My recent visit to the 'Black Chrome' show in LA exposed an emotionally charged, ragged hole in the history of motorcycling. The discreet mention that Ben Hardy had created the 'Captain America' and 'Billy' choppers for the film Easy Rider blew my mind - Why didn't I know this? Why isn't this part of the folklore surrounding this epochal film? The reasons are myriad, but the effect is the same - this man is nearly invisible on the Motorcycle Culture radar.
A little digging on the web revealed some photos of Hardy and his shop, and some details on the 'build' of the Captain America bike. Ben Hardy's Motorcycle Service was located at 1168 E. Florence in Los Angeles, which is now an auto repair shop. As Hardy looks to be in his late 40s in the photographs, I would presume he is dead now, but I'll be on the hunt for more info and family photographs - trust The Vintagent; this story is going to come out.
The story thus far: Peter Fonda, the producer of Easy Rider, hired Cliff Vaughs to coordinate the motorcycles for the film, and Cliff tapped Ben Hardy for the actual construction of the machines. I've heard a rumor that 3 'Captain America' replicas were built, but I'll fact check that (I do know that none of the originals exist, the principal bike having been stolen from the props warehouse after the movie was completed).
Ben Hardy used standard H-D frames, ca. '48-'56, and used Buchanan's frame shop to alter the steering head angle to 45 degrees. The steering head was cut off and repositioned, and the resultant extreme rake required a 12" extension to the telescopic forks. A set of A.E.E. fork clamps are used, with extended handlebar clamps ('dog bones'); the handlebars have a rise of 13" - not yet in 'ape hanger' territory.
Cliff Vaughns hired Dean Lanza to paint the bikes, and Peter Fonda specified the tank on one to resemble the sheild of comic-book character 'Captain America' - hence the name of the motorcycle.
I've long argued that the 'Captain America' bike is one of the top 3 most famous motorcycles in the world. I'm in disbelief that I never knew the story behind the machine. More to come.
Check out this youtube video on the subject; kudos to Jesse James for his research, and finding Cliff Vaughs:
Many thanks and an apology to Fritz Simmerlein of Harleysons.de for the original photos of Ben Hardy and the information about the 'Captain America' details. I found my info at random on the web, but it was Fritz' research. I'm hoping we find more original photos of Hardy, and will explore the subject further. Thanks Fritz!
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