Few motorbikes turn heads like a Harley Davidson. With its distinctive design and sense of cool, it has a truly iconic feel. But that is not just produced by it looking different, but its role in some great movie scenes.
Just as Aston Martin cars are so strongly associated with Bond films, so the sight of the hero (or sometimes villain) riding off into the sunset (or indeed anywhere else) on a Harley has become an iconic trope.
William Harley and Arthur Davidson launched their first model back in 1905, an age of silent movies when there weren’t many motorbikes around for folk to ride away on, the first having only been invented 20 years earlier. Not that there was much of a Hollywood look about the first Harley Davidson, which was basically a pedal cycle frame with a motor attached.
As time went on, however, the familiar Harley-Davidson shape emerged and its appearance made it attractive to film-makers. That is where the iconic shots of Harleys started to emerge.
If one is to believe the Harley Davidson Blog, most of the best film scenes featuring the bikes are in the 21st century; its list of the top ten includes only four before 2000.
These were Terminator 2 (Judgement Day), featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger in his leather jacket and shades that he ‘acquired’ in a diner (1991); the 1986 Chopper in Pulp Fiction (1994), the 1981 Harley in Rocky III (1981) and the Harley the eponymous character steals in Robocop (1990).
Of all these, perhaps Terminator was the most iconic of all, being emulated by characters as iconic in their own way as Australian cricketer Merv Hughes, helping boost his ‘big bad Merv’ image, aided by a moustache to match the Harley’s own handlebars.
At the end of the blog, there were some ‘honourable mentions’ that included a few older films and their Harley scenes, as well as more 21st century flicks. The first of these to be released was Easy Rider (1969), featuring the Captain America chopper, the Rocky Horror Picture Show in 1975 and the best-named film for this, Harley Davidson and the Marlborough Man.
None of that is to knock the impact of more recent films, however, capitalising as they did on the image of the Harley. Whether it is the fiery version seen in Ghost Rider (2007) or the nod to vintage seen in the 1942 Harley in The Avengers (2012), they all add to the tradition.
Indeed, the fact that so many of the films with Harleys speeding through the script are recent suggests that this image has gained in traction. And, unlike Bond’s Aston Martin, the association is not closely linked with one character or franchise.
Of course, if you are riding a Harley, you probably aren’t trying to battle dangerous enemies like the Terminator or Captain America, although you may have had a go at producing a mo to match Merv Hughes.
What you will want, however, is a bike that looks superb, from its tail tidy to its handlebars and the powerful engine in between. You may not be re-enacting a movie scene, but at least - unlike Terminator - the bike and the leathers will be your own.