Key Takeaways

• Some of the Sons Of Anarchy cast members are actual bike enthusiasts with real riding experience.
• Charlie Hunnam rode over 8,000 miles on his chopper, Kim Coates learned to ride a dirt bike at a young age.
• Actors from the show had connections to real biker clubs, adding authenticity to their roles.

In case you missed it, 'Sons Of Anarchy' is a hugely popular show that centers around the lives of the members of a close-knit outlaw biker gang. It aired for a fair few seasons but was unfortunately concluded in 2014. But in the time that it ran, the show made a serious mark, going on to become one of the highest-rated TV shows and featuring some of the coolest Harley-Davidsons ever while at it.

UPDATE: 2024/03/20 19:01 EST BY RAUNAK AJINKYA

Despite being off the air for a while now, the 'Sons Of Anarchy' TV show remains quite popular, with some cast members even confessing to being actual bike enthusiasts. We have updated this piece to include a few more highlights about the show and the cast.

Why is it being brought up here? Well, aside from the storytelling, the show had a very cool habit of throwing in some really cool motorcycles, which shouldn't come as too much of a surprise, considering the show revolved around a motorcycle gang. What is surprising, however, is that a few cast members had some legitimate experience with owning and riding bikes. Some even had a background in some well-known biker gangs. This piece, then, centers around those cast members and their real experience with motorcycles.

All the information in this piece has been sourced from credible outlets across the internet.

Some Of The Cast Could Handle A Bike

Playing the lead role of Jax Teller meant actor Charlie Hunnam had to strap on his beanie helmet and kick his hog into high gear multiple times during Sons of Anarchy's seven-season run. Hunnam's older brother logged considerably more miles once he became a speed racer. The actor even admitted to putting over 8,000 miles on his chopper one year while his car only got around 300.

Kim Coates, who played Tig on the show, grew up on the Canadian prairies, where he said he learned how to ride when he was a kid, starting with a dirt bike. “I was in Grade 2 or Grade 3, and that’s how I really learned to ride. That’s how it all started for me,” Coates said to Canada MotoGuide.

Another non-American Scottish actor, Tommy Flanagan, who played Chibs, also had a considerable motorcycling background when he was younger. Other actors on the show who were passionate about biking when they were younger include Mark Boone Jr, who played Bobby, the club's accountant, and actor Theo Rossi, who, like Coates, started on dirt bikes.

Sons Of Anarchy Cast Highlights

• Charlie Hunnam put over 8,000 miles on his personal chopper one year
• Kim Coates learned how to ride a dirt bike when he was in grade 2
• Tommy Flanagan, Mark Boone Jr. Theo Rossi all started out riding fairly young

A Few Stars Own Some Nifty Bikes

Like his Jax's character, Hunnam also owns a Harley-Davidson Dyna Super Glide. But if that wasn't enough, he admitted stealing the bike he used on the show after the season concluded and has since stored it in his garage. When asked about his choice of model, he responded, "You know, I wish I wasn’t the guy who rode the same bike he rode on the show, but the problem is there’s no better bike out there.”

For his part, Coates owns three Harley-Davidson bikes and posted a shot of them together shortly after washing them down to show off their shiny chrome finery. "It was a calming day a few days ago to just throw some love 'n' suds on my Harleys," Coates tweeted. "I don’t ride them enough." Boone Jr. and Rossi also own Harley bikes. Ditto for Flanagan, who owns two and a BMW machine, which he used extensively on the show.

Slightly veering from Harley territory but still noteworthy is one inspiring story about Kurt Yaeger, who played debilitated rider Greg "The Peg," and lost part of his left leg in a bike accident in 2006. He's been riding a custom BMX since.

2008 Harley-Davidson Dyna Super Glide Specs

(Specs sourced from Motorcycle Specs)

Some Actors Have Biker Club Connections

Naturally, a drama chronicling the exploits of a bad-boy contingent wouldn't be complete without a few real-life outlaws in the hangout. That's where the casting department struck gold, bringing in five players who previously rode in real-life biker gangs. Sonny Barger, one outlaw vet who passed the screen test, played founding SAMCRO member Lenny Janowitz. His life story smacked of a potential show all its own, having run a Hells Angels Oakland chapter and spent time in the slammer.

Another notorious player turned out to be bike builder Rusty Coones, who even brought his customized 2013 Hellrazor to the set. During the final three seasons of the show, Coones played gang member Rane Quinn, no small feat since he led two California chapters of the Hells Angels, even doing time on a couple of occasions during his tenure.

The gritty scenes inherent in Sons of Anarchy probably wouldn't have been so believable without former Hell's Angel rider David Labrava as the show's technical director. But producers saw another potential in Labrava, who not only wound up playing Happy Lowman, the club's sergeant-at-arms, but even wrote one of the show's episodes.

One oddity in this category is Robert Patrick, best known for his roles in The Terminator 2 and The X-Files, who played Les Packer, president of SAMCRO's San Bernardino chapter. He's been riding ever since he moved from his native Georgia to Hollywood and has taken his Harley 2006 Electra Glide Classic on the road with a motorcycle club called The Boozefighters for more than a decade.

Cast Members Previously Belonging To Biker Clubs

• Sonny Barger ran a Hells Angels Oakland chapter at one point
• Bike-builder Rusty Coones led two Hells Angels California chapters
• Technical Director David Labrava was a Hells Angels rider
• Robert Patrick took his Electra Glide Classic on the road with a club called The Boozefighters

Notable Sons Of Anarchy Motorcycles

Sons Of Anarchy was arguably one of the best motorcycle TV shows of all time. And while the storyline itself was plenty gripping for most audiences, it was the detail that the show went into that made all the difference.

It's reported that creator Kurt Sutter made an agreement with Harley-Davidson to use their bikes, which was a win-win situation, considering it also gave the American motorcycle manufacturer a huge popularity boost. Keep in mind that the show ran for seven full seasons, so there were plenty of motorcycles involved in each season.

That said, there were, of course, a few that stood out more than the rest. In no particular order, then, this is our list of the show's standout motorcycles.

• 1946 Harley-Davidson Knucklehead
• Rusty Coones' custom Hellrazor
• 1996 Harley-Davidson Heritage Softail
• Harley-Davidson Screamin' Eagle Road King
• 2006 Harley-Davidson Dyna Street Bob

---

• Source for features: IMDB, FX, US Weekly, Screen Rant
• Source for technical specifications: Motorcycle Specs