Whether in starring roles or in brief cameos, motorcycles frequently appear on the silver screen – often as a metaphor for romance, action or freedom – and the latest film to feature a motorcycle is Deliver Me From Nowhere, a biopic focussing on American rocker Bruce Springsteen’s struggles as he writes and produces his critically acclaimed 1982 album Nebraska.
Springsteen is a lifelong motorcyclist. In 1967, the aspiring 17-year-old rock star was involved in an accident on his small Yamaha – with the resultant concussion and broken leg contributing to him being turned down for the draft into the US military a few years later.
Despite the accident, he’s remained on two wheels and famously had to be rescued by a local New Jersey biker group when his customised Moto Guzzi, built by fellow musician Billy Joel’s 20th Century Cycles shop, broke down in 2016. He reportedly remains a fan of the Italian V-twins and, even at the age of 76, is regularly spotted riding a modified Guzzi custom around his home in New Jersey.
The iconic singer, songwriter and bandleader was regularly pictured riding a Triumph during the 1970s, and it’s a 1971 TR6C Trophy which is featured in the biopic. Actor Jeremy Allen White, who portrays Springsteen, is seen riding the machine and sports a Triumph T-shirt in several scenes, reminiscent of the one worn by fellow social commentator and Triumph enthusiast Bob Dylan.
While the motorcycle was generally seen as a sign of rebellion and anti-establishmentarianism, as witnessed in 1953’s legendary The Wild One, which saw Marlon Brando’s character Johnny lead a motorcycle gang on his Triumph Thunderbird, and 1969’s Easy Rider, it’s also found a place as the vehicle for the romantic hero, with Tom Cruise (Top Gun), Richard Gere (An Officer and A Gentleman) and Matthew McConaughey (How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days) all starring in memorable scenes with their motorcycles.
And appearances in movies can make motorcycles stars in their own right. A helmetless Tom Cruise riding his Kawasaki GPz900R flat out down a runway (to the soundtrack of Danger Zone) played its part in cementing the Ninja’s place in motorcycling folklore.
Likewise, Harley-Davidson’s Fat Boy received a real boost when Arnold Schwarzenegger ‘stole’ one for the legendary chase scene in Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Starting with the immortal lines ‘I need your clothes, your boots and your motorcycle’ the scene was pivotal to the whole movie, with Arnie sat astride the bike even featuring as the movie’s promotional poster. Five bikes were purchased by the production company and were reportedly modified to unleash more power, with one of the five selling for a staggering $480,000 at a 2018 auction.
In more recent years motorcycle manufacturers have tried to maximise their bikes’ appearances on the silver screen. Ducati released ‘Matrix’ editions of its legendary 996 and 998s, in tribute to their bikes appearing in the movies chase scene, while BMW and Triumph have placed their products in the James Bond series of movies.
BMW’s quirky R1200C cruiser was ridden by Chinese spy Wai Lin in the Living Daylights, while Triumph took things a stage further by selling marked up limited editions of various models, including Scramblers, Tigers and Speed Triples, to commemorate their tie in with the 007 franchise.
Movies and motorcycles remain intrinsically linked and we can’t wait to which movie we pop up in next.
