But McQueen’s early dirt-riding experience came astride the Triumph. Indeed, the personality of the rough-and-tumble biker stereotype had long been formed by then, supported by daredevil racers of the 1910s and 1920s and only given a unified visual identity we recognize today by so-called outlaws of the 1960s. He’s astride a Triumph TR6 Trophy, soaring over a barbed wire fence in The Great Escape. While American bike manufacturers remained with tried-and-true designs, and the Japanese invasion of the motorcycle market was still nearly a decade from full bloom, the hot models were the British sporting bikes. This meant fewer breakdowns and piston seizures. Leave a Reply Cancel reply. It’s what McQueen would have wanted. The making of an icon. McQueen’s Machines (Motorbooks, 2007) by Matt Stone celebrates major motorhead and famous actor Steve McQueen and his passion as a car enthusiast, racer, and motorcyclist. The endeavor was both an escape from acting and a validation of his skills, plus an opportunity to join a tight fraternity of riders who, at first, didn’t care who he was as much as how well he could ride. No preparation. In between, we had Brando and Elvis and James Dean—misunderstood, troubled, in trouble, and, for that matter, out for trouble. He also had a Triumph and a Husqvarna with him while in France, both for pleasure riding and to get around the massive Le Mans course and countryside. See more ideas about steve mcqueen, steve mcqueen motorcycle, mcqueen. No question that McQueen had found the right mentor and the right motorcycle. It comes with all necessary paperwork and documentation including the Certificate of Authenticity. It would be fair to separate McQueen’s motorcycles into two categories: those he loved and those he utterly adored. But in other ways, the Chief was advanced. I went off the road and down into a cart truck, taking a fall. Register Today! Or, more accurately, the Métisse Desert Racer. Which might have been all right, but the forks were bent clear back to the chassis. They were reliably built, stylishly designed and ran powerful Triumph engines. “McQueens Machines” features the cars, motorcycles and even airplanes that Steve McQueen owned over the years. The genesis of the model came with the introduction of the 650-cc Thunderbird Model in 1950. Product Type. Despite famously riding many motorbikes on film (including the Triumph above and On Any Sunday’s 1970 Husqvarna 400 Cross) McQueen’s Métisse Desert Racer was the actor’s most personal bike — and the one he was most proud of. McQueen’s Bonneville was a first-year model, distinctive by its headlight nacelle and valanced fenders. Lean, at just over 400 pounds dry weight, and quick, the Bonneville met with success in the United States largely on the basis of its performance. Notify me of new posts by email. I was dicing with the British champ, Jon Gills, a marvelous racer, and we were moving along at full chat in the rain. And the Triumph? Couple this with the bike’s innate manoeuvrability — McQueen called his Métisse “the best handling rig I’ve ever owned” — and it’s no wonder the actor was so captivated by his Desert Racer. A special kind of private club where members receive offers and experiences from hand-picked, premium brands, as well as invites to exclusive events and the magazine delivered directly to their door, With its Ceriani forks, 650cc Triumph engine and custom 'Battleship Grey' paint, this Desert Racer was McQueen's most treasured bike. Steve McQueen's most famous motorcycle, the 1970 Husqvarna 400 Cross he rode during Bruce Brown's 1970 feel-good motorcycle movie, On Any Sunday, sold at auction on the weekend for $230,500. Returning from Europe, and after wrapping Love with the Proper Stranger in New York, McQueen resumed his desert racing, including the 1963 running of the Greenhorn Enduro in and around Mojave. Steve McQueen had an enormous collection of cars, bikes, and planes It comes as no surprise that a man who made his name driving an iconic Mustang in Bullitt and that motorcycle scene in … There were several bikes used during filming, but all were 1961 Triumph TR6 Trophy’s modified … Motocross: Celebrity actor Steve McQueen in action on motorcycle … ‘But I was going with a girl who began to hate the cycle—just hated riding in the bumpy sidecar. McQueen said, “I first tried out dirt riding on a bike I’d borrowed from a neighbor, and the sense of being out there on your own was tremendous. We came into this turn, full turkey leg, at about eighty—and began sliding for traction. In fact, Ekins also drove the Ford Mustang 390 GT in McQueen’s 1968 film Bullitt — giving us another iconic cinematic moment. . Steve McQueen in The Sand Pebbles The tail pipe was smashed. It’s little wonder bikes with a wide torque curve—less shifting overall—were prized. “I took off the front fender. He didn’t race enough to earn sufficient points to run with the Experts. In that postwar (and pre–Cold War) period, Indian and Harley-Davidson big-bore models ruled the land. Only a few years after that, the category further specialized, with bikes designed just for high-speed desert racing, picking along slow but difficult trails (enduro), closed-course dirt racing (motocross), an ultra-lowspeed, obstacle-bashing ballet called trials, and, finally, crossover vehicles that could be used on the street as well as in the woods. That simple exchange over a 1959 Triumph Bonneville brought McQueen into what would become a lasting friendship with Bud Ekins. The film was a commercial and critical success, and today it is still considered a film classic. He began to ask questions of Ekins at his San Fernando Valley shop. This was released to meet the demand for higher-capacity motorcycles, particularly from the United States, Triumph's largest export market. The bike was personally built by McQueen’s good friend, Bud Ekins, the famous stunt rider and off-road racing champ, and was painted by another legend– the epic painter, striper, builder, fabricator, etc., Von Dutch. In his last half decade, McQueen began to collect a great variety of motorcycles, as his fame and fortune would assure, returning often to his favored brands of Indian and Triumph, but also exploring a host of other nearly forgotten brands of which remained only a handful of examples. My cheek was cut from the goggles but nothing was broken, so I picked the twigs and leaves out of my ears and looked around for my bike. Even if he didn’t start out to be one of his period’s most celebrated motorcycle enthusiasts, McQueen had most certainly become one. McQueen was an avid motorcycle and race car enthusiast. Brando’s movie “The Wild One” in the early 1950s set motorcycle racing back about 200 years.” – Steve McQueen. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Ended up selling my crash helmet and some parts off the BSA to bail myself out of there and get back home.”. In 1964, Bud Ekins put together the first American team to contest the ISDT, held that year in East Germany. In the early 1950s, the Indian Chief was a common sight on American roads, vying with FL-series Harleys (by then already using an overhead-valve design) for sales supremacy. He did, of course, take his motorcycle interests with him. About The Author. Number 291 of only 1,100 total examples produced. The Métisse Desert Racer that Bud Ekins and Steve McQueen built together was to become the blueprint of many an imitation and revival. 1 Triumph Steve McQueen SE Motorcycle for Sale in Australia. The solo saddle and simple luggage rack look just like those fitted to the real TR6s in the film. As he writes in Steve McQueen 40 Summers Ago . His Triumph lost a cylinder halfway through, but he finished the race. “His son was Norman. So, if you do ever manage to get your hands on a Métisse Desert Racer, make sure to take it for a dusty spin in the Californian desert. Take it back.’ Well, Steve was working for Four Star Productions [which produced Wanted: Dead or Alive, and was co-founded by Dick Powell] and would come into my shop riding on the back with Norm. What wasn’t to like? All rights reserved. With their rigid frames, the World War II–era BMWs the Triumphs portrayed weren’t tough enough or fast enough for the stunts they had in mind. Well, one day Norm said that he’d sold the bike to Steve and was wondering if the warranty was still good. The sound and the fury: celebrate the machines that changed the world! He took it home, and his wife said, ‘Get rid of it. But after considerable research, restorer Sean Kelly tracked down McQueen’s bike, VIN TR6SC-DU13287. The flathead (or side-valve, as the valve stems were pointed down, and the combustion chamber offset over to the valve pocket) V-twin engine was mounted rigidly to the mild-steel frame; to help reduce rider fatigue and improve comfort, the large tractor-like saddle was spring-mounted to the rear frame. In November 1966, McQueen appeared on the cover of Popular Science magazine — explaining, in meticulous detail, how he and Ekins customised his motorcycle and why he made those modifications. ‘It was my first bike and I loved it,’ admitted Steve. Here’s the story behind the actor’s iconic Persol sunglasses…. Already a Member/Subscriber but haven't activated your account? Casual Jackets 2 item; Gilets 2 item; Shirts 3 item; T-Shirts 4 item; Color . After shooting, the actual bikes used in the film are believed to have been sold in Europe, although it’s likely one of them made it back to the States; no matter, their whereabouts are unknown. “There was an actor named Dick Powell,” Ekins recalls in 2007. You know the one. Ekins and his brother, Dave, were also accomplished mechanics, bike dealers and successful racers in their own rights. Ekins, a Triumph motorcycle dealer at the time and an accomplished off-road racer, clearly remembers his first contact with McQueen. To major motorcycle enthusiast Steve McQueen, biking was second only to breathing. The ’64 TR6 was a significant motorcycle for Triumph on a lot of levels. - Steve McQueen. Archives Archives. Jun 17, 2018 - Explore Classic-British-Motorcycles.co's board "Steve McQueen Motorcycle Pictures", followed by 1240 people on Pinterest. One, bikes were cheaper than cars. Bike Type Bike Type. I wired Neile for the money I needed to get sprung, but she was mad at me for leavin’ her in New York and said no. When he had the opportunity to drive in a movie, he performed many of his own stunts, including some of the car chases in Bullitt and the motorcycle chase in The Great Escape. Number 291 of only 1,100 that were manufacted worldwide and it comes with all necessary paperwork and documentation including the Certificate of Authenticity. The ISDT that year was grueling, with constant rain, unfamiliar terrain, and world-class competition. Part of the last run of this second day was over an open road cutting through a forest. And yet they were immediately competitive, ending the second day tied in points for the lead with Britain. In addition, McQueen took a mid-1950s BSA 650 to Cuba. Jump ahead to 1959 and McQueen’s meeting with Bud Ekins. Recent Posts. His first lead role was in the low-budget sci-fi film The Blob (1958), quickly followed by roles in The St. Louis Bank Robbery (1959) and Never So Few (1959). McQueen might be placed in this category after a cursory examination, but that would do him a tremendous injustice. But we got fooled because at one point the trees marched straight ahead while the road turned. With that, an interesting chapter in motorcycle history had closed, but, as we would later see, McQueen would remain an avid fan of the marque, with Indians a prominent part of his overall collection. The most iconic image of Steve McQueen is on two wheels. After riding in a series of West Coast events and doing well under Ekins’ tutelage, McQueen took a role in The Great Escape, directed by John Sturges. The Indian Chief was remarkable for its art deco–swooped fenders, a stylistic trademark that, in fact, hindered the bike’s performance; those huge fenders were hefty steel stampings. Those heads had additional finning for improved cooling and ran an 8.5:1 compression ratio for the Bonneville and TR6 models; the detuned Thunderbird used a 7.5:1 ratio. The young McQueen appeared as Vin, alongside Yul Brynner, in the star-laden The Magnificent Seven (1960) and effectively hijacked the lead from the bigger star by ensur… You know the one. Unfortunately, few details are available on this motorcycle and sidehack. Motorcycles as a rule are more fragile, more likely to be dropped, broken up as parts mules for other bikes, scrapped, or simply abandoned, than cars. A series of technical missteps and financial difficulties would see the grand old firmcease production of its own models by the end of 1953. The year was 1966. McQueen was at a disadvantage right from the start, as he’d raced and practiced in the arid California desert. “It’s real important for me,” McQueen wrote in the 1966 Popular Science article, “because I’ve hit bumps so hard sometimes that I’ve actually bent the handlebars”. After what he describes as an illegal DMV search, he found the then-current owner, Frank Danielson. masuzi. It would be a seminal role for McQueen, not just for his acting ability, but in forging his reputation for putting fast cars and motorcycles into his films. Remember that name? Get a close-up look at the automobiles and motorcycles in McQueen’s garage, those he drove in movies and others he raced. His race number was 278. At that time, the differences between full-on street bikes and dirt racers were minimal, and it would be several years before purpose-built dirt race bikes would become common. The TR6s—two were used, purchased by MGM from Ekins’ own store—were often taken out by McQueen after daily shooting for joyriding. I saw marks where other riders had got themselves into the same kind of trouble. No doubt some of the bikes adorning his stable were not considered important in this period and were often overlooked as daily-drivers, beaters, or parts bikes. McQueen’s Machines (Motorbooks, 2007) by Matt Stone celebrates major motorhead and famous actor Steve McQueen and his passion as a car enthusiast, racer, and motorcyclist. And so, when the Ekins brothers saw the Rickman brothers’ invention, they knew it was something special. 2013 Triumph Bonneville SE STEVE MCQUEEN, This rare Triumph McQueen is a Limited Edition Motorcycle. By any name, Steve McQueen gets all revved up over dirt bikes. These statements would, no doubt, horrify McQueen, who was as taciturn about his hobby as anyone. default. With a full 7.5-inches of travel, McQueen said that these forks made his rig more capable of taking the ruts and bumps of scrambling courses — “the kind of riding I’m mainly interested in”. . Every issue  delivers exciting and evocative articles and photographs of the most brilliant, unusual and popular motorcycles ever made! It used the new unit construction 650-cc engine, which was structurally more sound and used new cylinder heads that boosted power. Always his own stunt man, McQueen famously jumped his motorcycle over a barbed wire fence in the film, in a manner that doesn’t seem possible. It is believed to have been sold off or given away early in McQueen’s career, amid the typically high turnover rate of the breed. It was inevitable that Steve McQueen and motorcycles would form a lifelong link. At the time, Triumph made hot-rod versions of its 500-cc model using, among other things, twin carbs, but had not yet created a stronger version of the 650. Slamming one across the California Desert is now his Great Escape. Just kick it over, drive up the side of a hill—and you’re free!” That freedom was something important to McQueen and had piqued his interest in dirt riding. Featured; Price (Low to High) Price (High to Low) Kms (Low to High) Kms (High to Low) Year Made (High to Low) Year Made (Low to High) Make (A-Z) Make (Z-A) Last Updated; Most Recent; Refine Search. People will pay crazy money for anything with a McQueen provenance, especially if it’s motorcycle-related. I sold Norman a new motorcycle in, I think, 1959. “He saw all those Triumphs at the back with no headlights and was curious about those, too,” Ekins recalls in 2007. I managed to ride back to our van, but my run was over. We could figure where the highway would bend by watching the way the trees lined up. This rare Triumph Steve McQueen model is a Limited Edition Motorcycle. . Copyright © 2012-2021 The Gentleman's Journal. McQueen told Nolan, “At this stage, I was definitely lined up for a gold medal and going hard. McQueen was born in Beech Grove, Indiana, to Julia Ann (Crawford) and William Terence McQueen, a stunt pilot. She told me, “Either the cycle goes or I go!” ‘Well, there was no contest. Heritage Revisited: 2016 Moto Guzzi V7 II Stornello. Shop By. . Motorcycle Classics By the end of the year, Bud and Dave Ekins had become the official US importers of the Métisse frame kits. The Honda was named for the wild off-road spectacle—500 riders contested a 10-mile-long course that was a little bit of everything that was the Elsinore Grand Prix. Based upon the Metisse Mk3 that since the 1960s has been the class-winning off road motorcycle the McQueen™ Desert Racer was further modified to suit the personal requirements of Steve McQueen but also the physical demands of desert racing. Looks like a lot of fun to us! Bike Type Road (1) Make Make. The most iconic image of Steve McQueen is on two wheels. In 2009, Steve McQueen’s 1963 Triumph Bonneville Desert Sled sold at Bonhams & Butterfields’ first-ever motorcycle and memorabilia auction for $84,240. The new Triumph Steve McQueen Edition Motorcycle is inspired by the Triumph TR6 McQueen rode in the 1963 World War II film The Great Escape, in which McQueen eludes Nazis in the German countryside. And the forks were sourced from Ceriani, an old Italian company that fabricated frames and suspensions. McQueen’s permanent move to Hollywood seemed assured. McQueen's Machines: The Cars and Bikes of a Hollywood Icon. His childhood and rough early years—scrabbling for work, living in near poverty—forced the issue on two fronts. But my bike didn’t,” he later told Nolan. It may be a remarkable ride, but it was by no means McQueen’s best. By the mid-1950s, Triumph was a motorcycle powerhouse, with 500-cc and 650-cc twin-cylinder motorcycles performing well on racetracks and in showrooms. The destiny of McQueen’s particular bike is unknown. He’s astride a Triumph TR6 Trophy, soaring over a barbed wire fence in The Great Escape. His bike was ridden by Ed Kretz Jr. is America's premier magazine for collectors and enthusiasts, dreamers and restorers, newcomers and life long motorheads who love the sound and the beauty of classic bikes. Jul 26, 2020 - Explore Emill's board "Steve mcqueen motorcycle" on Pinterest. Find out more here. After McQueen’s death in 1980, many bikes were bequeathed to friends and family, and a large selection was sold at auction in 1984. He added a fork crown from BSA — as they were renowned for creating the strongest parts money could buy. Born in 1930, Steve experienced a rough childhood until the California Boys Republic and the US Marines helped turned his life around. Explore {{searchView.params.phrase}} by color family {{familyColorButtonText(colorFamily.name)}} Actor Steve McQueen riding a motorcycle Triumph TR6 650 cm3 on September 11, 1963 in London,England. Already a Member/Subscriber but haven't activated your account? Choose your favorite steve mcqueen paintings from millions of available designs. She went.’” McQueen was working in New York and that battered cycle was a 1946 Indian Chief with a sidecar. Steve Mcqueen Motorcycle Jacket Triumph; Share this: Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Related. Normally, old race bikes like this are lost to time, and in fact the other four bikes from that 1964 race remain undiscovered. Steve McQueen bought this particular Sport Scout in 1975 from Indian parts and restoration legend Bob Stark, proprietor of Starklite Indian in Riverside, Calif. Photo By Gary Phelps. Along with his favoured 650cc Triumph engine, many components were added from various other bikes to complement McQueen’s Métisse rig. You save an additional $5.00 and get 6 issues of Motorcycle Classics for only $29.95 (USA only). 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