$256,000
A Harley-Davidson FLH Electra-Glide motorcycle purchased by Marlon Brando in 1970. Identification number CA976527, engine number 69(FLH-7643), showing 13,859 miles, in black. Accompanied by a Notice of Transfer mailed to the Department of Motor Vehicles in Sacramento, California, by Harley-Davidson of Los Angeles stating that transfer of ownership to Brando had been made on April 8, 1970. The card gives the engine number as the identification number. Brando's image as a rebel on a motorcycle was established with his role as Johnny Strabler in The Wild One (Columbia, 1953) as seen here. Brando was known to ride around New York City before he became famous. Later on, he would often ride for miles on end on desert roads in the American Southwest. "It still pleases me to be awake during the dark, early hours before morning when everyone else is still asleep. I've been that way since I first moved to New York. I do my best thinking and writing then. During those early years in New York, I often got on my motorcycle in the middle of the night and went for a ride-anyplace. There wasn't much crime in the city then, and if you owned a motorcycle, you left it outside your apartment and in the morning it was still there. It was wonderful on summer nights to cruise around the city at one, two, or three a.m. wearing jeans and a t-shirt with a girl on the seat behind me. If I didn't start out with one, I'd find one." -Marlon Brando Categories: Marlon Brando
Auctioneer:
Juliens Auctions
Date:
2015-06-26
