Marvel superheroes and villains inspire custom Harley-Davidson motorcycles

By Bruce Brown Published August 22, 2016

Happy anniversary, Captain America — looking pretty good after 75 years! Marvel and Harley-Davidson took the occasion of Cap’s anniversary to collaborate on a customized motorcycle to celebrate the event, according to SlashGear.

The design team started with a Street Glide Special bike and adorned it with Captain America motifs and icons. And when they checked out the finished bike, the companies decided it was “too cool” to build a custom for just one Marvel Superhero. So their design teams got busy and designed more than 25 custom Marvel superhero (and villain) bikes. They call the collection Super Hero Customs.

1 of 7

harley davidson marvel superhero custom bikes black widow — Image used with permission by copyright holder

harley davidson marvel superhero custom bikes antman bike — Image used with permission by copyright holder

harley davidson marvel superhero custom bikes wasp bike — Image used with permission by copyright holder

harley davidson marvel superhero custom bikes spiderman superheroes — Image used with permission by copyright holder

harley davidson marvel superhero custom bikes thor bike — Image used with permission by copyright holder

harley davidson marvel superhero custom bikes captain america bike — Image used with permission by copyright holder

harley davidson marvel superhero custom bikes iron man bike — Image used with permission by copyright holder

According to SlashGear, the custom bikes all turned out to accurately represent the Marvel universe characters they represent. The designer didn’t just stick with Street Glides.

Recommended Videos

The base models on which the team built the Marvel customs include the Iron 883, Night Rod Special, Breakout, Roadster, Forty-Eight, Street 500, Fat Bob, Street Bob, Fat Boy Lo, V-Rod Muscle, Low Rider, Road Glide Special, and Street Glide Special. In each case, the designers choose or created colors to match and added stylistic character-specific details.

You can’t buy one of the Super Hero Custom bikes, because they’re not for sale. Harley-Davidson is only making one of each Marvel Universe superhero (or villain) model.

SlashGear reported that one of the bikes will be awarded a prize in a contest. There is a competition, in which Australian and New Zealand residents 18 and older can vote once for their favorite of the Marvel-inspired motorcycle creations.

The prize, however, is not one of the customized Harley-Davidsons. “The first valid entry drawn will win a trip for four (4) people to Los Angeles, California, USA valued at up to AUD$21,020 depending on date and point of departure,” according to the “Terms and Conditions of the Harley-Davidson Super Hero Customs Promotion.”

So possibly the bikes will be in a Harley-Davidson Museum or Marvel exhibit. Maybe they’ll go on a road tour to Harley-Davidson dealerships around the world — which would itself be a very cool idea.

If you’re a resident of Australia or New Zealand and want to enter the contest, the link is here. The winner will be selected December 9, 2016.

Contributing Editor

Bruce Brown Contributing Editor As a Contributing Editor to the Auto teams at Digital Trends and TheManual.com, Bruce…

Topics

Outdoors

I tried an e-bike for the first time and now I’m hooked

It’s not about being a 'bike person', it’s about finding small upgrades to everyday life

A woman sitting on the Aventon Pace 4

Before this year, I’d never even touched an e-bike before, and the thought of riding one was never on my radar. With life already in constant motion thanks to two toddlers, biking wasn’t something I ever considered adding to the mix.

I’d always assumed e-bikes were for hardcore commuters or serious cyclists, not someone like me. I wasn’t looking for a big lifestyle change. I just wanted a quicker way to get to the park so we’d have more time to play before dinner.

Cars

This week in EV tech: Audi exemplifies auto industry’s EV holding pattern

Close-up of 2025 Audi SQ5 grille, headlight, and badge.

The road to the future runs through the present, and it’s not a straight line. This week, we’re focusing on how Audi is negotiating the twists and turns on the way to an electrified future. EVs are here to stay at Audi, but a gasoline crossover SUV is still the automaker’s bestselling model, and it’s not ready to risk those sales just yet. That’s why the 2025 Audi Q5 received a top-to-bottom overhaul for this model year, bringing its tech features and styling up to date without altering the what has proven to be a very popular package. By maintaining parallel lineups of electric and internal-combustion cars, Audi hopes to give customers more choices. But that doesn’t completely level the playing field. The new Q5 may have yesterday’s powertrain, but Audi isn’t holding back on tech. It features the same electrical architecture, operating system, and three-screen dashboard display as the latest Audi EVs, like the Q6 e-tron. So aside from a little engine noise, there’s little difference in what you can see and interact with from the driver’s seat. It’s not just the infotainment systems. The Q5 and Q6 e-tron are close in size, with similar space for passengers across their two rows of seats. The Q6 e-tron has a bit more cargo space, but not as much as you’d think given the lack of a bulky engine, transmission, and driveshafts. The two SUVs also have similar styling but, having now driven both, we can say that the Q5 is the more pleasant of the two.

More than a difference of powertrain tech

Cars

Take a peek inside the factory making tomorrow’s ride

A Zoox robotaxi.

Amazon-owned Zoox has opened its first facility producing fully autonomous robotaxis.

A video (above) released by the California-based company offers a peek inside the factory, which, when it reaches full capacity, could roll out as many as 10,000 autonomous vehicles per year.