Easy Rider chopper fetches more than $1m

Peter Fonda's Harley-Davidson chopper from the movie classic, Easy Rider, has been sold at a Hollywood memorabilia auction.

The iconic Harley-Davidson chopper-style motorbike ridden by Peter Fonda in the 1969 classic Easy Rider has sold for $US1.35 million ($A1.46 million).

The Captain America bike, complete with authenticating documents including a letter from Fonda, was a star attraction at a Profiles in History auction on the weekend.

The red, white and blue stars-and-stripes panhead chopper was the work of bike builders Cliff Vaughs and Ben Hardy, based on design suggestions from Fonda.

Two Captain America bikes were built for Easy Rider, so shooting wouldn't be disrupted if one of them broke down.

The bike sold on Saturday was used in the crash scene at the end of the film.

Auctioneers' boss Joseph M. Maddalena described the chopper before the sale as "one of the most iconic images in American film".

"It personifies the 60s, all of the good and the bad that decade brought," he said.


Share

1 min read

Published

Updated


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world
Easy Rider chopper fetches more than $1m | SBS News