The Great Escape.

[Fareham_Bee]

Originally Posted by christoph404 I thought Steve McQueen did his own stunts...... Ekins did a lot of the driving on Bullit as well apparently with a few choice scenes of McQueen at the wheel leaning out of the car window while doing some impressive wheel spins. McQueen was more than capable and willing to do the stunts Ekins performed but was sensibly prevented for insurance reasons. The studio actively encouraged the myth that McQueen made the jump in The Great Escape, he does all the other riding and its obvious that he is an accomplished motor cyclist......he's the king of cool,man, without a doubt

On the dvd extras they tell the story that McQueen only agreed to do the film if he could do a motorbike scene on the escape. The scene where he rides into the square and is called over by the Germans was more or less done on the spur of the moment. They hadn't decided how to get the chase started and on the day of filming just winged it.

[samkydd]

Originally Posted by DB7 Why would people wish to ride such a lump in this day and age? At least with old cars you have classic styling but I'd much prefer a modern streamlined bike with full fairing. Few things will ever surpass my first spin on a powervalve in the thrill stakes!

Triumph have always had a few retro models in their line-up. I liked the look of the new Bonneville when it came out, but when I test rode one it was too small for me (I'm 6' 4"), it felt more like a Honda CB250 from the 70s! They also had the larger Thunderbird which was impressive, plus that funny looking Harley copy (Americana is it?) which looked more like something you made an Espresso coffee with.

Modern faired sports bikes are forbidden territory for older gits like me. Going through every position in the Kama Sutra would be less taxing on the body than trying to sit comfortably on a Yamaha R1!

[Nick Dando]

Speedmaster, not Americana.

Nick