A warehouse fire has claimed one of two heavily modified Harley-Davidson Panheads which are claimed to have been ridden by Peter Fonda in "Easy Rider," the 1969 cinematic ode to two-wheeled rebellion. The blaze occurred in Austin, Texas, taking with it a total of 22 cars and 8 motorcycles, all of them collectibles.
The subject of the "real" Captain America motorcycle is a prickly one that I touch upon in my book Legendary Motorcycles, which mentions the fact that two alleged Captain America bikes are endorsed as authentic by Dan Haggerty (aka, TV's "Grizzly Adams") who handled the bike during the film's production: one, owned by J&P Cycle's John Parham (seen in this photograph), and the other-- which was lost in the fire-- owned by Gordon Granger.
However murky the authenticity of the burnt bike may be, the legend of Captain America is far bigger than one modified Harley-Davidson, whether or not it appeared in "Easy Rider."
**UPDATE: It appears the bike was not consumed by the fire-- as evidenced by follow-up reports and this photo-- but rather, suffered smoke damage.**
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Photo © Basem Wasef
Kinda sad, but this is the reason why I don’t save items any longer.
At one time I lusted after my aunt’s ‘66 Mustang, then my grandfather’s ‘67 T-bird and any old Pan head. Just give a new bike and truck with a 10 year warranty.
This article is really very interesting !!
I thought that one of the original bikes had been stolen after the movie was released. Had it been recovered?
I’m an EZ rider freak & I also thought there was only one bike left.I guess I will continue the legacyof the “dream’ riding my replica(without the S&S incorrect tear drop air cleaner and bottom mount headlamp.