Following production, Fonda gave the remains of the motorcycle to fellow actor, Dan Haggerty, who helped maintain the motorcycles during filming and its provenance is assured with a letter of authenticity from Fonda. In addition to this bike being ridden in the film, it was the bike used (and crashed and burned) during the climactic final sequence. During filming the radically-chopped hardtail Panhead sometimes proved to be a handful to ride (if you've never ridden a chopper, it's unquestionably a triumph of form over function) and during one mishap it got so far out-of-shape that Nicholson's knees broke one of Fonda's ribs. The bike to be auctioned shared filming duties with its identical siblings equally during filming, ridden by Wyatt (Fonda) and with George Hanson (Nicholson) as passenger. Harley-Davidsons have always been the most likely motorcycle marque to be stolen – invariably the stolen bikes are broken up for parts and that's probably what happened. The stolen Captain America chopper(s) is/are unlikely to reappear, though it is a slim possibility. Its redemption came after a long and bitter legal dispute that lasted 23 years. A few months ago a once-stolen Ferrari 375 sold for GBP10,753,50 (US$16,380,895) and became one of the ten most valuable cars ever sold at auction. One (or three) of those bikes was/were stolen between the completion of filming and the release of the film, and their whereabouts are unknown. It is the bike ridden during the film while Steppenwolf's "Born to be Wild" became a biker anthem which endures to this day. Popular culture seems to believe it was two bikes, but Paul D'Orleans of the Vintagent blog, who has researched the chopper extensively for his upcoming book "Chopper: the Real Story," believes it was four bikes.Īrguably the world’s most famous and instantly recognizable motorcycle, the chopped Panhead Harley-Davidson played a central role in one of the American Film Institute’s top 100 movies of all-time, starring alongside Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper and a young actor in his first major role, Jack Nicholson. Movie cars and motorcycles are often duplicated so that filming can continue uninterrupted in case of mechanical issues or mishap. There is some conjecture as to how many "Captain America" bikes were built from Harley FLH police bikes for the film. The Panhead Harley began life as a Harley-Davidson FLH police bike used by the Los Angeles Police Department before being purchased second-hand and radically-modified for its film role – Harley-Davidson would not supply motorcycles for the film because of the "outlaw" motorcycle image it portrayed. The Stars-and-Stripes-adorned "Captain America" chopper ridden by Peter Fonda in the classic American road movie Easy Rider will cross the auction block on October 17 and is expected to become the world's most valuable motorcycle if its estimated sale price of US$1,000,000 to US$1,200,000 is met.Īrguably the world's most famous and instantly recognizable motorcycle, the chopped Panhead Harley-Davidson played a central role in one of the American Film Institute's top 100 movies of all-time, starring alongside Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper and a young actor in his first major role, Jack Nicholson.
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