13 Big Screen Motorcycles That Should Be On Your Bucket List
Motorcycles provide a very different automotive experience. They allow for a more open way of exploring the world, and there are some high-speed and powerful bikes available on the market.
Just like cars, some incredibly famous bikes have appeared on the big screen and starred in some well-known movies. We think we’ve narrowed down some of the best for this list, and we believe everyone should get a chance to ride these bikes if they ever get the chance.
Lambretta LI150 – Quadrophenia (1979)
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Quadrophenia is one of the best pieces of cinema from the 1970s. It tells the tale of rebellious youth gangs living in working-class London in the mid-1960s. The film is also an adaptation of The Who’s rock opera, released in 1973.
The two-wheeled bikes in the movie are just as famous as the characters themselves. The central character, Jimmy, has a 1967 Lamberatta LI150 with six additional mirrors, making it a real standout in the film. The bike famously sold at Bonhams auctions in 2008 for $42,723.
Kawasaki GPZ900R – Top Gun (1986)
If any famous movie motorcycle was going to make this list, it had to be this one. Top Gun, of course, tells the tale of Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, played by Tom Cruise, a US Navy pilot of F-14 Tomcats who heads to the United States Navy’s Fighter Weapons School (Top Gun) at Naval Air Station Miramar in San Diego, California for training.
Maverick rides a Kawasaki GPZ900R down the taxiway at the Naval Air Base as he watches an F-14 Tomcat take off. The bike’s four-cylinder engine produces 115 horsepower, and it was the first mainstream motorcycle capable of 150 mph.
Indian Scout – World’s Fastest Indian (2006)
Starring Sir Anthony Hopkins, the 2006 film The World’s Fastest Indian tells the remarkable tale of New Zealand racer Burt Munro, who wanted to break the world motorcycle speed record for an under 1,000 cc bike down the Bonneville Salt Flats in his Indian Scout motorcycle.
Munro would break the record in August 1967, setting a record that still stands to this day. The film portrays Munro’s 1919 Indian Scout, a bike that was already over 40 years old by the time it went over to Bonneville in the 1960s.
Ducati 996 – The Matrix: Reloaded (2003)
Ducati is one of the most iconic motorcycle manufacturers in the world, and it produces some of the best-looking bikes in history. It’s no surprise that one of its bikes, the Ducati 996, became a starring vehicle in the 2003 film The Matrix: Reloaded.
Ducati produced the bike from 1999 to 2002, based on the earlier 916. Power came from a 996 cc fuel-injected L-twin engine, with 112 horsepower and enough power to propel the bike to a top speed of 161 mph.
Yamaha Seca 650 Turbo – Never Say Never Again (1983)
Never Say Never Again was released at a weird crossover period for James Bond actors Sean Connery and Roger Moore. Still, the film was an outstanding success, and one of its best scenes was when Bond engaged in a chase on a Yamaha Seca 650 Turbo against a Renault R5 Turbo.
Ironically, the Yamaha was not the company’s most successful bike. But it was still a robust and rowdy machine with an excellent 1980s aesthetic. It was also one of the few turbocharged bikes that appeared in the 1980s.
Triumph 6T Thunderbird 650 – The Wild One (1953)
Triumph’s bikes are some of the most recognizable in the world, and the company itself is one of the most historic in the motorcycle segment. The 1953 film The Wild One starred Marlon Brando as the leader of a biker gang that causes all sorts of trouble in a small Californian town.
Brano’s character rides a blacked-out Triumph 6T Thunderbird 650. In the United States, the 650cc version of the bike had a compression ratio of 8.1:1, which produced 34 horsepower and rocketed it to a top speed of just over 100 mph.
Triumph TR6R – The Great Escape (1963)
The Great Escape is quite possibly one of the greatest films of all time. It, of course, tells the story of the brave Allied prisoners at the Stalag Luft III prison camp, who attempted a daring escape back to friendly territory and rejoined the fight against the Nazis.
Steve McQueen was one of the stars of the 1963 film that told the tale. McQueen’s character managed to escape from the prison and stole a bike from a Nazi. It wasn’t a BMW, as you would expect, but this Nazi soldier, for some reason, had a Triumph TR6R.
Harley-Davidson Captain America Chopper – Easy Rider (1959)
Many consider Easy Rider to be the best biker movie. The 1959 film helped kickstart the biker revolution that brought motorcycles into mainstream popular culture. It starred Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper as a pair of bikers on a cross-country journey of self-discovery.
The film not only spurred interest in bikes themselves but specifically Harley-Davidsons such as the 1952 Captain America Chopper, one of the starring bikes in the film.
Yamaha XT250 – First Blood (1982)
The Rambo films are some of the most action-packed in cinematic history. But the first one, Rambo: First Blood, is perhaps the most emotionally charged due to how it deals with the PTSD that veterans of the Vietnam War suffered. Rambo, played by Sylvester Stallone, makes a dramatic escape from the local police during the film.
During this escape, Rambo is riding a Yamaha XT250 motorcycle, which he steals from a bystander in what looks like a scene from the Grand Theft Auto video game. It’s one of the best scenes in any of the five Rambo films.
Yamaha MT-09 – John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (2019)
The brilliant John Wick films starring Keanu Reaves have done a lot to revive and breathe new life into the high-octane action genre during what was quite a dull and stale period for the segment. Naturally, a high-octane film like John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum is going to star in a motorcycle chase.
Wicks rides a Yamaha MT-09 in the film with fierce aggression, and adding some gun fighting into the scene on the Yamaha makes it look like the perfect bike if you are involved in a violent chase.
Honda CM400 – Purple Rain (1984)
Prince Rogers Nelson, known as Prince to many of us, was one of the most talented musicians of his time and also someone not afraid to showcase his acting skills. These scenes had a good effect in the 1984 film Purple Rain, which, in many ways, feels like an autobiographical piece by Prince of Prince.
In the film, Prince rides his 1981 Honda CM400 motorcycle with a few extras, such as the full fairing, windshield, and an extra-tall rear backrest. The CM400 was significant as one of the few motorcycles produced by Honda during that time, and it had an automatic transmission.
Husqvarna 400 Cross – On Any Sunday (1971)
Unlike the other films on this list, this one is a documentary. The 1971 film On Any Sunday features a wide array of dirt bikes and other vehicles. It portrays the legendary Steve McQueen’s off-screen antics and shows his love for racing and all things automotive.
The film focuses on motorcycle racing, with various bikes showcased, including McQueen’s Husqvarna 400 Cross, one of the best dirt bikes of the day. The 400 Cross weighed just 231 lbs and had engines of up to 250 cc available, making it an absolute monster.
Harley-Davidson Fat Boy – Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
By the early 1990s, Harley-Davidson had firmly cemented itself as one of the biggest and best motorcycle manufacturers in the United States. Of course, the Terminator series stars one of the greatest actors of all time, Arnold Schwarzenegger, who looked right at home in the 1991 Terminator film on his Harley-Davidson Fat Boy.
The actual model used in the film was a 1991 FLSTF Fat Boy, with five of them bought for the movie. These bikes had the iconic V-Twin engines that were 81 ci and had up to 48 horsepower. That was good enough to propel the bikes to a top speed of 92 mph.
