The 1960s were a transformative decade across the globe. The brewing Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union prompted East German authorities to build a wall dividing the nation’s capital city in 1961, while conflicts in Vietnam and the looming specter of nuclear war gave birth to a worldwide hippie counterculture. This rebelliousness helped popularize motorcycles around the world, and in 1969 the film “Easy Rider” brought those two themes together. Along with human stars Peter Fonda, Jack Nicholson, and Dennis Hopper, “Easy Rider” featured an array of hand-built choppers based on Harley-Davidson models.
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Hopper and Fonda went to bike builder Clifford Vaughs with their idea for the movie, and Vaughs told NPR he was in from the start. “I can build whatever we need for the film right here at my place,” he recalls telling the two young actors. A bike rumored to be the original from the film sold for $1.35 million in 2014, making it one of the most valuable classic Harleys ever. That “Captain America” chopper ridden by Fonda’s character might be the single most iconic motorcycle of the tumultuous decade, but there are plenty of factory models that were of great importance to the industry, motorcycle culture, or both.
