Bikers have many cult heroes to point to as fellow motorcycle riders, but one person that may not be the first to come to mind is making celebrity headlines again.

The famous international Italian fashion model, spokesperson and actor who appeared on the cover of hundreds of romance novels throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Fabio was recently features on the celebrity gossip show TMZ.

While many point to Marlon Brando as starting the stereotype for the bad boy biker image, look to Steve McQueen as a motorcycle icon and even have a host of actors to choose from with the highly popular Sons of Anarchy, Fabio is the two-wheeled celebrity at the moment.

Claiming to have ‘hundreds of motorcycles’ the romantic novel standard leans towards speed and performance choosing sportsbikes and dirt bikes over cruisers.

“People spend a lot of money on alcohol and drugs,” Fabio told a reporter for Men.Style.com, “I spend my money on motorcycles.”

He started riding motorcycles when he was eight years old and has continued to have the passion for speed.

He love of motorcycles and the surprise expressed by the motorcycle world has been biker news as far back as the 1990’s during Fabio’s heyday. But the motorcycle passion has come about again with a cameo and controversy on TMZ.

The reporters of the celebrity gossip show questioned whether Fabio could own the huge number of bikes he claimed. An apology was forthcoming once they saw the video clip featured below.

“My agency [are] always worried about me riding motorcycles,” Fabio explains, “But life is too short, and because of the job I do I’m not going to limit my life.”