It’s not our cup of tea, but we can see how hardcore cinephiles can get easily worked up about behind the scenes photos of movies that are still in production — it’s likely not too dissimilar from how we feel when we catch a glimpse of an upcoming motorcycle before its release. It’s not our thing, but we can understand it.

What is a lot easier to understand though is when an actual motorcycle gets caught by these Hollywood spy cameras, as is the case here. On the set of the next Avengers movie, the eagles eyes of the linkbaity Daily Mail caught photos of what is clearly an electric Harley-Davidson motorcycle — piquing our interest, of course.

Our comic book nerd friends tell us that the relationship between Captain America and Harley-Davidson go back to the comic’s inception in 1941, but as of late the Bar & Shield brands have enjoyed a synergistic marketing relationship.

At the Captain America: The Winter Soldier premiere, the Harley-Davidson Street 750, which also had a notable role in the movie, featured heavily on the red carpet.

Harley-Davidson used the youth-oriented movie to highlight its next-generation cruiser, which will be built in India and targeted towards younger riders in the Western world.

While the Street 750 was highly tipped and rumored for the US market in 2014, its appearance on the set of Captain America was used as a vehicle (see what I did there) to promote and build hype for the bike before its US debut.

Seeing the photos now of the electric Harley-Davidson, which looks incredibly refined and ready for market, is an interesting sight, especially considering the recent context of the Harley-Davidson and Captain America brands. But what does it all mean?

We know that Harley-Davidson has been exploring the idea of an electric model, and we know that the iconic motorcycle brand needs to find hooks into a younger generation of rider. We also know that Hollywood is great at making one-off machines for movies, and for the right price a company can have its logo adhered to that work. Somewhere between these two facts we have the truth.

What surprises us the most about the motorcycle seen here is the quality, which leans us away from a simple one-off model for movie-goers consumption. The design takes into account real world motorcycle scenarios, and is devoid of fanciful elements that would never word outside the big screen.

Frankly, it looks like an electric motorcycle that Harley-Davidson would build, if the company built electric motorcycles.

Is this a new model to come from Harley-Davidison, which the company is teasing or debuting in the Hollywood film? Is it a concept being floated out to the general population to gauge interest in a very non-traditional Harley-Davidson motorcycle? Or are we just reading too much into all this?

We will let you decide, but first note the lack of a clutch lever on the handlebar, the distinct Harley-Davidson branded brake calipers, and the craftsmanship of the drivetrain enclosure — someone put a great deal of thought and energy into making this bike look like a production model. Why would they do that? Thanks for the tip Richard!

Source: Daily Mail