Raising Arizona Bike

In 1987 the Cohen Brothers created one of the nastiest looking bikes (and characters) in movie history: Randall Tex Cobb played Leonard Smalls in Raising Arizona. Smalls character is hysterical riding along with two shotguns strapped to his back, hand grenades and bronze baby shoes dangling from his jacket and “Mother Didn’t Love Me” tattoo on his arm.

 The grimy, unloved, outlaw, kidnapper Smalls is often referred to as an “apocalyptic Harley riding biker” but the bike in the film is not a Harley, it’s actually a Honda VT500 (shadow) with some sound editing work to make it sound more like a Harley. I’m guessing it’s size makes Cobb look more menacing and the Honda was most likely cheaper than a Harley would have been; which meant ruining it in the film would save some money.

Raising Arizona is one of my favorite films. Another hilarious Cohen Brothers classic.

Check out our other movie bike posts.

Check out our other movie bike posts.

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