By the staff of Clutch and Chrome

With the first memories of the last few generations coming from what they watched on TV, Clutch and Chrome takes a look back to some of the starring roles the humble motorcycle has played on television and what bike-related shows we can expect to see coming up.

Television, boob-tube, one-eyed monster in the living room or brain drain box, no matter what it’s called the invention has come to play some part in practically everyone’s life. With more and more consumers spending larger amounts of money to make their plain television into sophisticated, top of the line ‘entertainment centers’ we at Clutch and Chrome began to wonder about the relationship between this medium and the past time that's so near and dear to our heart.

Before looking at the present day line-up, we decided it would be fun to take a walk down memory lane and follow the fate of the motorcycle on television.

Mention the word motorcycle and images leap to mind ranging from leather-clad gang members with nothing but criminal intent to the rebellious, but honest soul who is simply misunderstood and trying to find his way through life. Generally speaking, these stereotypes aren’t born from personal experiences, but more from what the public has seen on both the big and small screen.

The writers and producers in the entertainment industry grew up with the same images and stereotypes as the rest of us, so essentially what we see on TV comes from how they feel about motorcycles and the people who ride them

So how has the motorcycle faired at the hands of the entertainment industry?

All about the image.
The image of the biker has been shaped and reshaped by Hollywood over the decades, being born on the big screen with the sensationalized ‘The Wild Ones’ starring Marlon Brando. The movie established the bad-boy biker stereotype which stayed with mainstream America, thanks in no small part to continuous stream of motorcycle gang B-movies that followed. That is until Dennis Hopper's 'Easyrider' presented a more introspective, philosophical rider to the general public in the late sixties.

How the movies shaped the popular opinion of the motorcyclist is covered with more detail in Clutch and Chrome’s The Outlaw Biker. The focus of this article is a closer look at the entertainment industry’s fickleness and sometimes success of courting the motorcycle for a leading role in the television series.

Just as the movies used the motorcycle as a prop for an easy way to establish who a character is, television has always been quick to do the same. Looking for a group of men who are obviously up to no good, terrorizing a town which needs to be saved by the leading man, put them on motorcycles. Television show writers who require an ‘instant-bad boy’ the popular teenage star shouldn’t be dating, mention he’s a biker, add an unshaven appearance and put him in the appropriate leathers.

But what about television’s efforts to make the motorcycle part of the show itself? The first most notable time a bike was made an intricate part of the story was so much of a success one has to wonder why we didn’t grow up with every leading television character riding.

Started with a man in tights
It’s not clear why the writers decided Batman needed a motorcycle in the hugely popular 1960’s cult classic, but evidently he did. The Batcycle only appeared once in the first series and it didn’t seem to make that much of impression on the audience. This could be because the initial motorcycle was a standard 1959 Harley Davidson with a side car, featuring a simple paint job of high gloss black, detailed with red pinstripes to match the color scheme of it's four-wheeled cousin. Apart from the windshields, the motorcycle didn’t have any of the stylized, sweeping flourishes that helped the Batmobile become such an icon.

Fast forward to 1966 and while filming the first Batman television movie the producers decided to buy a new Batcycle created by Dan Dempski, a mechanic who worked for the famous custom car designer George Barris. That last name might be familiar to anyone who remembers the kustom kar designs and craze from the sixties and seventies with Mr. Barris playing a large part in the amazing fabrications. With some justification, he styles himself King of the Kustomizers, having designed signature vehicles for TV series such as The Beverly Hillbillies, The Munsters, Mannix, and Knight Rider.

The ‘new’ batcycle was built from a stock 1966 Yamaha Catalina 250 and featured aerodynamic fairings and fins which were not only more inline with the Batmobile but perfectly at home in the outlandish 1960’s. The gimmick of Robin’s sidecar being detachable so impressed the powers that be, it was written into the story and yet another facet to the Batman TV series was imprinted into the minds of the youthful viewing audience.

It’s interesting to note that America’s favorite superhero who could defeat any villain that dared to threaten the citizens of Gotham rode around on a 250cc motorcycle. Although this was a common size for motorcycle engines at the time, it certainly seems small compared to today’s powerhouses that have standard engine sizes as large as 1800cc.

By 1967 the show had aired for two seasons when it was decided to introduce Batgirl into the series. She too would have her own batcycle and although designed inhouse by the studio’s themselves, it had the same exaggerated features and trimmings suited for the era. Staying with Yamaha, the motorcycle was built from a stock YDS–5E boasting the then cutting-edge technological advance of an electric starter.

The actress who played batgirl, Yvonne Craig, rode her own motorcycle to the set daily and as much as she enjoyed the electric start over her own bike’s kickstart, the batcycle wasn’t the smoothest of rides. The customized motorcycle had more power than she was used to and the shocks were removed to make room in order for the ‘batwings’ to be attached.

Time to board up the Batcave
Batgirl didn’t really have time to get used to her powerful, electric-starting motorcycle with the cancellation of the series by 1968, but the batcycles wouldn’t have much time to cool down before another motorcycle took front and center stage on television.

In 1969 television’s big brother, the film studio’s, had plans to take the public’s perception of motorcycles in a totally different direction. Although Easyrider is well known for being first to show the biker as an insightful, pondering soul traveling the country for answers, a TV show with the same message (if not in a little more palatable form for the mass audiences) actually wrapped up production months before Peter Fonda appeared on screen to take his famous ‘Captain America’ moniker.

But in the public’s eyes ‘Then came Bronson’ starring Michael Parks appeared on NBC as an apparent Easyrider clone. Fulfilling a promise made to his best friend, Parks as a former newspaper reporter buys his buddies Harley-Davidson Sportster and roams America in search of some inner peace.

The writers of the show manage to capture a common occurrence, even while riding today, with the opening lines of the pilot episode.

(Opening scene: busy city street...a harried businessman at a stoplight turns to his left, where a young man is revving his motorcycle, and asks...)

"Taking a trip?

"What's that?"

"Taking a trip."

"Yeah."

"Where to?"

"Oh, I don't know...wherever I end up, I guess."

"Pal, I wish I was you."

"Really?...well...hang in there."

Unfortunately, Michael Parks only had one season to find that inner peace before the show came to the end of it's journey. Interestingly enough Speed TV showed the pilot episode after the 2006 Superbowl game.

For the next few years aside from a 1914 model motorcycle being used as a comedic prop in a short lived series called ‘Nicholas’ starring James Garner and a character on the Sandy Duncan show having the job of a motorcycle cop, the television landscape was barren of bikers.

That is, until America saw ‘Happy Days’ again in 1974.

Heeeyyyyyy!
The next time a motorcycle would play a prominent role on TV, cool would take on a whole new level, even redefining the definition. Nostalgia for the simpler times of the rock and roll era became big business in the mid-1970s and leading the wave was Happy Days, a sitcom version of teenage life in the mid-1950s. It started modestly and built in popularity rising to the number one program in all of American television by the 1976-77 season.

Although originally written as a minor character, The Fonz became so popular Henry Winkler was eventually featured in the ending credits second only to Ron Howard. With the Fonz formerly belonging to a motorcycle gang (the Falcons) and his leather jacket as much his a signature as the various phrases and the all-powerful thumb, bikers were given a cleaner, softer image.

Serious riders may not have questioned his coolness, but certainly wondered about his attention to detail. In the very early episodes he rode custom Harley-Davidson models, later the bike became a Triumph as well as a BSA. Overall, the Fonz rode a variety of models including Harley Panhead, Harley Knucklehead, Harley Sportster, Triumph 500 CC Twin, Trophy 650 CC and a BSA.

Motorcycles and the people who loved to ride them were given further credibility when a show that featured the bikes as nearly as much as the leading characters appeared in 1977. CHiPs starred Larry Wilcox and Erik Estrada as two California Highway Patrol Officers riding around Los Angeles on their Kawasaki’s solving crimes and possibly witnessing the most highway accidents in the history of automobile travel. From the high energy introduction to the various fly-by camera shots of the two riders cruising the California highways the show was loved by all ages. To re-live the era of Ponch and John, click here to see a free video and enjoy the opening credits again.

At about the same time, ABC and the creators of Full House used the publics newer, more sanitized biker stereotype to give John Stamos’ character of a rock musician an edge of hipness. Along with his manicured hair and designer leather jackets, the motorcycle was occasionally mentioned and rarely seen.

Tall buildings in a single jump
Two years after ChiPs parked the Kawasaki’s for the final time the top shows on television were about a super-helicopter in Airwolf and a smart, talking car in Knight Rider. Producers moved the formula over to the two wheeled variety of transport, creating StreetHawk, a top secret government project ridden around by a handpicked cop who fought crime on the Streets of Los Angeles.

StreetHawk had more success with the bad guys than the ratings. With so many other choices for ‘super-vehicles’ on TV a souped-up dirtbike couldn’t cut it, and the show was cancelled after thirteen episodes.

But producers are an inventive bunch, putting motorcycles in storylines lines to give some characters edginess while making others blue-collared and consequently more likable. It was John Goodman’s dream to own a custom motorcycle shop selling Harleys in Roseanne a comedy sitcom which had a successful run from 1988-1997. There were less well known series that didn’t make it past the initial season, taking the motorcycle loving character down with it such as the small town motorcycle cop in NBC’s Grand, 1990. Executives even tried to put women on bikes hoping to attract a wider viewing demographic with shows featuring a female obituary writer who rode a motorcycle in ‘Over My Dead Body’ and a female motorcycle cop who rode a Harley in ‘Broken Badges’, both on CBS. ‘Northern Exposure’ wanted quirkiness in the small town and added the local deejay riding his motorcycle around in the colder climate.

Looking to the future, ABC hoped that by making the rider more superhero than man, SuperForce would last longer than StreetHawk. Set in the year 2020 an astronaut becomes a motorcycle riding vigilante when he returns from a mission and learns his cop brother's been murdered. Although definitely of B-movie quality the show managed to make it to the end of season two, even if the second run was a short one.

Dark Justice, a show about a vigilante Judge taking the law into his own hands with cool-looking riding gear and a fast sportsbike gave CBS a series that ran for 66-episodes, being included as part of the channels late-night "Crime Time in Prime Time". It certainly helped that the producers cast a team of beauties as the Judge’s ‘Night Watchmen’ who all had special skills which were used to entrap the guilty criminals that would otherwise escape the not-so-long arm of the law. In answer to CBS’ Dark Justice, Street Justice was produced for syndication featuring policeman taking the law into his own hands with a close group of friends and of course, a motorcycle.

Street Justice caught their last bad guy on 1993 and Dark Justice wrapped up their crusade the year after.

A new kind of biker
While the other channels stuck with the tried and tested methods of super motorcycles and incredible stunts, an actor more famous for a refined look in the soap opera soaked ‘Falcon Crest’, appeared unshaven and in the saddle of a 1990 Softail Harley Davidson.

Lorenzo Lamas played Reno Raines, an ex-cop framed for his wife’s murder in the series Renegade which appeared on television sets in 1992. The show followed Rains as he searched for the one witness who could clear his name and bring down the real killer. In the meantime Raines worked as a bounty hunter under an assumed name. The producers were going after a type of biker that hadn’t been seen on television before. The motorcycle, Lamas’ look and even the introduction to the show –

"He was a cop, and good at his job. But then he committed the ultimate sin, and testified against other cops gone bad. Cops who tried to kill him, but got the woman he loved instead. Framed for murder, now he prowls the badlands. An outlaw hunting outlaws, a bounty hunter, a RENEGADE!"

Raines was a tough guy with a sensitive heart, fighting a world that didn’t understand him. Filled with colorful characters and a co-star Lamas would marry, the show stayed on the air for five seasons, going from syndication to the USA Network.

It had been 10 years since a TV show prominently featuring a motorcycle had the kind of success Renegade enjoyed. But it wasn’t just the older viewers that had a fascination with motorcycles as the cartoon ‘Biker Mice from Mars’ proved with its debut in 1993. Three humanoid mice named Throttle, Modo and Vinnie escape from Mars after it's taken over by an evil alien race, crash landing on Earth to become the Biker Mice from Mars. Riding a chopper, sportsbike and cruiser, not only did they fight with the alien race which had since invaded Earth as well, but equally represented the riding community.

The success of a cartoon about biker mice was obviously all the encouragement needed for a resourceful producer to look to Japan for the next motorcycle-based TV show. The Japanese tokusatsu television series of Kamen Rider made it onto American television sets under the name of Masked Rider in 1995. The shows have been produced for over a decade in Japan featuring all types of motorcycles, acrobatic fighting and insightful pondering into the rights and wrong of violence.

Not really a biker’s show but are popular enough to command a line of DVD's.

Where are we now?
Reality shows about custom bike builders and motorcycle magazine programs currently fill the schedules and have definitely helped motorcycles to be considered more mainstream. From the reality ‘build-a-chopper’ shows to the various documentaries about riding such as the rally in Sturgis, the motorcycle has recently enjoyed a prolific love affair with television. The upside of the media blitz is seen in motorcycle ownership with the numbers expected to exceed 6 million registered owners.

Speed TV fills an entire night of broadcasting with shows such as V-Twin, American Thunder, Corbin’s Ride-on and Two Wheel Tuesday. And the entertainment industry isn’t quite finished with the motorcycle yet.

Using the motorcycle, the writers and producers of the popular TV show 'House' utilize a sportsbike to further enforce the lead characters rebellious bedside manner. The show's namesake, Dr. Gregory House and his urge to ride around on two wheels is made even more dramatic since he uses a cane to help with a serious limp caused by muscle infarction in his right leg.

A rebel of a different kind.

Producers have continued to look to superheroes and the comic books for the next motorcycle media innovations. In 2007 Nicolas Cage starred in Marvel's Ghost Rider which was certainly visually stunning if somewhat lacking in story.

Publicity shots from the upcoming movie Ghost Rider to be released in 2007
Click to enlarge

A far bigger hit just a few months after Ghost Rider graced the silver screens, a comedy of four weekend bikers taking a cross-country road trip starring John Travolta, William H Macy, Martin Lawrence and Tim Allen.

The movie, Wild Hogs pleased riders and non-riders alike taking in so much at the box office the rumor mill has a sequel coming out in 2009.

But what about the small screen? After all that is the medium this article is about.

The year of 2007 looked promising with the promotion of another of Marvels superheroes leaping from the pages of the comic books and into televisions across the world. Spike TV not only promised the same vampire action as the movies seen with Wesley Snipes Blade Runner, but threw in the two wheeled caveat of the hero riding a Harley Davidson.

The show debuted on Spike TV,  'Blade: The Series,' inspired by Marvel's popular Super Hero as seen in both comic books and movies with the immortal lead character riding a VRSCD Night Rod Harley-Davidson.

   
Courtesy of Ivory Serra/Spike TV
Kirk "Sticky" Jones as Blade on his VRSCD Night Rod Harley-Davidson
Click to enlarge

Critics wondered if Harley Davidson's management was hoping for the same media frenzy around it’s product that Dodge enjoyed from the TV show ‘Viper’ in the mid 1990’s. Not that it mattered, the show floundered in ratings and the motorcycle never seemed to leave the vampire hunters lair.

Motorcycle’s future in television
As a leading man, the motorcycle hasn’t had the most consistent career on the small screen and there were some roles that maybe shouldn’t have been taken. But like a good location or fall back storyline, the entertainment industry has turned to the motorcycle time and time again. With so many different types of bikes as well as the range of riders on the road, the opportunity tell a plethora of different stories about people with a variety of backgrounds is a huge resource for the entertainment industry. Of course it’s up them to go off the well-walked pathways of story-telling and bring something new to the viewing audience before they get bored with the 'cruiser with a cause' show.

There are concerns about having too many motorcycle-oriented television shows stemming from not only the growing number of bikes on the road but also having so much riding-related content on the air that the public reaches the point of feeling overloaded by the humble motorcycle.

Maybe television executives should consider this downside before green-lighting (approving) another ‘custom bike build-off’ series.