rigours of timekeeping.

In a hilarious parody of the famous Easy Rider scene, John Travolta and his buddies throw away their mobile phones before a cross-country ride in the 2007 movie Wild Hogs.

“You don’t need a GPS to discover America; you need a bike and you need the road, ok? Freedom,” says Travolta.

Exactly!

There are no deadlines on the open road. Even sunset is no limit.

So there really is no need for a watch. Besides, you can’t see it under your jacket sleeve and gloves when riding.

Besides, most bikes these days have clocks, although I have my bike’s screen set to the trip meter, rather than the clock.

Time collaborations

Yet motorcycle companies have had a long association with watch companies over time.

The latest is the Ducati-Locman collection with prices ranging from €299 to €598.Ducati watch What does time mean to a rider? watch

Other motorcycle manufacturers have had similar exclusive watches in recent years so devoted fans can wear their “heart” on their sleeve – or wrist!

They include: a Ducati Scrambler watch in 2015 with Swiss watchmaker Tudor; Indian Motorcycle with Swiss watchmaker Baume & Mercier; a BMW GS watchBMW boxer watch designed by Marc Jenni; and a host of Harley-Davidson watches with New York company Bulova.

Do you wear a watch when riding or leave it at home? Leave your comments below.

Source: MotorbikeWriter.com