Name: Francesco Quinn Age: 44Home: Sherman Oaks, CA Occupation: Actor
"It all started out as yet another freaky Quentin Tarantino film. Drugs, blood, crime-you know the genre. Good versus Evil. But this time it was bad guys versus even badder guys, and instead of horses, the rides of choice were motorcycles. It's an interpretation of a Western where two wheels replace four legs. Shot in Agua Dulce, a small airport town buried in the desert mountains 50 miles north of L.A., the producers decided the locale was as close to hell as they could get. And they were right.
"We started off with the directors and producers wanting to use an Indian or Harley, but I knew those rides were too clich. As a long-time supporter of Discover Today's Motorcycling (DTM) and lifelong Honda rider, one of my personal rides is a new VTX1300, which I rode on Speed-TV's Epic Ride to the Grand Canyon where you'll remember I ran out of gas-on purpose. The show was too boring as it was, so I told the producers it needed a little bit of excitement-and it worked!"
When it came time to cast a machine for the part of the bad-ass villain, one call to Honda Vice President Ray Blank suggested that Frankie drop off his personal VTX for a bit of a movie-edition makeover.
The pretty gloss paint was immediately scrapped in favor of a flat-black, rattle-can spray job-from stem to stern. Then, by accident, gas was spilled on the top portion of the fuel tank, discoloring it. What to do on a vehicle such as this? Ruin it some more!
"We all thought it looked really cool, so we spilled more gas and rubbed it with a rag to really give it that used and abused look. Next up was a new set of unique triple-beam headlights which look bitchin', a Cobra exhaust, K&N air filter and jet kit."
Since he was five years old, Quinn's been riding and racing motorcycles and bicycles. A star of his caliber has limos and helicopters at his disposal, yet every day of filming he rode his VTX or his bicycle to the set. He says, "Why bother wasting money? I love to ride! Don't send a car, I'll ride a bike to the set, shoot the scenes and ride home. Hey, it's a Honda!"