regarding steve mcqueen; my love of motorcycles predates my enthusiasm for guns by about 10 years....bought my first bike in 1965....edged over into guns in 1974 - i have told folks they are a variation on a theme....both are based in internal combustion.

lagopus is correct about the motorcycles in the great escape movie; the german motorcycle of ww2 was the predecessor to the zundapp ks601, a heavy stodgy device about as suited for aerial stunts as a tank. in the earlier scenes the movie used a zundapp, but in the famous escape scene it turns into a triumph tr6. interestingly, steve actually did not perform the famous jump....it was done by his friend (and motorcycle racing mentor) bud ekins, who did much work as a stunt man in hollywood in that era. by 1960 mcqueen was a very hot commodity in hollywood, and under the conditions of his contract was forbidden to race motorcycles (for fear of injuries), and for a number of years he competed under the nom de plume, harvey mushman. the movie jump, which steve was quite capable of executing, was given to his buddy ekins when the insurance company underwriting the movie would not permit the high dollar actor to do the stunt. the 1959 triumph used in the movie was similar to the west coast desert "sleds" that dominated desert mc racing in that era, and in 1964, dave ekins, steve mcqueen and three other racers were chosen to represent the usa at the 1964 international six days trials in east germany....riding similar 650 triumph tr6sc bikes. it was the first time a full team of american riders had participated in the isdt (the olympics of the off road motorcyle world), and mcqueen personally underwrote a good deal of the expenses.



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canvasback notes his wife's uncle as the author of the book from which the great escape movie was taken. i have had a copy of the book for many years, and was aware that the pow camp was a brit/commonwealth compound....i think there was only a single american flyer imprisoned there, rather than the three the movie included. there is little question that the film was created to utilize steve mcqueen as a very popular actor....but the movie also held up numerous real life brits in a very positive light. be assured that in some quarters steve is considered to be more than just an actor.

ags has it right, steve mcqueen was a life long gearhead....and in amongst off road motorcyclists, a legend.



best regards,
tom

"it's a poor sort of memory that only works backwards."
lewis carroll, Alice in Wonderland