How the legends avoided making motorbike accident claims

Did you know that the motorbike ridden by the original Mr Cool, Steve McQueen, in The Great Escape (1963), was the very same bike ridden by a Mr Cool of a different era; Arthur 'Fonzie' Fonzarelli in 1950s based hit show Happy Days (1974-1984)? Well this is indeed correctamundo!

But no matter how uber cool you consider yourself, kitted out head to toe in your leathers while bombing it down an open road astride your Harley Davidson, you are still at serious risk of being involved in a serious collision and having to make a motorbike accident claim.

Even if you are the most experienced, cautious and adept rider, there are many motorists on the roads that have trouble acknowledging motorcycles in traffic. This scenario is the underlying cause behind many motorbike accident claims in the UK every year.

It seems that Steve McQueen was well aware of the severe personal injuries a serious motorbike accident could cause. Although he did his own riding during the filming of The Great Escape, after an unsuccessful attempt at a 60ft jump across a border fence that ended in a minor crash he decided not to persevere with this stunt.

The spine-tingling jump was carried out by a friend of McQueen's, Bud Ekins. This saw Ekins' transition from the manager of a Los Angeles-area motorcycle shop to becoming McQueen's double in Bullitt (1968) and for much of the CHiPs television series (1977).

Similarly, Henry Winkler who played The Fonz was at less risk of having a motorcycle accident on that famous bike than Happy Days' fans may first have thought. He didn't do any of the risky stunts featured on the show; actually he did minimal riding.

Winkler has commented, "I never knew how to ride a motorcycle. I don't to this day know how to ride a motorcycle. As a matter of fact in the credits I ride up the driveway of the Cunningham home. That was the only time I ever rode the motorcycle, and I didn't quite know how to stop it so that I kept going and nearly killed the director of photography and completely smashed into the sound truck."

Make a motorbike accident claim today
If you have been sustained personal injury through no fault of your own and you would like to make a motorbike accident claim today then you have come to the right place.

We can help you to claim for pain, suffering, lost earnings and medical expenses. We may even be able to arrange for you to receive top medical care from a specialist in your area.

The personal injury solicitor that we assign you will work on a no win, no fee basis and talk you though each stage of the claim in plain English. Neither we nor your personal injury solicitor will charge you a penny for our services at any time and we promise that you will receive every penny of compensation awarded to you.

For further information, chat to one of our claims advisors via e-chat. If you would like to pursue a motorbike accident claim through YouClaim today either send us a call back request so that we can call you back at a convenient time, fill out an online claim form so we can start assessing your claim right away or, alternatively, give our 24-hour claim advisors a call now on 0800 10 757 95.