Happy birthday, young man…

And that young man would be Clint Eastwood.   Mr. Eastwood’s birthday is today, and he’s 85.   I always liked that guy, starting with his appearances in the weekly western, Rawhide, as Rowdy Yates, through all of the Dirty Harry movies (the first one got me hooked on the Smith and Wesson Model 29, and I’ve owned one ever since), and all of his later work (which just kept getting better and better).

Mr. Eastwood is no stranger to motorcycles, and he seems particularly partial to British vertical twins.   Check out these Nortons…

That first photo above was shot during a break in Where Eagles Dare, an all time favorite World War II movie.   That’s a Norton P-11 750cc “Scrambler” with low pipes…in its day, it was the hardest accelerating motorcycle in the world.

Triumphs were a favorite, too, as these shots from Coogan’s Bluff and elsewhere show…

Here’s Mr. Eastwood on another Triumph, done up in the San Francisco PD livery.   It was used during  the filming of Magnum Force, and if you were really paying attention, you noticed that the motor officers were using Moto Guzzis until the aircraft carrier scene, where the more nimble Triumph was necessary.

Mr. Eastwood even shot a scene or two on a Harley, including one in another great movie, The Eiger Sanction.   I don’t think the shot below is from that movie, but you get the idea…

And of course, Any Which Way But Loose…

So the question is:  At 85, does he still ride?   I don’t know.   But I’m going to send Mr. Eastwood an email this week.   Seems there’s an RX3 here he might look pretty good on…