More Of Harley-Davidson Bikes In The Movies

As the Harley-Davidson Company has been around for almost 105 years, so has the millions of bikes they have produced and sold all over the world. The motorcycle and the company made a name for themselves in the early 20th century by winning races and breaking world records. As if the Harley-Davidson was not famous enough, their motorcycles even appear in hundreds of television shows and motion pictures.

Perhaps the most classic Harley-Davidson movie of all time was Easy Rider, which was filmed in 1969. This hit starred Peter Fonda, Jack Nicholson, and Dennis Hopper. Since then, followers of the biker lifestyle and the popularity of big bikes increased exponentially.

In 1991, the aptly titled Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man made its way into the big screen. This picture stars Mickey Rourke and Don Johnson, and one of the classic scenes in the film shows the lead character, Harley, played by Rourke, riding across the lonely desert on his bike. Other characters with familiar names were Virginia Slims and Jack Daniels.

Who could forget the film Terminator 2: Judgment Day featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger in 1991? The ever-popular image of the Governor wearing the leather jacket and the dark Ray-Bans, riding on a mean big bike stuck to the minds of many action movie fans.  The Harley-Davidson used in this futuristic picture was a Fat Boy Softail, and is now in a museum and is displayed as a collector’s item.

In 1994, Quentin Tarantino’s blockbuster, Pulp Fiction, showed a Harley-Davidson chopper. According to sources, it was a Harley-Davidson FXR, and was named Grace, after the director’s girlfriend.

Leaping forward to 2006, the last installment of the X-Men movies, X-Men 3: The Last Stand also featured a Harley-Davidson bike. The character of Cyclops, played by James Marsden was seen riding to the lake on a Harley-Davidson V-Rod. The V-Rod is one of the most powerful bikes from the company, and was one of the first few models to be equipped with the Revolution engine.

Another Marvel Comics blockbuster, Ghost Rider, starring Nicholas Cage in 2007, also featured a Harley-Davidson. Of course, since the theme of the movie centers on the life of Johnny Blaze, a stunt rider who fears nothing and challenges the devil, what appropriate bike to feature than the hog? The bike used was a 1960 to 1970’s replica of the Harley with a Panhead engine. Sometime in the film, the bike morphs and becomes a hell-bike for the Ghost Rider. In this case, it wasn’t a Harley anymore, since it was digitally rendered.

A recent biker film that was released in early 2007 was Wild Hogs, starring the comedic troop of Tim Allen, John Travolta, Martin Lawrence, and William H. Macy. The movie was about these middle-aged men who desperately want to live the biker’s life to escape their problems, but they were inexperienced at it. A cameo appearance by the original Easy Rider, Henry Fonda, was even included in the film. Unfortunately, many critics complained that although the theme was about motorcycles, the models of the Harley-Davidson bikes were not even mentioned.