The motorcycles for the film, based on hardtailframes and panhead engines, were designed and built by two African-American[19][20] chopper builders — Cliff Vaughs and Ben Hardy — following ideas of Peter Fonda, and handled by Tex Hall and Dan Haggerty during shooting.[21]

In total, four former police bikes were used in the film. The 1949, 1950 and 1952 Harley-DavidsonHydra-Glide bikes were purchased at an auction for $500, equivalent to about $3400 in 2017.[21] Each bike had a backup to make sure that shooting could continue in case one of the old machines failed or got wrecked accidentally. One "Captain America" was demolished in the final scene, while the other three were stolen and probably taken apart before their significance as movie props became known.[21] The demolished bike was rebuilt by Dan Haggerty and shown in a museum. The provenance of existing Captain America motorcycles is unclear, and has been the subject of much litigation.[22] A motorcycle on display at the EMP Museum in Seattle, Washington is identified by that organization as the original rebuilt movie prop. A replica resides at theNational Motorcycle Museum in Anamosa, Iowa.[23]Many other replicas have been built since the film's release.[21]

Hopper and Fonda hosted a wrap party for the movie and then realized they had not yet shot the final campfire scene. Thus, it was shot after the bikes had already been stolen, which is why they are not visible in the background as in the other campfire scenes.[8][21]

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