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Captain America Panhead Harley-Davidson Replica Up for Grabs

There are some famous bikes in the world, such as the lightning fast Y2K, the classic Royal Enfield Bullet or the legendary dual sport bike BMW R80G/S.
Captain America Panhead Harley-Davidson Replica 9 photos
Photo: Mecum
Captain America Panhead Harley-Davidson ReplicaCaptain America Panhead Harley-Davidson ReplicaCaptain America Panhead Harley-Davidson ReplicaCaptain America Panhead Harley-Davidson ReplicaCaptain America Panhead Harley-Davidson ReplicaCaptain America Panhead Harley-Davidson ReplicaCaptain America Panhead Harley-Davidson ReplicaCaptain America Panhead Harley-Davidson Replica
But there is one which is so unconventional and as old-school as it can get. And that is the Captain America Panhead Harley-Davidson featured in the movie Easy Rider.

This bike has a rich history as it was custom made for the 1969 flick. It was the era of the Panhead engines, which had such a non-steady idle it was like the engine was almost going to shut off, but miraculously revived with some fresh fuel from the tank. It was the era of extreme angles and colors, hence the American flag was painted on the fuel tank.

Everything else besides the fuel tank, saddle and engine block was shiny chrome in order to blind the foes with the spectral light emanating from the bike. This bike had no brakes, because only fools use brakes and Captain America is no fool. Also it had such an oversized sissy bar you could go for a power nap (as a pillion) and the driver would not feel you at all.

Even tough there are some rumors that the creator of this bike is not known even today, because there are arguments between Clifford Vaughs and his colleague Ben Hardy, and Peter Fonda, who used to say that he built the bike along with Denis Fonda.

Some sources say that Peter Fonda came up with the ideas and Clifford and Ben started to build it. The only known fact is that they bought 4 bikes at an auction, in order to have them as a back-ups if the filming didn't go according to the plan (wrecking them or failing to work), but finally only 1 was destroyed in the final scene of the movie, and the rest were stolen and/or possibly scrapped.

There is going to be an auction regarding a replica of the Harley-Davidson Captain America in the near future. The bike is not registrable, has a 1200 cc engine with 2 cylinders coupled with a 5 speed gearbox. Although this one doesn't have the full chrome frame, the replica can be used for display in chopper themed shops/cafes/pubs etc. And it certainly is an eye-catcher.
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