Has Easy Rider sold out for a luxury car?

Could it be that the hardtail chopper-riding hippy of Easy Rider fame, Peter Fonda, has sold out to a German luxury car brand?

The following advertisement was featured during the televising of the annual Super Bow football finals in the US.

https://youtu.be/BvHFM8c7cPM

It not only reprises Peter’s Captain America leather jacket from the cult 1969 film, but also the desert biker saloon scene from the satirical 2007 film, Wild Hogs, in which he also played a cameo role.

The ad, produced by the Coen Brothers, is absolutely hilarious as it pokes fun at ageing bikies with arthritis who get parked in by Peter’s wild new ride, an AMG GT Roadster .

It’s a far cry from this 1973 safety film starring Peter and legendary stuntman Evel Knievel.

Despite its unintentional hilarity with the passing years, it is still surprisingly relevant.

While the film doesn’t endorse lane filtering or splitting, most of the information supplied is still as relevant today as it was in the 1970s when the film was produced.

That is not to say that you will agree wth everything they say; for example that you should wear a white helmet to be more visible.

However, it’s an entertaining 17-minute video that features a segment with Evel.

We particularly love the reference to defensive motorcyclists treating all drivers as either “asleep, blind or drunk”.

There is also some great LA motorcycle police synchronised riding. It’s fascinating to watch, but it doesn’t have much to do with the message about how police cops “riding by the book” are actually safer than police in patrol cars. They quote the statistic of 18 accidents per million miles on police bikes compared with 27 in patrol cars.

There is also a true/false quiz to test your motorcycle knowledge.

And it finishes with a cringe-worthy at message from Mr Easy Rider himself: “Have a good trip and don’t ride too easy.”