Celebrity Bikers

by John Stumpner

Being on a motorcycle and living the biker lifestyle has a certain “cool” factor many people are envious of and try to copy. Very often celebrities, to enhance their public image, will try to appear like bikers and pose with motorcycles. There was even once a service that would allow a celebrity to ride a chauffeured motorcycle to whatever event they were attending, so they could appear on a motorcycle for the cameras.

Many celebrities are real bikers though. One example of these real biker celebrities is the singer/songwriter Pink. Very often, she can be spotted riding around on a Harley Davidson Sportster or a Triumph Bonneville. Pink met her husband at a motocross event where he was racing. She soon joined his pit crew and was helping him race. She actually proposed to him by writing “Marry Me” on his pit-board while he was racing. Like any good biker, she appears to know how to take charge of a situation.

Another celebrity biker is Ewan McGregor, who played Obi-Wan Kenobi in some of the Star Wars movies. Ewan has traveled all over the world on motorcycles, including a cross country trip on an all-electric Harley Davidson LiveWire. Ewan has written about and made videos of many of his travels in the various Long Way books and films.

Some actors and actresses have even incorporated their motorcycles into their movies. Steve McQueen, sometimes referred to as the “King of Cool” was a popular actor during the second half of the twentieth century. Steve insisted on riding his Triumph motorcycle in the movie The Great Escape. The movie producers, however, would not let him perform a jump with the motorcycle, getting a stuntman to do it instead. Ann-Margret, sometimes referred to as the “Female Elvis,” was another popular actress and entertainer during the same time period. She rode her Triumph motorcycle in the movie The Swinger. She also used her Triumph in her stage shows and TV specials. Norman Reedus, who plays Darryl in The Walking Dead TV show is often depicted riding a motorcycle. Norman also has another TV show called Riding with Norman Reedus, obviously no explanation needed there. Many new bikers credit their newfound love of motorcycles and the biker lifestyle with the examples set by Norman in his TV shows.

As bikers, we understand and enjoy the freedom of the road. As ABATE members, we work to make sure that motorcycling and freedom of the road lasts forever for all bikers, including those celebrities and entertainers that feel as we do.

John