Photo taken at Motorcyclepedia Museum in Newburgh, NY
Here’s my top 25 TV show motorcycles, counting scripted TV, reality/docuseries, anime/tokusatsu, and major small-screen bike icons.
| Rank | Motorcycle | TV show | Why it belongs |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jax Teller’s Harley-Davidson FXD Dyna Super Glide / Super Glide Sport | Sons of Anarchy | The modern TV outlaw-bike icon. Jax’s black Dyna is practically a main character and is widely identified as a 2003 Harley-Davidson FXD Dyna Super Glide/Super Glide Sport. (SlashGear) |
| 2 | Fonzie’s Triumph Trophy TR5 Scrambler Custom | Happy Days | The cool-guy sitcom motorcycle. Fonzie first used a Harley-Davidson Knucklehead, then became most associated with a 1949 Triumph Trophy TR5 Scrambler Custom. (SlashGear) |
| 3 | Daryl Dixon’s Triumph chopper | The Walking Dead | Apocalypse survivor perfection: stripped, dirty, practical, and immediately identifiable with Daryl. Sources commonly describe the main chopper as a custom Triumph-based build. (Viking Bags) |
| 4 | Kawasaki KZ1000 / KZ police bikes | CHiPs | Ponch and Jon made California Highway Patrol motorcycles a prime-time image. The show used Kawasaki Z1-P/KZ900-C2 bikes early, then KZ1000-C1 motorcycles from season 3. (code3garage.com) |
| 5 | Street Hawk; Honda XL/XR500-based futuristic bike | Street Hawk | The ultimate 1980s super-bike fantasy: supposedly 300 mph, armored, weaponized, and absurd in the best way. The pilot bike was based on a Honda XL500, while series bikes used XR500-based builds. (Wikipedia) |
| 6 | BMW R1150GS Adventure | Long Way Round | This bike helped launch the modern adventure-bike boom. Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman rode BMW GS R1150s across roughly 20,000 miles from London to New York. (longwayround.com) |
| 7 | 1966 Yamaha Catalina Batcycle | Batman | Campy, brilliant, and unforgettable, complete with Robin’s detachable sidecar. The 1966 TV Batcycle was based on a Yamaha Catalina 250. (1966 Batman Pages) |
| 8 | Cyclone | Kamen Rider | One of the most important TV motorcycles ever, especially globally. The original Cyclone is tied to Kamen Rider 1 and 2 and is commonly linked to Suzuki T20/Honda SL350 base-bike lore. (kamenrider.fandom.com) |
| 9 | Jim Bronson’s Harley-Davidson Sportster | Then Came Bronson | The wandering-loner road bike before adventure YouTube existed. Bronson rode a Harley-Davidson Sportster, specifically identified in sources as a 1969 XLH 900cc Sportster. (Wikipedia) |
| 10 | Orange County Choppers “Black Widow” bike | American Chopper | Reality TV’s custom-bike landmark. The show made fabrication drama mainstream, and the Black Widow build remains one of OCC’s signature early creations. (discoveryplus.com) |
| 11 | EZ Reyes / Mayans club Harleys | Mayans M.C. | The Sons universe continued with a different club identity and a different motorcycle flavor, heavier, more classic Harley styling around the Mayans aesthetic. (BikeBound) |
| 12 | Reno Raines’ Harley-Davidson Softail Custom | Renegade | Peak 1990s syndicated action: long hair, leather vest, Harley, fugitive-bounty-hunter melodrama. Often identified as a customized 1990 Harley-Davidson Softail Custom. (Car Interior) |
| 13 | Max Guevara’s Kawasaki ZZR 250 | Dark Angel | Cyberpunk courier energy. Max’s compact Kawasaki ZZR 250 fit the show’s near-future street-runner vibe. (IMCDb.org) |
| 14 | Spike’s Honda CB400TII Hawk II | Buffy the Vampire Slayer | A perfect vampire-punk side bike: loud, rough, stolen, and very Spike. The bike is identified as a 1978 Honda CB400TII Hawk II. (buffy.fandom.com) |
| 15 | Opie Winston’s Harley-Davidson Dyna | Sons of Anarchy | One of the most emotionally loaded bikes in SOA because it is tied to loyalty, family, and tragedy. |
| 16 | Clay Morrow’s Harley-Davidson Electra Glide / touring-style Harley | Sons of Anarchy | The older boss on a bigger Harley was perfect character design: heavier, more traditional, more patriarchal. |
| 17 | Tig Trager’s Harley-Davidson Dyna | Sons of Anarchy | Chaotic rider, stripped-down black bike, pure club menace. |
| 18 | Happy Lowman’s Harley-Davidson Dyna | Sons of Anarchy | Minimal, mean, tattoo-parlor-on-wheels energy. |
| 19 | Chibs Telford’s Harley-Davidson Dyna | Sons of Anarchy | Another great example of how SOA used similar bikes but gave each one personality through bars, fairings, paint, and rider attitude. |
| 20 | Batgirl Cycle | Batman | A colorful 1960s TV bike that deserves more credit; it fits the show’s pop-art vehicle universe right alongside the Batmobile and Batcycle. |
| 21 | Robotech / Mospeada Cyclone ride armor | Robotech | Not a real bike, but a legendary transforming motorcycle concept in TV animation, part motorcycle, part powered armor. |
| 22 | M.A.S.K. Condor | M.A.S.K. | A motorcycle that turns into a helicopter is toy-commercial nonsense, but as TV motorcycle iconography, it absolutely counts. |
| 23 | Kaneda-inspired anime superbike lineage | TV anime influence generally | Akira is a film, so I’m not ranking Kaneda’s bike here, but TV anime borrowed that low, futuristic, enclosed-bike language for decades. |
| 24 | Vintage Moto Guzzi / BMW bikes | Long Way Home | Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman returned to vintage machines in Long Way Home, with McGregor on a 1974 Moto Guzzi Eldorado and Boorman restoring a BMW R75/5. (AP News) |
| 25 | Generic CHP/police motor units after CHiPs | Police TV broadly | CHiPs made the police motorcycle a lasting TV visual shorthand: helmet, boots, radio, pursuit, and California asphalt. |
My top five are: Jax’s Dyna, Fonzie’s Triumph, Daryl’s Triumph chopper, the CHiPs Kawasaki police bikes, and Street Hawk. Those are the ones that most clearly became inseparable from the shows themselves.
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