“Captain America” Chopper Designer Cliff Vaughs, 79, Died. Long denied a creative credit for the look and style of what is considered the most iconic motorcycle as featured in the movie “Easy Rider”, Cliff Vaughs died last Saturday at home in California at the age of 79. Cliff Vaughs with friend and bike builder Ben Hardy, also an African American, made the team hired to conceive and build a total of 4 motorcycles: a “Captain America” for Peter Fnda, a “Billy” bike for Dennis Hopper to ride in the movie, and 2 copies to be used during stunts. All were destroyed during the movie shooting or disappeared shortly after.
Triumph Trademarked The ‘Speed Twin’ Name. Model To Be Launched In 2017. We only know that Triumph Motorcycles name their bikes with higher performance as Speed and lower performance models with the title of Street. So The “Speed Twin” may be a more performance oriented version of the “Street Twin” model using the 900 cc retuned parallel twin engine.
Indian Motorcycle Opens Its 7th Dealership In India. Polaris India, the wholly owned subsidiary of Polaris Industries Inchas opened a new dealership of Indian Motorcycle in Chandigarh, the capital of the northern states of Punjab and Haryana. It is the brand’s 7th dealership of the brand in India. The showroom will showcase the Indian Chief Classic, Indian Chief Vintage, Indian Chieftain, Indian Chief Dark Horse, Indian Scout, Indian Roadmaster and the 2016 Indian Scout Sixty. Currently, the India market size of luxury motorcycles is pegged at 1,000-1,100 units per year.
Global Motorcycle Adaptive Cruise Control Market To Grow 9.31% During Period 2016-2020. Contrary to traditional adaptive cruise control systems, adaptive cruise control uses a backend unit ensuring the monitoring of engine RPM and speed signals to automatically adjust according to terrain. The rglobal report by “Markets & Research” states that one challenge that could hamper market growth is the complicated design and the need for skilled mechanics to repair or install these kits on non-factory-equipped motorcycles
New Vice President For MAG Retail Group. The MAG Retail Group (MRG), the multi-channel retail division of Motorsport Aftermarket Group (MAG) that runs J&P Cycles and Motorcycle Superstore, is pleased to announce the addition of Sean Laughlin as the new vice president of marketing and a part of the MRG senior leadership team. Sean is a veteran of the motorcycle industry and marketer of some of the most valued brands in the world, including Harley-Davidson, McDonald’s, General Motors and Trek Bicycle. At MRG, Laughlin will oversee brand, creative digital and traditional marketing efforts for both J&P Cycles and Motorcycle Superstore.
Superstore and J&P have had communication and shipping problems this whole year. Superstore cost me a customer. Hope they both get sorted out soon. peace
Burnout, you do realize that J&P and Superstore only exist as a front for Tucker Rocky/ Bikers Choice right? Since TR/ BC bought MAG why would they need the duplicate infrastructure?
Am I crazy, or did I not read somewhere that, within the last year, the original Captain America bike was auctioned off for a fortune? I understand that it had undergone at least one rebuild, but wouldn’t that be impossible if the original was destroyed or disappeared?
Hey Charlie, you could be Crazy, it wouldn’t take much in today’s world ! Grizzly Adams was also part of that team, he maintained the Bikes during shooting! Captain America #1, was stolen, right after the shooting! The stunt bike , the one destroyed at the end of the movie, was rebuilt, as I understand it, with the same motor & frame ! Grizzly sold it to John Parham, of J&P Fame, he had it in his museum several years.! A couple of years ago, John sold it to a guy, who put it on the Auction Block, got a Cool Million $!
Godspeed Cliff Vaughs, the Creator of the Chopper Craze ! Take an Easy Ride, you deserve it, RIP !
Vaughns and Hardy were talented guys out of LA that never got their due.
There were two other Easy Rider bikes built but by AEE Choppers. They were built after the movie was filmed under contract to the studio. The bikes were put in lobbies of theaters showing the movies. I’m sure along the way they ended up in the mix of “real” bikes sold over and over as original when in fact they weren’t.