Famous / Celeb Motorcyclists

rocketonarail

rocketonarail

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Gloucestershire,England
Just thinking recently about how many " name " ( familiar amongst the great unwashed ) motorcyclists there are ......... No particular order , just came up as I thought of them , with their preferred mounts ...... Famous and infamous........ Any others ... ? ........

Francoise Hardy ......... Honda
Richard Hammond .......... Suzuki ( BBC Top Gear presenter )
Che Guevara ........... Norton
Jay Leno ......... Anything you care to mention
Mike Tyson ........ Ducati
Keith Emerson ....... Laverda ( musician )
Honor Blackman ....... BSA , Norton ( actor - The Avengers TV series )
Keenan Wynn ....... Triumph ( actor )
TE Lawrence ...... Brough Superior
Hugh Laurie ........ Triumph
Angus Deayton ....... Ducati ( UK quiz show host / actor / comedian )
William Shatner ....... Bultaco
Charley Boorman ..... BMW
Boris Johnson ..... Yamaha
Lee Marvin ....... Triumph
Sonny Bono ..... Triumph
Sonny Barger ....... Harley Davidson
Benito Mussilini ......... Benelli
Ayrton Senna ........ Ducati
John Wayne .......... Honda ( and Hodaka )
Ewan McGregor ........ Moto Guzzi ( and BMW )
Tom Cruise ...... Kawasaki
Steve McQueen ........ Triumph
John Parrot ........ Suzuki ( snooker player )
Dick Emery ....... Honda , Norton ( comedian )
Ian Brady ........ Triumph ( murderer )
William , Prince of Wales ....... Ducati ( and Triumph )
George Formby ....... Norton
Michael Hutchence ....... Honda
Antony Armstrong - Jones ( Earl of Snowdon ) ....... Triumph ( married to Princess Margaret Rose )
Prince Harry ( Duke of Sussex ) ....... Triumph
Craig Ferguson ...... Indian ( American / Scottish US chat show host / comedian )
Prince Phillip ...... Honda Chaly
John Lennon ..... Honda Chaly
King George Sixth ...... Douglas
Jools Holland ..... Velocette ( keyboard player with Squeeze , hosts live music show Later )
Jimmy Somerville ........ Yamaha ( singer )
Eddie Tenpole Tudor ..... Norton ( musician , actor )
Evel Knievel ...... American Eagle
Lord Lichfield ....... BMW
Prince Albert of Monaco ...... Not known
Mike Tindall ..... Harley Davidson ( England rugby player , married to a Royal )
Sir Ralph Richardson .... BMW ( actor )
Terence Trent D`Arby ..... Indian ( boxer , singer )
Freddie Mercury ..... Honda
Bridget Bardot ...... Harley Davidson ( probably just a publicity shot , but I`ll let it go ) ....
Cher ...... Harley Davidson ( or something similar ) .....
Gunter Sachs ..... Munch Mammut ( playboy / photographer husband of Bridget Bardot )
Don Whillans ....... Triumph ( well known mountaineer who rode a Triumph Trophy Trail to the top of Mount Snowdon )
Jon Pertwee ......... Not known ( Dr Who , Wurzel Gummage )
Bill Pertwee ........ That sidecar outfit in Dad`s Army
Jennifer Paterson ....... Triumph Thunderbird outfit ( Two Fat Ladies )
Keanu Reeves .... Norton
Oskar Schindler ...... Moto Guzzi ( and Galloni )
Bob Dylan ..... Triumph
James Blunt ....... CCM ( singer / songwriter )
Lembit Opik ........ Harley Davidson ( UK ex politician , TV personality , MAG director , and fanny magnet )
Phil Oakey ......... Spondon Laverda ( Human League singer )
Steve Jones ...... Harley Davidson ( Sex Pistols guitarist , US radio show host )
Elvis Presley ....... Honda ( and Harley Davidson , Triumph )
Nicky Henson ...... Yamaha , Triumph ( TV actor , loads of stuff - best known for Fawlty Towers )
Jean-Paul Belmondo ....... Triumph ( actor )
Duane Allman ....... Harley Davidson ( American musician )
Steve McFadden ........ Gilera ( actor - Phil Mitchell in BBC`s Eastenders )
Oliver Tobias ..... Ducati bevel drive vees ( actor best known for movie The Stud with Joan Collins )
Eric Richards ...... BMW ( UK TV actor - Sgt Bob Cryer in The Bill )
James May ..... Moto Guzzi , Honda ( BBC Top Gear presenter )
Eddie KIdd ....... Not known ( Best wishes to him )
Murray Walker .......... TV motor sport commentator

That`ll do for now ..... I seem to recall the CEO of Audi was a Laverda owner ..... but I can`t remember his name ....
 
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rocketonarail said:
Just thinking recently about how many " name " ( familiar amongst the great unwashed ) motorcyclists there are ......... No particular order , just came up as I thought of them , with their preferred mounts ...... Famous and infamous........ Any others ... ? ........

Francoise Hardy ......... Honda
Richard Hammond .......... Suzuki
Che Guevara ........... Norton
Jay Leno ......... Anything you care to mention
Mike Tyson ........ Ducati
Keith Emerson ....... Laverda
Honor Blackman ....... BSA
Keenan Wynn ....... Triumph
TE Lawrence ...... Brough Superior
Hugh Laurie ........ Triumph
Angus Deayton ....... Ducati
William Shatner ....... Bultaco
Charley Boorman ..... BMW
Boris Johnson ..... Yamaha
Lee Marvin ....... Triumph
Sonny Bono ..... Triumph
Sonny Barger ....... Harley Davidson
Benito Mussilini ......... Benelli
Ayrton Senna ........ Ducati
John Wayne .......... Honda ( and Hodaka )
Ewan McGregor ........ Moto Guzzi ( and BMW )
Tom Cruise ...... Kawasaki
Steve McQueen ........ Triumph
John Parrot ........ Suzuki
Dick Emery ....... Honda and Norton
Ian Brady ........ Triumph
William , Prince of Wales ....... Ducati and Triumph
George Formby ....... Norton
Michael Hutchence ....... Honda
Antony Armstrong - Jones ( Earl of Snowdon ) ....... Triumph
Prince Harry ( Duke of Sussex ) ....... Triumph
Craig Ferguson ...... Indian
Prince Phillip ...... Honda Chaly
King George Sixth ...... Douglas
Jools Holland ..... Velocette
Jimmy Somerville ........ Yamaha
Eddie Tenpole Tudor ..... Norton

That`ll do for now ..... I seem to recall the CEO of Audi was a Laverda owner ..... but I can`t remember his name ....
Click to expand...
Can’t be many lists that have George Formby alongside Micheal Hutchence!
 
Not much of a Royal Subscriber, but I did like to see the brothers just before the older ones wedding going for a day ride on 4 valve Ducatis and once in Africa doing some serious off-roading together, try finding pics for either event, seems they got disappeared. That put a human face on them to me for once. BTW you can put Tom Cruise down to owning one of those megabuck Cente Hub steering Bimotas and Keanu Reeves under Noton and Arch.
 
I think most of these "celebrities" at best were poseurs,the rest courtesy of publicity agents. You
did overlook a genuine enthusiast in Ann-Margret who in the sixties had a custom modified 500
Triumph with a Yamaha electric starter grafted on ! For laughs look into who ended up with the
first Ducati Desmosedici in America...and then dropped it at slow speed on a street in Los Angeles
and in front of a camera !!! Hah,Hah ! In the mid-60's a magazine "Modern Cycle" used to feature
movie/TV actors playing around for the camera as a feature in the mag. Most were fairly unknown
to World audiences but Bill Shatner wasn't !! One last add, Cher and then husband Sonny had twin
XLCH Sportsters in white lightly modified I think by George Barris....nothing beats cruising up "The
Sunset Strip" though truth be told it isn't very long distance wise !
 
EncinoBoy said:
I think most of these "celebrities" at best were poseurs,the rest courtesy of publicity agents. You
did overlook a genuine enthusiast in Ann-Margret who in the sixties had a custom modified 500
Triumph with a Yamaha electric starter grafted on ! For laughs look into who ended up with the
first Ducati Desmosedici in America...and then dropped it at slow speed on a street in Los Angeles
and in front of a camera !!! Hah,Hah ! In the mid-60's a magazine "Modern Cycle" used to feature
movie/TV actors playing around for the camera as a feature in the mag. Most were fairly unknown
to World audiences but Bill Shatner wasn't !! One last add, Cher and then husband Sonny had twin
XLCH Sportsters in white lightly modified I think by George Barris....nothing beats cruising up "The
Sunset Strip" though truth be told it isn't very long distance wise !
Click to expand...
Some doubtless would be in it for the pose value , some would be genuine ........ but the point of the list is to highlight ( firstly ) well known names who the man in the street would identify as a motorcyclist , and ( secondly ) well known names who the man in the street would not necessarily identify as a motorcyclist ..... Genuine riders or not , when the public see a photo of someone sat on a bike they think " Motorcyclist " ...... The list is there to reflect the public`s perception of who might ride a motorcycle , whether that rider is a poseur , or not ........

Given , Bridget Bardot posing with a Harley Davidson is pushing things a little too far ( although she may have enjoyed rides on the back of Gunter`s Munch , who knows ? ) ......
Lee Marvin and Keenan Wynn both competed in the Catalina 100 miler on Tiger Cubs , for example ..... So they were genuine enough ........ Oliver Tobias bought his Ducatis with his own money , Ralph Richardson regularly rode his BMW around the streets of London , Eric Richards took his wife on the back of his BMW for a tour of Scotland ..... and so on .....

All those listed ( with the possible exception of BB ) certainly rode ........ Cher , for example , enjoyed riding as you say ....... and on one occasion got upset when approached by journalists whilst out on her bike ... " Why don`t you leave me alone and be with my friends ? "......... No publicity seeking there ........

Most of those listed would have used their bikes as personal transport ( with the possible exception of Belmondo , Leno , and Boorman / McGregor , although McGregor used his Guzzi around London ....... the Royals rode probably as a chance to get away from it all ( although it can`t be much fun riding in the company of minders all the time ....... I think Lord Snowdon managed to avoid that ...... ) .... some rode as part and parcel of TV and film work ......... John Wayne used a SL350 to commute between motorhome and location whilst filming True Grit , so I guess he combined work and pleasure .....

I would`nt mind betting that some of those listed have covered more mileage / rode more regularly than some " enthusiasts " out there ....... :) .....

Bleedin `ell , it`s two minutes to seven .... I`m off to bed ........
 
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