Here Are 5 Celebrity Riders Who Also Happen to Be Big Motorcycle Collectors

June marks autoevolution’s Two-Wheeler Month and we couldn’t celebrate it without a mention of the world’s most famous riders: celebrities and their motorcycles. Some of these stars are as famous for being riders as they are for their work in front of the camera (hello, Keanu!), some are probably less known as riders, but they all have something in common: they’re not just riders, they’re collectors.

Celebrities’ vehicle fleets usually get a lot of media attention but, since biking is still considered a niche thing, motorcycle collections don’t attract as much. So here’s to the daredevils and the bike connoisseurs that occasionally also dabble in movies, music or even politics.

Keanu Reeves

It only makes sense for this (totally random and not exhaustive) list to start with Keanu, since he was mentioned two paragraphs in it. The Matrix star is very media- and paparazzi-shy, and bikes provide him with something an international star can simply not get enough of: total anonymity and a very quick getaway.

Keanu comes across as the chillest dude around and, while he’s known to take public transport more than any other actor that can command multi-million dollar paychecks, he’s a diehard rider. He’s such a diehard rider that he’s only owned two cars in his life and he set up his own company / boutique custom shop, with bike designer and builder Gard Hollinger: Arch Motorcycle.

Arch sells performance bikes for the shamelessly rich: the KRGT-1 model, introduced in 2015, costs upwards of $78,000, so the shop makes only limited series. Since Keanu is one of the owners, he has a KRGT-1 in his collection, along with the follow-up model, Arch 1s. His first motorcycle was a Kawasaki 600 Enduro, followed by a classic: a 1973 Norton Commando 850 MKII Roadster.

He’s owned several Nortons, as well as a Suzuki GS1100E, a Suzuki GSX-R750, a 1974 BMW 750, a Kawasaki KZ 900, a 1984 Harley Shovelhead, a Moto Guzzi, a Harley-Davidson Dyna Wide Glide, a El Diablo West Coast Chopper, a Yamaha ZX10 Ninja and the 2004 998 Ducati used in the production of Matrix Reloaded.

Brad Pitt

Keanu never explicitly said so, but Brad did: he prefers riding instead of driving because he can get away from the world – and the paparazzi chasing him – just like that *snaps fingers*. While Brad owns more cars than the Matrix star, his garage is also packed with the finest selection of motorcycles, from the rarest and most expensive, to the fastest. And a couple of planes and helicopters, but that’s another story for another time.

Perhaps two of Brad’s bikes that have gotten the most coverage are his Indian Larry and the Ecosse Titanium Series XX. His custom, one-off Indian Larry When Push Comes to Shove is believed to have cost around $65,000 and is a true beauty, but the Ecosse isn’t just the most expensive bike in the world, it’s also among the rarest: Pitt is among a handful of people to own one and he is said to have paid an estimated $300,000 for the priviledge.

Brad also loves Ducatis and has several of them, including a Monster 696, a Monster S4R and, most impressively, a Desmosedici RR, which is a full MotoGP race bike that’s been turned street legal. He also owns a BMW R1150GS Adventure, a Royal Enfield Bullet 500 and a Zero Engineering Type9, among others.

Ewan McGregor

Another world-famous entry on the list of riders with jaw-dropping bike collections. McGregor is so passionate about riding that he took his good friend Charlie Boorman on no less than three record-breaking trips on their respective bikes, and it was all documented on camera for what has come to be known as iconic adventure documentaries: The Long Way Round, The Long Way Down and The Long Way Up.

It comes as little surprise then that McGregor owns a massive collection of classic / vintage bikes, mixed with rarities and adventure bikes – starting with the BMW R1150GS he rode for The Long Way Round back in 2014.

Like Pitt and his Ducatis, McGregor also has a favorite: Moto Guzzi, the oldest European manufacturer in continuous production. He owns a Moto Guzzi V7 Sport, which he once called “one of the most beautiful bikes ever built,” a 2002 VII Sport, a 1974 Eldorado Police Bike, and a 2002 V11 Le Mans Tenni.

McGregor also owns the BMW R1200GS Adventure he rode for The Long Way Down, a 1952 BSA Bantam D1, a 1980 Honda Gold Wing, a Ducati SuperSport and presumably a Harley-Davidson LiveWire. He once said he loves his bikes so much he would never let another person touch them, so he does all the tinkering himself.

Tom Cruise

Tom Cruise is perhaps best known for doing his own stunts, whether they’re in the air or on the ground, in cars, bikes or without any motorized vehicle at all. He’s become increasingly private in recent years, which may or may not have to do with constant exposure and ridicule for his Scientology beliefs, so there’s no exact way of knowing what’s in his garage. Urban legend has it that he bought every bike he ever rode on screen, which, if true, means his bike garage is what heaven must look like for enthusiasts.

When he turned 51, Cruise was photographed leaving the restaurant on a Vyrus 987 C3 4V, said to be the most powerful and expensive production bike in the world, with a price tag of well over $100,000. It is believed he got it as a gift, which would be appropriate. What else could you get the man who has everything?

The Vyrus went to join the Kawasaki Ninja 900/GPz900R from Top Gun, the Honda CRF450X from Oblivion, the BMW R Nine T Scrambler from Mission: Impossible Fallout, and the BMW S1000RR from Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation. But Cruise also owns one of the 200 Ducati 999Rs ever made, a Confederate Hellcat he rode to the premiere of Mission: Impossible 3, a Triumph Bonneville Scrambler, and Xenu only knows how many others more.

Jay Leno

You can’t have a list of this kind and not include the most famous car and moto collector in the world: former TV talk show host, comedian and gearhead Jay Leno. Leno isn’t just a collector, though; whenever he can, he makes sure he takes his toys out for a spin. However, considering he has 180+ cars and nearly 170 motorcycles, you’ll have to excuse him if he overlooks some.

Leno’s bike collection alone would take an entire day to just list item by item, so we’re not pretending to attempt to do that. Suffice it to say that it comprises some of the rarest vintage bikes and modern releases, and that it’s the closest thing to a fully-fledged museum.

Among the bikes Leno sought out and eventually acquired, there’s a Vincent Black Shadow, a 1924 Ace Motorcycles XP-4, a 1933 Indian Motorcycles Four, a 1939 Brough Superior SS100, a 1958 BSA DBD34 Gold Star, a 1971 Velocette Thruxton, but also a Ducati 900 Super Sport TT, a 2010 Triumph Thunderbird and a 2010 BMW S1000RR. To name only a handful out of a very impressive bunch.

Leno’s entire collection is worth anything between $50 and $60 million, and the motorcycles represent a good chunk of that. This just to give you a better appreciation of the kind of treasures he’s amassed along the years.

Notable mentions go to Pink, Orlando Bloom, Gerard Butler, George Clooney (though he’s given up riding for good due to back injuries and a recent crash), Ryan Gosling and Ryan Reynolds, and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Indeed, not only does Putin ride horses (bare-chested, no less) and could kick anyone’s butt in hand to hand combat, but he’s also a biker. He often rides with the controversial gang Night Wolves (aka Putin’s Angels) and is said to own at least several Urals, Harley-Davidsons, Kawasakis and – out of all things! – a Mitsubishi Silver Pigeon scooter.