Hardy went to work, and the rest is history. 2 bikes were for filming, 2 were for the final sequence of the movie, which I’m fucking assuming you know about, otherwise you wouldn’t be here reading this. Jim Buchanan fabricated the frames, The engines were built by Hardy, Dean Lanza did the paint (his son is adamant he built the entire bikes). Peter bought four 1950’s panhead police bikes from auction, and got them to Hardy and Vaughs. Vaugh’s quickly took the idea to Ben Hardy. When you say Easy Rider, I think of the movie. Maybe because of cliff, but most definitely because of the movie. To this day I think it is associated to Harley riders. Whatever cliff meant by it, I’m not sure. To Dennis hopper, it meant a man who lived off the money of a whore. Whats an Easy Rider? that depends on who you ask. It was Cliff who actually first offered the name “Easy Rider” to Fonda. You don’t give that kind of bike to a beginner. The captain America bike? Cut that steering head off and rake that bitch out like it is, throw in those long forks with no front brake and see how you fare. I had a fat boy that was really close to the same configuration, and my brother has a friend with a Billy Bike replica. That had to have come up in the conversation somewhere, because the Billy bike was a much easier bike to ride. I gotta think tho… Peter was an experienced rider, and Dennis hopper wasn’t.

Beyond that, the design was left to Vaughs. He wanted captain America to have a flag on his gas tank.

Peter had only one thing he wanted on the bike. Click on his picture for a cool story about someone who dealt with him. A man lost in history, yet was one of the men who built the most famous bike ever built. Ben Hardy was the man who built the Easy Rider bikes in 1968. When Cliff Vaughs was asked by Fonda to oversee the building of the bikes, Vaugh’s turned to Hardy who was well known (if you were black) in Los Angeles as the go to guy to build a killer bike, and do it right. Ben was an African american man who knew Harleys, and knew what he was doing. Some say it was Peter Fonda.īut the guy who built them was a guy named Ben Hardy. The guy who painted the bikes, his son says it was him (his dad, that is). Some say Dan Haggerty, who was in the movie. There’s lots of controversy about who built these bikes. When The Easy Rider concept was quickly made into form, Peter Fonda set out to get him a couple of bikes for the movie. Either way, you can’t tell me a bike that influenced more people to ride, and start customizing. Maybe I’ve got my head lodged up Easy Rider’s ass (and that may be true), but tell me a more famous bike. I am not a chopper guy, but you gotta respect that teardrop gas tank, the king and queen seat and you’ll find waldo faster than you can find the rear shocks. The rake is crazy, the fender is gone, and there is no rear suspension. It’s a 1950’s panhead motorcycle ripped from its police bike frame (peter Fonda bought 4 old police bikes from ranging from 1952 to 1954 for the movie), and then someone got all freaky creative with it. Evel Knevel? Steve McQueen in the Great Escape? Both are great bikes, but would you know em if you saw em? Whether or not you’ve seen the movie, that bike is an icon. Man, I double dog dare you to find me a more recognizable bike. I bet most people can tell you what this bike is. But what is the most famous custom ever? To me, its pretty easy. I love that history Guys came home from WWII, started cutting off fenders and lightening up their bikes so they’d go faster. Maybe an old school bobber from the 40s or 50’s. I never tried, and its always been this goal of mine to get to a place in life that I could try. Anyone who fabricates something out of metal and it ends up rideable and 2 wheels tho, has my respect. Been to bike shows and seen some really custom bikes that just blow my mind, and a few make me just wonder why. I’ve watched American Chopper since it came out. But then again, Dennis Hopper smoked a lot of pot. I think thats an extremely humble way to describe natural talent and desire. 98 percent of all creation is accident, and 1 percent is intellect.

Easy rider motorcycle