The Fonz

When I was a kid, Happy Days was on TV and Arthur Fonzarelli was the man. The Fonz rode a motorcycle and motorcycles were cool. Always will be.

All of us of a certain age remember Fonzie’s silver 1949 Triumph Trophy TR5 Scrambler Custom. It’s iconic. (In fact, one used in the series sold for $179k a couple years ago). But that was not the only bike The Fonz “rode” during the series. During the first season, Fonzie had a 1947 Knucklehead Bobber.

In reality, Henry Winkler could not ride motorcycles and was by all accounts terrified of them. Chris Haynes was the motorcycle wrangler on season one of Happy Days and had this to say about Fonzie’s Harley: “I spent time trying to teach Henry how to ride it but he was scared to death of it. In the scenes when Henry pulled into frame with it running I was the guy who started it and pointed it in the right direction.”

Haynes lost his job after season one, no one else on set could start the Knuckle, and The Fonz’s bike was traded for the smaller Triumph, which was easier for Winkler to handle. The Triumph was built by Bud Ekins - that Bud Ekins - the famous offroad motorcycle racer, and famously tied to the other King of Cool, Steve McQueen.

Knucklehead or Triumph, Winkler still didn’t ride. Looking back, you’d hear the motorcycle, sometimes see it, but hardly ever see The Fonz aboard. For the rare scenes he was riding, the bike was sometimes mounted to a trolley and pulled across set. Cool, indeed.

So The Fonz was a bit of TV magic … but we could use more Fonzies (and their motorcycles) on TV inspiring the next generation of riders. Aaaaaeeeeyyy!