Easy Rider is a 1969 American independent road drama film written by Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, and Terry Southern, produced by Fonda, and directed by Hopper. Fonda and Hopper play two bikers who travel through the American Southwest and South, carrying the proceeds from a cocaine deal. The success of Easy Rider helped spark the New Hollywood era of filmmaking during the early 1970s.
The Honda Magna was a cruiser motorcycle made from 1982 to 1988 and 1994 to 2003 and powered by Honda's V4 engine taken from the VF/VFR. The engine technology and layout was a descendant of Honda's racing V4 machines, such as the NS750 and NR750. The introduction of this engine on the Magna and the Sabre in 1982, was a milestone in the evolution of motorcycles that would culminate in 1983 with the introduction of the Interceptor V4. The V45's performance is comparable to that of Valkyries and Honda's 1800 cc V-twin cruisers. However, its mix of performance, reliability, and refinement was overshadowed by the more powerful 1,098 cc "V65" Magna in 1983.
A chopper is a type of custom motorcycle which emerged in California in the late 1950s. A chopper employs radically modified steering angles and lengthened forks for a stretched-out appearance. They can be built from an original motorcycle which is modified ("chopped") or built from scratch. Some of the characteristic features of choppers are long front ends with extended forks often coupled with an increased rake angle, hardtail frames, very tall "ape hanger" or very short "drag" handlebars, lengthened or stretched frames, and larger than stock front wheels. The "sissy bar", a set of tubes that connect the rear fender with the frame, and which are often extended several feet high, is a signature feature on many choppers.
Ed "Big Daddy" Roth was an American artist, cartoonist, illustrator, pinstriper and custom car designer and builder who created the hot rod icon Rat Fink and other characters. Roth was a key figure in Southern California's Kustom Kulture and hot rod movement of the late 1950s and 1960s.
West Coast Choppers (WCC) is a brand that began selling screen-printed T-shirts and stickers with the company's Iron cross/Maltese cross logo while founder and "master marketer" Jesse James was finishing high school, packaging the accoutrements of the chopper lifestyle long before any actual West Coast Choppers customs had been ordered or sold. Even after the company did begin building custom choppers, 60% of revenue still came from sales of WCC-branded marketing tie-ins such as clothing, beverages and tools. Yearly sales of approximately 12–15 motorcycles at prices of around US$150,000 each actually lost money for the company, but attracted positive attention. Publicizing the names of celebrity clients, including Shaquille O'Neal, Kid Rock, Keanu Reeves, Ty Law of the Denver Broncos, wrestling star Bill Goldberg, actor Tyson Beckford, and NFL running back Jamal Anderson, was a central feature of the WCC marketing strategy. The other key to this strategy was the star power of Jesse James, presented mainly through television on the Discovery Channel in the Motorcycle Mania series and the 2002–2006 series Monster Garage.
The panhead is an OHV, overhead valve, Harley-Davidson motorcycle engine, so nicknamed because the rocker covers resembled cooking pans. The engine is a two-cylinder, two-valve-per-cylinder, pushrod V-twin, made in both 61 c.i. (EL) and 74 c.i. displacements. The Panhead engine replaced the Knucklehead engine in 1948 and was manufactured until 1965 when it was replaced by the Shovelhead.
David Mann was a California graphic artist whose paintings celebrated biker culture, and choppers. Called "the biker world's artist-in-residence," his images are ubiquitous in biker clubhouses and garages, on motorcycle gas tanks, tattoos, and on T-shirts and other memorabilia associated with biker culture. Choppers have been built based on the bikes first imagined in a David Mann painting.
A streetfighter is a sport bike that is customized by removing the fairing, and making other changes that result in an overall more aggressive look. Beyond simply removing fairings, specific changes that exemplify the streetfighter look are a pair of large, round headlights, tall, upright handlebars such as those on a motocross bike, and short, loud, lightweight silencers. Streetfighters is also the name of a UK motorcycle magazine.
A sissy bar, also called a "sister bar" or "passenger backrest" is an addition to the rear of a bicycle or motorcycle that allows the rider or passenger to recline against it while riding. Alternatively it can serve as an anchor point or support for mounting luggage or equipment that is not part of the bike. They can serve as one of the main mounts securing the rear fender to the motorcycle. Over the years the sissy bars have been a focal point of expression for the bike builder. Custom sissy bar designs can be simple or extravagant. They can be built for comfort, purpose, style or a combination of all three.
Wild Hogs is a 2007 American biker road comedy film directed by Walt Becker and starring Tim Allen, John Travolta, Martin Lawrence and William H. Macy. It was released nationwide in the United States and Canada on March 2, 2007. It was the last film by Tollin/Robbins Productions.
The Harley-Davidson Museum is an American museum located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin celebrating the more than 100-year history of Harley-Davidson motorcycles. The 130,000-square-foot (12,000 m2) three building complex on 20 acres (81,000 m2) along the Menomonee River bank contains more than 450 Harley-Davidson motorcycles and hundreds of thousands of artifacts from the Harley-Davidson Motor Company's 118-year history. The museum attracts an estimated 300,000 visitors annually.
Arlen Darryl Ness was an American motorcycle designer and entrepreneur best known for his custom motorcycles. Ness received acclaim for his designs, most of which are noted for their unique body style and paintwork.
The outlaw biker film is a film genre that portrays its characters as motorcycle riding rebels. The characters are usually members of an outlaw motorcycle club.
Falcon Motorcycles is a company founded by Ian Barry and Amaryllis Knight in Los Angeles, California in 2008 to build a series of custom motorcycles. Barry set out to design, engineer, and fabricate ten custom motorcycles built around rare engines in a series entitled The Falcon Ten.
A bobber, originally called a 'bob-job' from the 1930s through 1990s, is a style of custom motorcycle. The typical construction includes stripping excess bodywork from a motorcycle; removing the front fender, and shortening the rear fender, which is "bobbed", and all superfluous parts removed to reduce weight.
Jerry Covington is a custom motorcycle builder and owner of Covingtons Customs.
Shinya Kimura is a Japanese born custom motorcycle builder. He founded Zero Engineering in 1992 and Chabott Engineering in 2002. He is the originator of the "zero style" custom bike.
Chrome Specialties was an American manufacturer and distributor of custom and replacement parts for Harley-Davidson motorcycles. Founded in 1984 by brothers John A. Kuelbs and Gregory G. Kuelbs, Chrome Specialties grew into one of the largest aftermarket motorcycle parts distributors in the world, offering over 12,000 products from a 900-page catalog. Chrome Specialties brands and products were available at over 3,500 retailers worldwide by the time it was merged with Global Motorsports/Custom Chrome Inc. in 1997. Chrome Specialties' original brands, such as Motor Factory, Highway One and Jammer, continue to be available worldwide.
Clifford A. "Sonny" Vaughs was an American civil rights activist, filmmaker, and motorcycle builder. Vaughs designed the two chopper motorcycles used for the 1969 film Easy Rider, while an associate producer on the film. He also produced and directed the documentary What Will the Harvest Be? (1965) and Not So Easy (1972).
Me and Will is a 1999 road drama film directed by Melissa Behr and Sherrie Rose. It is also written by Melissa Behr and Sherrie Rose. It stars Sherrie Rose, Melissa Behr, Patrick Dempsey, Seymour Cassel, Grace Zabriskie, M. Emmet Walsh, Billy Wirth, Johnny Whitworth, John Enos III, and Julie McCullough. It was produced by Melissa Behr, Sherrie Rose, Pierre David, Joey Forsyte, Jason Hall, Gary Kohn, and Vesco Razpopov. The music was done by the musician Shark.
