The Great Escape

[exeric]

I watched 'The Great Escape' last night. Of coarse Steve McQueen is the main draw for that movie and the motorcycle scene is what makes you endure all of the stinking commercials. It's been a number of years since I last saw it so everyone problably recalls this one scene. After Steve has the bike shot out from under him and he's all tangled up in the barbed wire and resigned to his fate, he give the motorcycle an affectionate pat on the tank. It was obvious that Steve McQueen improvised that gesture because only someone who loves motorcycles would instinctively do that.

[Ohio-Rider]

Eric, I caught that last night as well. That boy could sure throw that bike around out on those grassy fields couldn't he? How about when he went thru the skinny bridge and made the guy with the side hack which wouldn't fit thru flip it his machine over. Priceless...-Steve

[koanes]

Maybe that is where I picked up my habit of greeting my machines with a hello and a pat on the tank. And, although I know how weird it is, some of them have names. People often assign a sex to their motorcycles without giving it a second thought. As in "That knuckle of mine, she's a good old bike". I sold a 550 Honda four that I had for a few years, a couple of weeks ago and I found myself lecturing the young man about proper service and respect for the bike as if he was marrying my daughter. For some reason I never form the same bond with my lawnmowers.

[c.o.]

Ha! Ha! Koanes.......your not to far off from what I do. If I sense a gremlin stirring in my machine while on a trip I tend to pat it on the tank like an old horse and tell it to just take me home. Of the few bikes I've sold over the years, they had to go to an approved buyer. If I didn't think a bike would go to a good home I wouldn't sell it. I think Barry said this before............ something to the effect that we're all a little nuts when it comes to these old bikes! Oh, and The Great Escape.........Great Movie!!!

[Tom Lovejoy]

Yep a great movie, I bought a copy of the great escape on cd. In the scenes section they showed how they did the jump and several other scenes. Really quite cool, shows a couple different takes showing Bud Ekins and Steve McQueen and where they patched the film pieces together. Bud did not even practice for the jump, just got on and did it in one try!!! If I remember right I think they said they used rubber bands to make real looking barbed wire :-) is that a crack up or what?

[23JDCA 808]

great motorcycle jumps

Speaking of jumps; there was a motorcycle show on TV, maybe is the 1970’s with a fellow travelling across the U.S. on a new bike (probably Foreign.) One episode he strikes up a conversation with an old fellow with an OLD bike in a barn. Old fellow wants to follow the show’s star on his weekly journey; so the star jumps across this ditch in a field to ‘ditch’ him. Old fellow just backs up an extra 100-yards and does the jump. There was a lot of suspension travel on that thing! The old bike was probably a 1940’s Harley complete with saddle bags and some the accessories that were popular then. Anybody remember that? …bill