John Travolta’s character “Woody” (a faint reference to his sexual nature!) convinces his other three mates to join him saying, “it’ll be just like the ‘Wild ‘Bunch’”, referencing the famous 1969 Western outlaw adventure film with William Holden and Ernest Borgnine.
Bike spotters will know the movie is something of a Harley-Davidson festival - and that’s no coincidence. The Motor Company teamed up with Touchstone Pictures to supply motorcycles for the main characters in the film. They ride a 2006 Sportster 1200 Custom and four 2006 Softails: a Fat Boy, Night Train, Springer Softail and Screamin’ Eagle Fat Boy. Harley-Davidson also supplied MotorClothes to their wardrobe department.
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As they go looking for adventure, they soon find that they’ve embarked on a journey they will never forget when they take on a group of outlaw bikers, the "Del Fuegos", led by a nasty guy called Jack (played by a clean-shaven Ray Liotta).
Buried deep in the script are numerous fun references to other movies and characters. There is even a cameo appearance by Peter Fonda as solo riding hero, Damien Blade.
When Blade confronts the quartet in the final scene, he says “Well, Wild Hogs... ride hard or stay home. Oh, and guys... lose the watches.” Which, as trivia buffs will know, references the scene from 1969’s Easy Rider where, at the beginning of the film, Fonda’s character throws down his watch before they start their trip.
Also interesting to know is that many of the motorcycles ridden by the outlaw Del Fuego gang are customised choppers. For instance, the motorcycle used by Liotta’s character, Jack, features the logo for Orange County Choppers from the TV series ‘American Chopper’. Paul Teutul Snr runs the OCC outfit along with his son Paul Teutul Jnr who does much of the design work. Both can be seen in cameo appearances at the beginning of the film.
There are also some interesting gaffs. One, pointed out by an IMDB user, notices the tyre on Woody’s Fat Boy is on backwards!
In real life, John Travolta is a Harley-Davidson owner and rider.
"I've ridden bikes since I was 18, and it was [my] first transportation when I came to Hollywood because it was inexpensive and easy for me. And then I rode Harleys with the Daytona Bike League several times [before] the movie," said Travolta in a pre-release interview.
And Travolta was probably the most experienced of all the actors and was totally comfortable with the big Harley-Davidson motorcycles. Tim Allen apparently rode sport bikes before the film’s production but had never sat in the saddle of a cruiser. Both William Macy and Martin Lawrence were completely new to riding and had to train for their roles with stunt coordinator, Jack Gill, who started the two out on dirt bikes before taking them on cruisers around the twisting roads of Malibu Canyon.
