Celebrities Find Freedom in the Saddle

Hello budding biker ….. bet you didn’t know how many celebrities are already out there riding?

Mopeds and motorcycles have in fact become the latest must-have accessories as more and more stars are turning to two wheels for freedom to beat traffic and soak up the summer sun.

Singing sensation VV Brown is the latest star to take to the saddle.  The Crying Blood singer who is about to release her debut album Travelling Like The Light took delivery of a stylish baby blue Vespa scooter and accompanying powder pink accessory helmet earlier this year, which she rides in between rehearsals for Damon Albarn’s African Express gig.

Brown follows in the footsteps of hot new pop act Pixie Lott, who uses two wheels to set the tone of her new website where she appears cruising on a Superbike, while Britain’s number one girl group Girls Aloud have posed on powerful classic motorcycles to rev up their image for fashion shoots.

Celebrity obsession with two wheels dates way back into the 50s with daredevil filmstar James Dean, who bought his first motorcycle at the age of 15 before moving on to race Triumphs in New York.  Marlon Brando took motorcycles to a new level of awareness when he posed on a Triumph Bonneville in landmark 50s rebel film The Wild One.  Steve McQueen, one of the leading movie actors of the 60s and 70s, was also an avid motorcyclist.  His first bike was a 1946 Indian Chief and he spent a lot of time away from the film sets racing at an amateur level.  He went on to dream up perhaps the most famous motorcycle jump ever filmed when shooting The Great Escape where his character tried to escape German soldiers during World War II.  In the early 70s he financed an influential motorcycle movie On Any Given Sunday and also became a collector of over 100 classic motorcycles.   He famously commented, “One of the things that make motorcycling so great is that it never fails to give you a feeling of freedom and adventure.”  Between them Dean, Brando and McQueen made motorbikes the ultimate style icon, and to this day, bikes continue to be the essential accessory for Hollywood A-listers.

Back to the present day, stars like Charlize Theron, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Pink and Eva Herzigova can all be regularly spotted taking their Harley-Davidsons out for a ride, while Tom Cruise has a collection of more than a dozen bikes including an amazing £50,000 custom built Vyrus V4 Italian racer.

Hollywood’s most glamorous couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are mad about bikes and are often seen beating the traffic on Sunset Boulevard on one of Pitt’s large stable of machines.  Pitt rode a selection of classic motorcycles through the ages in the hit film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, whilst his close friend George Clooney is also known for his love of bikes.

Biking’s biggest convert is retired F1 racer Michael Schumacher, who has swapped four-wheeled racing for two and is now a National level rider in Germany!

Closer to home the appeal of motorcycling and scootering is stronger than ever with some of Britain’s most recognisable faces showing a passion for all things two-wheeled.

Scooters have become as synonymous with Jamie Oliver as his best selling recipes and the Essex chef is hardly ever seen without his beloved Vespa, while fellow chef Gordon Ramsay relaxes away from the kitchen on a superbike.  Model Sophie Dahl and legendary pop icon Simon Le Bon and his supermodel wife Yasmin Le Bon are regular riders, while TV and radio stars Jonathan Ross and Chris Evans opt for scooters as their preferred mode of transport.

Gold-medal winning Olympic rowers James Cracknell and Matthew Pinsent are also among the 1.5 million people who ride motorcycles, regularly seen riding Yamaha models and enjoy the huge benefits which they bring.  Fellow sportsman, and part of the 2003 World Cup winning rugby team, Lawrence Dallaglio recently took his bike test (known as a CBT) on a Suzuki.

Who could forget acting duo Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman, who have travelled half way around the world on their BMW machines.

From the world of music U2 front man Bono, James Blunt and Jay Kay have long been big bike riders while Prodigy “Firestarter” Keith Flint is an avid track day fan and has owned a series of Honda Fireblades.

In the world of soaps Kelvin Fletcher, who plays Emmerdale’s Andy Sugden, uses his Kawasaki motocross bike for training and is a regular visitor to racing events.  Coronation Street mechanic Tyrone Dobbs played by Alan Halsall is a biking fan, while EastEnders babe Samantha Womack, who plays troubled Ronnie Mitchell, can often be seen riding off into the Walford sunset on her Yamaha XV535.

Get On will continue to bring you news about who’s riding what, and remember, with motorcycles and scooters offering a cheaper, cleaner, faster and cooler way to get about there has never been a better time to follow in the footsteps on these celebs.

Get On!