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  • Wally

    Oct. 12, 2011 9:15 a.m. Wally SuperDork

    http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2011/10/11/aaaay-fonzies-motorcycle-cruising-to-auc...

    Now you too can jump the shark, or at least try to clear 14 garbage cans.

    One of the motorcycles that was used by "The Fonz" on the classic TV show “Happy Days” will be crossing the auction block at the Bonhams Classic California Sale in Los Angeles on November 12th.

    According to the Daily Mail, the 1949 Triumph Trophy TR5 has been sitting the garage of California motorcycle collector Marshall Ehlers since he purchased it in 1995 from famed Hollywood stuntman Bud Ekins.

    Ekins had provided and customized the motorcycle for "Happy Days" and kept it after the show ended its run in 1984. Unfortunately, it doesn't run. Bonhams cautions that the Triumph will require a significant amount of work to make it road-worthy again, but estimates that it will still sell for at least $90,000 because it is the only one of the motorcycles that appeared in the show that still exists.

    As the story goes, the producers of “Happy Days” added the motorcycle as a prop because executives at ABC thought "Fonzie" looked too much like a troublemaker in his black leather jacket to be a featured character on network TV. With the bike nearby the producers made the excuse that the jacket was merely required safety equipment. One of those jackets now sits in the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.

    Funnily enough, the actor who played "The Fonz," Yale School of Drama grad Henry Winkler, has confessed that he can’t even ride a motorcycle, and that the one time he tried he took a fall.

    No, that wasn’t him crashing into Arnold’s fried chicken stand after clearing those garbage cans, but, just like "The Fonz," it sounds like Winkler learned from his own spill that taking foolish risks just isn’t cool.

    But owning his motorcycle sure would be.

    Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2011/10/11/aaaay-fonzies-motorcycle-cruising-to-auc...

  • Zomby woof

    Oct. 12, 2011 9:20 a.m. Zomby woof SuperDork

    In the early episodes, the Fonz wore a white windbreaker.

    I'm surprised some specialty shop isn't producing a copy of that bike already.

  • Snowdoggie

    Oct. 12, 2011 9:31 a.m. Snowdoggie Dork

    Zomby woof wrote:

    In the early episodes, the Fonz wore a white windbreaker.

    I'm surprised some specialty shop isn't producing a copy of that bike already.

    I'm sure you could make one out of a new Bonneville for a whole lot cheaper than they want for the original. I think I would rather have a new one that looks like that but has fuel injection and better electricals.

  • Gearheadotaku

    Oct. 12, 2011 1:24 p.m. Gearheadotaku Dork

    Never knew what kind of bike they used for the show, now I know.

  • Tom Heath

    Oct. 12, 2011 2:36 p.m. Tom Heath Web Manager

    In reply to Zomby woof:

    That's really a good idea. There are way more well-to-do baby boomers with discretionary spending than Trophy TR5s...

  • AngryCorvair

    Oct. 13, 2011 8:35 a.m. AngryCorvair SuperDork

    Gearheadotaku wrote:

    Never knew what kind of bike they used for the show, now I know.

    i'm pretty sure that the Fonz rode a sportster for a few seasons as well.

  • ditchdigger

    Oct. 13, 2011 9:20 a.m. ditchdigger Dork

    But... 90 grand? The show sucked. It started out corny to the point of being embarrasing to watch and then it only got worse.

    I like an old triumph as much or more than the next guy but this guys ass print on the seat should make it cost less, not more.

  • gamby

    Oct. 13, 2011 5:42 p.m. gamby SuperDork

    ditchdigger wrote:

    I like an old triumph as much or more than the next guy but this guys ass print on the seat should make it cost less, not more.

    Hating on the Fonz?! Boo-urns...

  • Lesley

    Oct. 13, 2011 6:57 p.m. Lesley SuperDork

    He was the bomb when I was in 10th grade.

 
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