Captain America; the man, the myth and the motorcycle

Photo: Thilo Parg/Wikimedia Commons. License: CC-BY-SA-3.0

Few, if any, motorcycles are as legendary as the Captain America chopper, the Harley ridden by Peter Fonda in the 1969 cult film "Easy Rider." The film depicts the journey of two friends Wyatt and Billy through the United States in the 1960s, where they explore freedom and counterculture in the face of conservatism.

Peter Fonda played the role of Wyatt in Easy Rider. Photo: Wkimedia Commons

The Harley became legendary, and there are not a few copies that have been tried to be sold for astronomical sums, under the pretext of being used in the film. The truth is that the spectacular chopper, built on a Harley-Davidson with a Panhead engine, only existed in two copies. Two choppers were also built and ridden by Dennis Hopper, and these were named "Billy Bike".

Dan Haggerty, the man behind the motorcycles in Easy Rider. Photo: Alan Light

The man who built the four choppers was Dan Haggerty (1942-2016). Haggerty was a versatile guy, who built motorcycles, took on stunt work, and had small roles in the film industry, including a small role in "Easy Rider". After "Easy Rider" was finished filming, Haggerty was allowed to keep one of the two Captain America bikes. The bike was in poor condition at the time, which I can say, without revealing the content of the film, is related to the final scene. Haggerty fixed the bike, and many years later he sold it to the Guggenheim Museum. The second copy of Captain America and the two "Billy Bike" copies were stolen and never found. The stories about where they ended up are many, and what really happened is probably only known by the thieves. The rest we leave up to the imagination, or should we say myth...?