Although legendary actors Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper co-starred in the seminal 1969 film Easy Rider, Captain America- the film's chopped Harley-Davidson Panhead- became one of the most evocative motorcycles in American history.

In the opening sequence of Easy Rider, Fonda and Hopper's characters close a huge drug deal and trade their unremarkable bikes for ornate custom choppers before embarking on a cross-country ride. Emblazoned with an American flag on its gas tank, Captain America becomes the rolling embodiment of their newfound freedom when they line the inside of its tank with the cash they score.

With its pop art paintjob, extensive chrome detailing, and lavishly raked fork, Captain America defied both its visual surroundings and the assumptions of the past. It became instead representative of the revolutionary ideals threatened by the Vietnam War and the perceived establishment.

However, Captain America reaches mythic status not by transcending mere transportation, but by becoming a postmodern icon. The casual destruction of the bike at the film's end underscores the frailty of those counterculture ideals, representing a freedom that is lost and perhaps unrecoverable.