American filmmaker Chris Zahner's short documentary is a loving video hug for the people of India who ride, repair, customize and worship the Royal Enfield Bullet motorcycle. You can watch "Chasing the Bullet" for free on YouTube.
But, almost as sweet, Zahner has just posted on YouTube No. 5 in a running series of "Making of Chasing the Bullet" videos.
While the documentary tries to explain the phenomenon of Royal Enfield in India, the "making of" videos are different.
They spare us the explanation and get right to the joy. Although carefully edited in Zahner's fast-paced style, they come across as pure zany, unscripted fun.
Why would you not binge watch all five? I just did.
For Chris, the challenge was to go to India and just rely on the passion there for the Royal Enfield Bullet motorcycle to provide the material he would need to capture.
There's a freshness and excitement underlying "Chasing the Bullet" that keeps it moving. That may have been the pressure of having to get it done on virtually no budget.
Much of his equipment was second hand, some of it almost antique. An initial Kickstarter campaign to help fund the film failed, giving Chris no monetary cushion just hours before he was due to leave for India.
He got on the plane anyway.
"I like to use the phrase: 'Jump in the deep end,'" he explains.
Ultimately, the film cost him "dinner and drinks every Friday and Saturday night for a year." (Fortunately, a second Kickstarter campaign did help.)
Chris and Corinna explain on the podcast why an artist would even consider giving away his work.
"It was much more important for me, if I want to continue to do this stuff, I have to show it is affecting people and I'm building an audience," Chris says.
On the podcast, Chris also describes another project, his customizing of a Royal Enfield Continental GT. The finished bike was recently featured on The Bike Shed website.
The inspiration for the bike came while he was making the film in India. A U.S. dealer, Royal Enfield of Fort Worth, provided a Continental GT for him to realize his vision.
Chris says he immediately cut the bike in half. (Corinna did the seat.)
Talk about jumping in the deep end — with someone else's motorcycle!
On the podcast, Corinna points out the dual truisms that "you talk about there's no money in motorcycles, there's no money in films..."
"We give to the motorcycle community, involve ourselves in it, because of what it gives back to us. It's not always monetary."
Give the podcast a listen. I think you'll enjoy it.
The film, released Feb. 14, 2016, is "dedicated to those whom have dedicated their lives to this machine."
But the motorcycle itself is clearly the central character and obsession of the film and everyone interviewed in it. They talk of nothing else.
Zahner cuts between talking heads of those who know Bullets best: Indians who ride, customize and maintain them.
He's giving the true believers their forum to rhapsodize about the Bullet.
Between interviews, Zahner gives a taste of his own considerable skills — with the camera. In the mountains, two riders approach (good), they pass to either side of the camera (better), and then we see them riding away (best) in one seemingly seamless shot. It's clean, crisp and inspiring, without drawing attention to itself.
It's impossible not to wish there was more of this. "Chasing the Bullet" feels a bit too tight; too short. Zahner doesn't take time for the "GoPro style" we know he knows how to do. For pure fun and frolic, watch his "GoPro - Modified Royal Enfield Continental GT in Traffic in India."
"Chasing the Bullet" is not entirely a love song. The guys interviewed acknowledge that Bullets leak oil, don't stop well and often won't start at all — especially if your girlfriend is watching.
The Bullet is too heavy. Worse, it has too many moving parts and too many of them are adjustable, for better (and, too often) worse.
Prashant Kumar suggests that even the "mood swings" of the factory workers who built it are still alive somewhere inside a Bullet.
But there is nothing like a Bullet.
Of course they're talking about the "old Bullet."
The new one, with a more modern motor, assembled in a modern factory, is different — better, of course — and selling much better even in India than the old one ever did. This can not be bad.
The new machine is a tribute.
"People buy the new Royal Enfield because of the old Royal Enfield," Bobee Singh comments.
Lest we forget, "Chasing the Bullet" documents the importance of that simple fact.
"The Avengers" stars with a Royal Enfield Constellation in 1964.
Do you see a third exhaust pipe in this photo?
UPDATE: Royal Enfield Owners Club UK member Julian Green writes in The Gun magazine for April-May 2019 that the Royal Enfield ridden by Mr. Steed and Mrs. Gale in "The Avengers" television show isn't a Constellation, as reported in previous issue of the magazine, but is instead a Meteor Minor sports with some Constellation touches.
Julien Audor of Vienna, Austria, alerted me to the death of actor Patrick Mcnee June 25 at the age of 93. He even attached a color photo of Mcnee astride a Royal Enfield Constellation with Honor Blackman, Mcnee's then co-star on the television show "The Avengers."
The British series had been a favorite of mine, and I suspect every other teenage American boy, in the 1960s. The attraction was Mcnee's portrayal of the polite and very British secret agent John Steed, plus the revealing outfits favored by his female co-stars.
Honor Blackman played "Mrs. Gale" in the early UK programs. By the time the series reached the U.S. Diana Rigg was wearing the skin-tight costumes in the role of Emma Peel.
We only wished we could be as clever as Steed:
Emma Peel: (Emma is admiring an antique bed) "I've always rather fancied myself in one of these."
John Steed: "So have I... I mean, I have too."
Honor Blackman was an earlier sexy side-kick for Mcnee. (She would leave the series and play the role of Pussy Galore in the James Bond movie "Goldfinger.")
Blackman had been a dispatch rider in World War II, and so was a natural for an episode on a motorcycle, probably the source of the Royal Enfield Constellation photo.
Blackman in leathers and Mcnee with bowler and umbrella
in screen grab from "The Avengers" episode "Build A Better Mousetrap."
The Constellation probably is one of the motorcycles in the 1964 episode "Build A Better Mousetrap." Blackman rides a different motorcycle (a Royal Enfield Airflow?) in that one, but her outfit is the same, and the insignia on her helmet matches the one born by the gang of Rockers she joins.
But Julien added one other thing about the color photo with the Constellation: "Do you also see a third exhaust pipe?"
What?! Why yes, I do. Is this a three-cylinder Royal Enfield?
Royal Enfield had built a triple — but just as an experiment — in 1916. Blogger Jorge Pullin investigated it for his My Royal Enfields blog and conjectures that it wouldn't have been practical for production.
Could there have been a Constellation based Royal Enfield triple in the 1960s?
No. Look closely.
Reflection and a shadow create the illusion of three exhaust pipes.
For Royal Enfield, it's going to be a remarkable film.
The working title is "Chasing the Bullet," and its young American film maker is traveling through India to experience and document the culture that builds, rides and celebrates the Royal Enfield Bullet.
He calls his film "A people's history of the motorcycle with the most interesting story ever: the Royal Enfield Bullet; frozen in time for six decades."
Aditya Phadke recently interviewed film maker Chris Zahner for his blog, Motonomous&Co. Aditya's lengthy post gives Zahner a chance to explain why he's inspired to make a movie about Royal Enfield.
It comes down to something like this: Zahner is a bike builder himself, with a deep respect for people who go their own way and do-it-themselves. He senses a kinship in India's attachment to Royal Enfield, from CEO Siddhartha Lal to the street-side customizers who break the law to re-make the Bullet by their own lights.
In "Rider" a young motorcyclist seeks contentment on a Royal Enfield.
"Rider" is a short, well made new film documenting the joy a young rider experiences on his Royal Enfield motorcycle.
It's a distinctly Indian film, wafting the viewer along through heavenly scenery with a contemplative soundtrack, no engine noise and — no traffic!
Film maker Farhan Khan notes in his own description of the film that it shows the peace the rider attains on reaching his destination.
The message is that the Royal Enfield Bullet can carry its rider into a world that he seeks; in other words, an imaginary place of contentment.
I sympathize with the motivation but can hardly swallow the young rider's adoration for his motorcycle (he washes it before the journey) and seemingly aimless route.
Where's he going, after all?
To the lake, to watch the waves.
I'd give that five minutes. Anyone younger than me would give it one minute before pulling out their phone to browse Facebook.
Farhan wrote me that a 1980 Royal Enfield was used in making the film. It looks newer (although note the missing left rear tail light). Clearly, though, the Royal Enfield is meant to evoke a classic, serious attitude.
For a long time I explained my love of vintage motorcycles like the Royal Enfield to those who didn't ride this way:
"Young men just want to go fast. Old men (like me!) just want to be young."
What I meant was that an old motorcycle, once the apple of a young man's eye, could remind an old man of the past.
And the past was very much where I wanted to go when I bought my vintage (looking) 1999 Royal Enfield Bullet. It was my mid-life crisis. My own age had just swung around the half-century mark on the odometer.
If I wasn't going to get a motorcycle now, when would I ever have one? If the motorcycle didn't "take me back" to my youth, how would I ever get there?
So it had to be the kind of motorcycle that would remind me of the ones I'd wanted when I was young. That meant British, simple and probably a little leaky. The Royal Enfield Bullet of the time was perfect for the role. It's sudden appearance, in a newspaper article, was providential.
I had my dreams of where it would take me and the things we would see on the way.
Where the motorcycle and I actually went, though, was to work. I had a job that could be reached on the last worthwhile old country road in the area. For years, the best part of my job was the commute!
But the job went away and the country road developed into just another suburban street. I was possessed by a sense of loss that writing this blog about Royal Enfield motorcycles has salved, partly.
I still have my Bullet. We don't go anywhere special now. We just ride around to recharge its battery, and mine.
We're both looking for another old country road. I hope we find it this year.
Meanwhile, give "Rider" a view and ask yourself where you're going.
A pretty Royal Enfield gets a real run in this 1954 Swedish comedy.
A beautiful Royal Enfield motorcycle features in the cornball 1954 Swedish movie "Åsa-Nisse på hal is." Google translates that as "Asa-Nisse On Thin Ice."
If you have the patience (it probably doesn't matter whether you speak Swedish; the plot is obvious) then watch the full movie.
It's a bone-headed comedy built partly around an off-road motorcycle racing event. Footage of that is excellent.
The elderly bumpkin Asa-Nisse proves his ineptitude on a motorcycle in the short clip above. Then he inadvertently takes over for a fallen rider in the motorcycle race and wins the event.
There's plenty of other silliness, too; the movie's title refers to the opening sequence featuring a wild ride on an ice boat powered by a motor wheel.
There have been many Asa-Nisse films, starting in 1949 (and another was released in 2011) but they are not considered a high point of Swedish film making.
On the other hand, this film does include some excellent motorcycle racing footage and even, near the end, a car race featuring one of my favorite British motor vehicles, the little known Austin A90 Atlantic convertible.
Rarely seen Austin A90 Atlantic convertible in racing action.
Is that a Royal Enfield military motorcycle in this movie?
Yes, that's a Royal Enfield motorcycle the soldier stands astride, directing traffic, in the 1943 movie "The Gentle Sex."
Consensus on the Internet is that it is a Royal Enfield, probably a Model WD/C or CO.
Its rider is a woman, shepherding her convoy of lorries through wartime England in this movie with its mildly suggestive title.
No sex in this one, just gender. The film glamorizes the lives of women in the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) of the British Army. There's not much glamour either, although the young women are pretty enough, even in their lumpy uniforms.
At one point the female motorcycle dispatch riders dismount and come prancing, helmets in hand, to a briefing. Their running looks more like ballet than the lumbering jog similarly burdened men would have performed.
The convoy departs, guided by ATS motorcyclists.
"The Gentle Sex" is a well made picture, directed by Leslie Howard, who also provides the ironic "they think they're helping, I suppose" narration.
It was Howard's last film before his death in June, 1943, when the passenger plane in which he was a passenger was shot down by German fighter planes.
Obviously meant to encourage women to help out in the war effort, the "Gentle Sex" rises above the usual "you're in the army now" cliches. For one thing, it's realistic.
The movie's primary drama revolves around a grueling 400-mile drive with vital war supplies. It's not exactly flying Spitfires, but it's no piece of cake either.
And some of the women do encounter the Luftwaffe. You see their variety of reactions when the "mixed" (male/female) anti-aircraft battery they're assigned to makes a kill. Mere propaganda would have been content with one reaction.
The military equipment on view in these wartime films is one of the reasons I watch them. This is what 1943 must really have looked like.
ATS recruits get their first look at army life from a U.S. truck.
One example: the U.S. trucks that are seen with "Left Hand Drive NO SIGNALS" on the tailgate.
Did you know that ATS women pronounced it as an acronym: "ats"?
The motorcycle documentary "Indian Summer" is a pleasure to watch.
The Royal Enfield content is slim: limited to one Big Head hillclimber ridden by young Bruce Gagne, who explains how American Indian motorcycles were, briefly, built in Redditch, England by Royal Enfield.
In this film it's always fall, the leaves are always changing, the setting sun always glows softly. The men are young and brave and the women are young and slim. Motorcycles climb hills, spin around and crash through the walls of death. But mostly they just clatter along country roads. And it's all good.
"Indian Summer" is a gently paced documentary about American Indian motorcycles (so named not to capitalize on native Americans but because these were the pioneer American motorcycles).
It's a documentary of interviews with experts on the American Indian motorcycles, with flickering background footage of Indians in action.
Cataldo could teach Ken Burns something. Instead of a droning narrator we have individuals (I stopped counting at 20 separate interviews) who love the old Indians, each standing next to one motorcycle telling what he knows:
Why the Indian Four was important. Why the 101 Scout remains the most revered American motorcycle. What it was like to get a call from Steve McQueen and not know who he was, except that he loved motorcycles.
It's the loving "they never should have gone out of business" attitude toward Indian motorcycles that comes through every time.
"Indian always had the heart of the American rider," one subject notes. Our movie maker knows it to be true.
Cataldo, who in 1994 was young and green and using the first footage he shot when he got a movie camera, makes a great documentary not because he cares so much about Indian motorcycles as because he clearly cares so much about his subjects.
They're shown in their shops and garages, maybe with crooked teeth and stubble, but with emotion in their voices that identifies them as the shining knights who rode these machines in their days of glory.
Back when the average motor car did 35 mph max on a good road, and less on a bad road — of which there were many — motorcycles could could maneuver around pot holes; you could adjust the sidecar to keep it out of the horse cart ruts.
But this is not just a ride down memory lane. There's hard information here too. The triumphs and failures of the critical du Pont years are described by du Pont descendants themselves!
Some of those interviewed in 1994 are no longer with us. This documentary is a priceless artifact. Full disclosure: I got my original copy for free, a copy from the Gagnes. It's a favorite of mine.
"Indian is mostly just a feeling," Cataldo concludes.
Faced with traffic in India, a wise yogi suggests: "Just GO!"
Royal Enfield motorcycles carry their riders toward enlightenment in the movie "The Highest Pass," playing in select theaters in the United States. Very select. In other words, if I am ever going to see this movie, I am going to have to buy the DVD.
You can pre-order the DVD now at the movie's website. It's $24.95 and includes the customary bonus features: deleted scenes, behind the scenes footage and "The Signs of India" featurette.
The DVDs ship Aug. 28. Another way to get the DVD is to donate at least $50 to the next project of filmmaker Adam Schomer and Yogi Anand Mehrotra. In September and October they will return to the mountains on Royal Enfields to film a six-part mini-series, "The Four Peaks of Freedom."
In the "The Highest Pass" a brave yogi (Anand) faces a prophecy of his death as he leads seven Americans through the Himalayas on the highest motorable road in the world.
I'm excited about it because of the role played by Royal Enfield motorcycles.
While the film's impact in theaters will be modest, this will likely become the movie that potential adventurers will watch before reserving spots on expeditions to the world's highest motorable road and beyond. They will watch it on DVD (or, eventually, on Netflix, I suppose).
The impression they will get is that, when you're going into the great beyond, Royal Enfield motorcycles are the way to get there.
Would you like the movie? The best way to find out is to watch the movie clips. It looks intriguing.
I particularly like the clip where an American (typically) suggests taking on India's traffic by "driving defensively."
"Or aggressively," the yogi responds. "Just GO!" Watching the clips you can see why this might be the best advice of all.
Royal Enfields ride in like "The Magnificent Seven" in "The Highest Pass."
Taking Royal Enfield motorcycles to the top of the world is the challenge riders face in the movie "The Highest Pass." It opens Friday, June 15 at the Regal Meridian 16, 1501 Seventh Ave., Seattle, Wash. The independent movie premiered in Los Angeles April 27.
In the movie a brave yogi faces a prophecy of his death as he leads seven Americans through the Himalayas on the highest motorable road in the world.
Never mind Harry Potter. This movie is bound to help establish Royal Enfield motorcycles as the death defying adventure motorcycles out of India.
Extra sound for the film was recorded in March, 2011 using a Royal Enfield running through the hills around Los Angeles.
The movie opens in Scottsdale, Ariz. on June 29. It will be at the Harkens Shea 14, 7354 E. Shea Blvd.
Other opportunities to see it: at Wanderlust Yoga Festivals in Vermont June 22, Colorado July 6 and California July 28.
Royal Enfield motorcycles conquer the Himalayas in new movie.
Royal Enfield motorcycles co-star in an independent movie that premieres in Los Angeles, Calif. April 27. "The Highest Pass" already has won awards at film festivals.
In the movie a brave yogi faces a prophecy of his death as he leads seven Americans through the Himalayas on the highest motorable road in the world.
While this independent film may not reach mass audiences, it will help cement the popular vision of Royal Enfield motorcycles as India's mountain conquering adventure motorcycles.
The premiere is at 7:45 p.m. Friday, April 27, at Laemmle's, 1332 Second St., Santa Monica. There are five showings daily there and at the Laemmle's at 673 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena. Tickets are on sale now. There are even group rates available if you want to bring your whole motorcycle club.
Extra sound for the film was recorded in March, 2011 using a Royal Enfield running through the hills around Los Angeles.
Green screen background will be filled in by computers.
The starlet who gets "discovered" at a soda fountain is a Hollywood legend. That is sort of how Leigh Murphy's Royal Enfield Bullet ended up being filmed for a movie recently.
Leigh, an artist and Florida resident, owns a 2005 retro-look Bullet she has nicknamed "Absinthe." Leigh wrote to tell me how it won a cameo role in a film:
"I rode Absinthe up to meet a friend in a local coffee shop and the guy next to us asks if that's my bike. When I said yes, he asked if I would allow him to put it in an upcoming film shoot.
"At first I thought it was just another cheesy come-on but I gave him my card anyway. Much to my surprise his executive producer called and confirmed the day and gave me more details.
Note computer monitors and, in background, a fan to add "wind."
"Fortunately it didn't involve wild high-speed chases, just a deliciously cool movie studio and something fun to watch on a hot afternoon.
"The Hollywood thing is fun but it comes in second to the real life adventures of riding Absinthe."
Leigh does not know much about the movie itself.
"The working title is 'Big Break,' but they have to find another one since that one is copyrighted already. Yes, that's a green screen since the bike is supposed to be a stand in for a steampunk version of a time machine. The psychedelic effects will be computer generated and added later. Think cool funky Tardis. I have no idea when or if it will be released."
Royal Enfield Bullet is the center of attention.
How does she like all the attention her Bullet brings?
"I'm definitely still enjoying it, much to the dismay of some folks around here. I accepted an invitation from a local Ducati group to go to a bike night gathering — once. Not long after riders of assorted marques started to really crowd the place, the Duc riders were resenting how passers-by would walk around their fancy machines to zero in on mine to gawk and take photos. I haven't heard from them since."
Seller says this Royal Enfield sidecar rig played parts in movies.
Vintage looks make Royal Enfield motorcycles naturals for the job of movie props. But unless the motorcycle has a starring role, as it did in the recent Harry Potter films, it isn't likely to attract much attention.
A 2004 Royal Enfield and sidecar said to have played parts in three movies is for sale on CraigsList in Oxnard, Calif. for $3,500. That strikes me as a real bargain for a sidecar combination, especially one that has racked up under 2,000 miles.
The movies named were "Big Fish" and "Death Tunnel." If you've seen either one, let me know what you thought.
"Big Fish," about a man's efforts to come to terms with the tall tales told by his father, was nominated for an Oscar. "Death Tunnel" was a horror film about college girls in lingerie locked up in an abandoned (and haunted) institution. It was not nominated for an Oscar.
As best I can tell from watching online trailers for the two movies named in the ad, life as a movie extra wouldn't have been very demanding for this combination. I couldn't spot a shot with the Royal Enfield and sidecar in the trailers, so perhaps its appearance in the movies was brief.
There is a still photograph on Internet Movie Cars Database from "Big Fish" that shows a Royal Enfield motorcycle and Cozy sidecar.
Still from the movie "Big Fish."
(The seller says this is a 2004 Royal Enfield. "Big Fish" is listed as a 2003 movie. "Death Tunnel" is a 2005 picture. So we're right in there, somewhere.)
Royal Enfield sidecar combination looks good and the seller says it has a film history.
Look at it this way: you'd love to watch a professionally made documentary about a team effort to campaign a Royal Enfield Bullet motorcycle through a season of vintage racing events around the U.S.
You'd even pay to buy the DVD.
Project Badger-The Film is the story of just such a racing campaign. Uniquely, the team intends to ride its Royal Enfield between events, take off the lights, slap on the number and race. That was the way it was done when men were men and the Royal Enfield Bullet was a contender on the track.
Adding spice is that Project Badger will showcase some of the improvements developed by the wizards at ACE, whose Fireball seems to be a faster Bullet that is reliable too.
You can watch the trailer for the movie about Project Badger right now. It's great. These guys CAN make movies.
But if you want to see the whole film, it'll have to be made first. This is where you come in.
Producer Peter E. Raymond has set up to fund the movie through the fundraising website Kickstarter. You make a pledge of as little as $1, (but for a bit more you get a copy of the movie DVD when it's ready). If the fundraising goal is met by the deadline, the movie gets made.
Your "rewards" increase (want three DVDs?) with the size of your pledge. Pledge enough and they'll put YOU in the movie. Pledge just $5 and you will receive a downloadable copy of the full film once it is completed.
Project Badger must raise $22,500 by July 23. If the fundraising goal is not met, Kickstarter cancels the pledges and no money changes hands.
If it works, we'll all have an entertaining and instructive documentary to watch. The movie will inevitably promote Royal Enfield and ACE and increase awareness of Royal Enfield in the United States. Nothing wrong with any of that.
I have no connection with Project Badger, but I did make a pledge. I can't wait to see the movie. Click here to make your pledge. The Kickstarter website walks you through the process and answers your questions.
Build a Royal Enfield race bike, ride it to the track, race it, and ride it home. That's the simple challenge behind Project Badger.
One more thing: they plan to make a movie about how they did it.
Project Badger already has a cool little "trailer" introducing itself. The trailer (above) is very nicely made. If Project Badger can produce this quality of feature film, they'll have something worth watching.
The Project Badger team is a strong one, with some familiar names. According to publicity material:
"The film features: Leon Stanley, who runs a great vintage and specialty bike shop in Trenton, New Jersey, called Cycle Icons. 'Chumma' Janardhan of Ace Engineering, an engine building virtuoso. Art Director and jack of all trades Mark Rounds. And world renowned Motorcyclist Michael 'Tex' Mawby."
Peter E. Raymond, a Royal Enfield owner and an innovation consultant, is the film's producer.
Project Badger points out that North America's race meets are hundreds of miles apart. Riding the racing bike between them will be challenge enough.
Meanwhile, the competition will travel by trailer. Yet, when the headlight comes off and the number board goes on, Project Badger intends to be competitive.
The Royal Enfield Bullet is a classic design, eligible for vintage racing. But the Bullet is hardly bullet-proof. I'm reminded of one Royal Enfield racing team of the recent past that commented that it led its series in engine rebuilds.
Such courage should be celebrated. You can make a donation to the cause online. I did. You can give as little as $1. Project Badger says it must raise $22,500 by July 23 to make a go of it.
Team Badger plans to race at Mid-Ohio’s Vintage Motorcycle Days in July, then Mosport in Canada in August and the Barber Vintage Festival in Alabama in October.
"They were recording the sounds for a new movie called 'The Highest Pass' about a tour in the mountains of India on Royal Enfields. The film was shot in India, but they just needed sound effects for some of the shots."
The movie's website says it's now complete and will premiere at film festivals this spring.
The plot: Adam learns that his Yogi guru, Anand — now 27 years old — lives with a prophesy that he will die in an accident at the age of 27. Yet he fearlessly rides his Royal Enfield motorcycle. When Anand invites Adam to join him on a motorcycle journey through India’s Himalayas, to the highest motorable road in the world, Adam faces the question: Is truly living worth dying for?
Writer/producer Adam Schomer and his teacher Anand Mehrotra apparently play themselves in the movie.
According to the press release, the riders pursue the highest passes of India and those within themselves. Temperatures go from 100 degrees to freezing through dirt, gravel, snow and ice and the onslaught of loaded trucks, known as “road killers,” as they climb 18,000-foot peaks. Focus is paramount, because death is everywhere. Yet, where there is death, there is life, the movie suggests.
Jon Fitzgerald, an experienced film festival director, is director/producer of "The Highest Pass."
Here's your chance to own the Royal Enfield motorcycle that "starred" in a movie I personally didn't have the courage to see.
Before the excitement about a Royal Enfield and sidecar appearing in the recent Harry Potter movie, a Royal Enfield played a role in the movie Friday the 13th.
Now a 1996 Royal Enfield is for sale on CraigsList in Pflugerville, Texas with the claim that it is the very motorcycle that carried movie star Jared Padalecki into mortal danger in that film.
It has less than 100 miles on the odometer but looks much older, thanks to its movie makeup. The seller says the motorcycle runs and shifts well and comes with extra parts. He will sell it for $2,250 or trade for British bike, running or not.
Filming of the movie "Friday the 13th."
The photo here of Padalecki on the Royal Enfield is by April and Jason Oldag and was originally posted on the SFUniverse.com blog. I saw it on the Royal Enfield Buzz Blog.
In the movie, Padalecki plays Clay Miller, a character who goes to the doomed Camp Crystal Lake in search of his sister who has gone missing.
The 2009 movie gets a rating of only 5.5 out of 10 on imdb.com
A Royal Enfield motorcycle and its sidecar appear in the new Harry Potter movie coming to theaters Nov. 19. But it took more than one Royal Enfield outfit to make a movie — seven of them in fact.
The Harry Potter movies are the highest grossing film series in history. The Royal Enfield motorcycles will appear in the final two, starting with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1.
That they're there at all is due to Watsonian Squire, distributor of Royal Enfields in the United Kingdom.
The company seems a perfect fit for the young, British accented wizard. According to its website, "Watsonian Squire Limited is one of the longest established companies of the British motorcycle industry. Founded in 1912 by T. F. Watson, the company has been manufacturing sidecars in the Heart of England ever since. In 1984 Watsonian merged with the... young Squire company to create the UK’s biggest sidecar operation."
Watsonian Squire director Ben Matthews kindly explained how he set up Royal Enfield for its movie role:
"I was approached a couple of years ago by a company that specialises in sourcing vehicles for movies; they were looking to purchase some sidecars from us for the next two Harry Potter films. I managed to persuade them that they also ought to use Royal Enfield's!
"So they took a bike down to the studios to show the producers and they agreed and thought they would be perfect for the movie! (Great news!!)
"We sold them seven outfits in total, most of which have been heavily modified by the special effects department; some have been adapted for flying rigs, some have been ridden into a lake!
"We are currently speaking to Warner Brothers about getting one of the bikes back so that we can have a Harry Potter feature at the UK's largest Motorcycle Exhibition in November (but this hasn't been confirmed yet).
"The bikes are no longer in a condition that is suitable for the road, and it sounds like Warner Brothers will keep all the outfits (they have kept all the vehicles from previous films).
"In our ongoing discussions with Warner we are discussing assisting them with UK premiers, etc. We are not allowed to use the film to endorse our products, but we are currently looking at a whole range of ideas to ensure the world knows that the bikes in the Harry Potter film are Royal Enfield's, and of course fitted with our sidecars too!"
This is absolutely magical. In a stroke, Royal Enfield motorcycles will become visually familiar to people, many of them young, all over the world. Think what Steve McQueen did for the Ford Mustang in Bullitt (1968) and (for those who recognized the bike) Triumph in The Great Escape (1963).
Someday, we may realize that, for Royal Enfield outside of India, Nov. 19, 2010 is when it all began.
Harry Potter is shown lane splitting in the sidecar of a Royal Enfield motorcycle in the second trailer released for the upcoming movie, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1.
Pretty daring, in a sidecar.
Unfortunately, there isn't much else new seen of the motorcycle, compared to the look we got in the first trailer. Once again, we see the motorcycle mounting a tunnel wall to escape oncoming traffic.
The movie comes out Nov. 19. Take a look at the second trailer:
If you would like to know how old your Royal Enfield is, or just wish to have its age confirmed, please email your frame and engine numbers to Graham.Scarth01 @gmail.com Graham is happy to be of assistance in this matter to all RE owners wherever they reside. Note that you may be asked to provide photos of the number stampings, along with one of the complete machine. More information.
Brooklyn Invitational: John Copeland Remembered
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Throughout its ten year history, Copeland, Keino and Schad allowed the
Invitational to grow organically. The final show was a huge success.
The post Brook...
A day out with Douglases
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A pair of shiny Douglases (Dougli?!) The front bike is very special, a
3.5hp ohv touring model with disc front brake. the first motorcycle to be
fitted ...
Old Brit Bullet or India made?
Paul Henshaw shows you the FAST way to tell an old Bullet made in India from an original UK Bullet. YouTube
What Royal Enfield did in the big war
Royal Enfield's book detailing its role in World War II is available for free download, courtesy of Simon Taylor. A Proud War Record
