Clifford Vaughs, builder behind iconic Easy Rider customs, has died

The man behind the iconic choppers from the film Easy Rider has died.

Clifford Vaughs, the filmmaker and custom motorcycle builder who worked with Ben Hardy on the bikes, died on July 2 at age 79.

Released in 1969, the bikesploitation cult classic Easy Rider rose to popularity on its anti-establishment message, and the distinctive choppers ridden by characters Billy and Captain America (played by Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda) were a large part of that message. To this day, the star-spangled Captain America chopper is the world’s most recognizable motorcycle from film.

Ironically, the motorcycles were based on four ex-police bikes, bought at a surplus auction by Vaughs. Vaughs took the machines to Hardy, and the two worked together to create the bikes seen in the film. Considerable mystery surrounds the bikes, as one was destroyed in the film’s ending scene, and the other three (a spare Captain America bike, and two Billy bikes) were stolen shortly afterwards, never to resurface. The destroyed bike was supposedly rebuilt and owned by actor Dan Haggerty, but controversy surrounds that machine after auctions have fallen through over conflicting claims of authenticity.

It’s worth reading Vaugh’s biography on Wikipedia here. The man had a very interesting life, as a member of civil rights activist groups, as well as a filmmaker and custom bike builder. For decades, his work on Easy Rider went unrecognized, as part of a settlement agreement when he was fired from the film’s production due to lack of funding.