Issue link: http://cp.revolio.com/i/1054595
28 | WheelsOfGrace.com | Issue 43 MOTORCYCLE INDUSTRY NEWS FONZIE'S 1949 TRIUMPH SELLS FOR $179,200 By AMA News Nothing said "cool" on the television series "Happy Days" more than "The Fonz," his leather jacket and his Triumph motorcycle. That motorcycle recently sold at auc on for $179,200. Actually, the motorcycle apparently was one of three Triumphs actor Henry Winkler used on the show in his portrayal of Arthur Herbert Fonzarelli, known as "The Fonz" or "Fonzie." It was a 1949 Triumph TR5 Trophy that was customized by AMA Motorcycle Hall of Famer Bud Ekins. The sit-com, set in the 1950s, aired from 1974 to 1984. Julien's Auc ons sold the machine during its Hollywood Legends auc on at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas on June 23, 2018. The bike was expected to fetch between $150,000 and $200,000. Also on the auc on block were a 1987 Army green Harley- Davidson FLSTC Heritage So ail Classic, with a color-matched half helmet and pair of leather gloves owned by Arnold Schwarzenegger, that sold for $38,400; and a 1969 Harley-Davidson FLH Electra-Glide motorcycle owned by Marlon Brando. The Brando bike was expected to bring in $150,000 to $200,000 but it doesn't appear on the auc on results list, so apparently it wasn't sold. Fonzie's 1949 Triumph TR5, powered by a 498cc overhead-valve parallel twin four-stroke engine, was supplied by Ekins, a Triumph dealer and Hollywood motorcycle stuntman. Ekins gave the bike new handlebars, took off the front fender and painted the bike silver. This bike is cool, not just because of Fonzie, but also because of its associa on with Ekins. By the mid-1960s, Ekins had become something of a hero to Hollywood's young movie actors, who would o en hang out at his shop. One of those actors was Steve McQueen. Ekins helped McQueen learn off-road racing, and the actor became an accomplish racer. Through his associa on with McQueen, Ekins began his career as a movie stuntman. In 1962, McQueen asked Ekins to come to Germany to do some stunt riding for the filming of "The Great Escape." Ekins was in Germany for more than four months working on the film. It was at the end of shoo ng that McQueen and Ekins came up with the now-famous jump scene where McQueen, playing a prisoner of war, is trying to escape by motorcycle from a German prison camp and a empts an impossible jump over a barbed- wire fence. Ekins, ac ng as stunt double for McQueen, was the rider who performed what is now perhaps the most famous motorcycle stunt in a movie. Ekins con nued his stunt work and became one of the best in Hollywood. He con nued doing stunt work un l he was in his mid-60s. His stunt career spanned an incredible 30 years. NYC MOTORCYCLE CLUBS UNITE TO HELP BIKER RECOVER STOLEN TWO-WHEELER IN BRONX, BUST ALLEGED CULPRIT Courtesy of Shmuel Avital Fast — but not furious. Biker bar and restaurant owner Shmuel Avital has been reunited with his custom made KTM 390 Duke motorcycle, thanks to a ght-knit biking community and the highway patrol. He now hopes to bring the guy he found riding the stolen two-wheeler into that mix. NYC motorcycle clubs helped find Shmuel Avita's missing KTM 390 Duke motorcycle. Avital arrived for work at his East Village eatery Spiegel and immediately no ced his custom-made bike, which he parks out front, was missing. Avital, who hosts a very popular motorcycle-friendly Two Wheels Tuesday event every week, immediately got the word out that his easily recognized bike was out there somewhere. Motorcycle clubs including The Missfires, MotoFellas and NY Classic Riders joined in the hunt by sharing informa on with their members. "I posted photos on Instagram and put my phone number on it and all the motorcycle community shared it," the long me biking enthusiast said. "I got a phone call from a truck driver in the Bronx, he saw the bike, snapped a shot, and he sent me a picture." Avital then called his neighbor Brian Hamilton, who works for the highway patrol, to tell the officer that he was going to get his bike back and sprang into ac on on his primary ride — a much more powerful KTM Adventure. A er motoring 13 miles up the FDR, Avital was in the Bronx where he spo ed the stolen bike, phoned in the loca on to Hamilton and pursued the alleged culprit. "He pulled up next to a red light and I pulled up next to him," Avital says. Stalling un l Hamilton arrived, Avital persuaded the guy on the stolen bike — later iden fied by police as Dequavias Lewis — to turn off the engine, pull over and let him check out the motorcycle. "I was asking if he was selling the bike, asking him ques ons about the bike," Avital said, no ng that Lewis was star ng to grow suspicious. "He was trying to tell me it's not his, he just bought it from someone — my ques ons didn't make sense and he didn't make sense." Even though he's an experienced racer, Avital, an Israeli army veteran, didn't want to chase a er the joyrider he'd spent his morning tracking down. "When I saw the police cruiser coming toward us, he was trying to take off so I tackled him and held him down," he said. With help from an NYPD pick-up truck, Avital and his two bikes were home in me for this week's Two Wheels Tuesday with plenty to celebrate. He says that it's very rare for a stolen motorcycle to find its way back to the righ ul owner. "Between the police and Highway 1 (patrol) they really helped," Avital said. "Normally, it never ends that way." Police charged Lewis with criminal possession of stolen property, unauthorized use of a vehicle and opera ng a motor vehicle without a license. Avital says he just wanted his bike back and hopes the 20-year-old joyrider isn't incarcerated over this one misstep. In fact, he understands Lewis' a rac on to fast bikes and wants to bring him into the biking community. "He's a kid who is admiring the wrong heroes," Avital said. "We should probably get him a job in motorcycle world and get him back on track." With the help of his friends, Shmuel Avital found his stolen motorcycle and tracked down the guy who had it personally.