His Vintage Bikes Are an Unqualified Triumph
Actor Giancarlo Esposito is perhaps best known for his roles in several of director Spike Lee’s films (“Do the Right Thing,” “Malcolm X”).
Other notable credits include “The Usual Suspects,” “Waiting to Exhale” and the NBC drama “Homicide: Life on the Street,” a hit with critics (if not the viewing public) that ended its seven-season run last month. Next up: “Monkey Bone,” a feature starring Whoopi Goldberg and Brendan Fraser and set for release late this year.
During the last few years, New York native Esposito, 41, has assembled an impressive collection of vintage bikes, including a 1969 Triumph Bonneville T120R (cousin to the Triumph Thunderbird made famous by Marlon Brando in the classic 1954 biker film “The Wild One”), two 1974 Norton Commandos, a 1969 BSA Thunderbolt (his personal favorite) and a 1965 BMW R60S. Esposito does some of the restoration himself but often works with professional mechanics as well.
Recently, he talked to Highway 1 about his passion for motorcycles.
Question: How did you come across the Triumph?
Answer: I found it in a completely rusted-out condition at a little motorcycle shop in New York called Sixth Street Specials. I had another British bike that I needed to get serviced, and there was a guy there who really knew how to work on these bikes. . . .
I walked into the shop one day and saw this Triumph Bonneville. Right then I knew I wanted that bike. It was a complete rust bucket, but it was all original and all the parts were there. The guy said they could restore it for me and bring it back to life.
Q: How did you get started collecting bikes?
A: My first motorcycle was a Suzuki 55, a little scooter. I bought it myself without telling my mom. But I started with bicycles. It all comes from a two-wheeled mentality. In New York when I was between the ages of 10 and 16, I did a lot of off-Broadway shows and musicals and I didn’t want to ride on the subway. So I got a bicycle, and that just parlayed its way from two wheels to two wheels. I still collect a lot of antique bicycles.
Q: What are your criteria for choosing bikes to restore?
A: Passion. If I love it and it’s in rotten shape and I really shouldn’t buy it and it’s totally impractical, I’ll buy it anyway. Like my Triumph. You would not believe what it looked like when I first saw it. But I could see the vision that it could be completely restored and my butt would be on that bike.
Q: Do you ride any of your bikes?
A: I drive them all. That’s what makes me different from [some] collectors. . . . They put them in the garage, restore them, put new bearings on them but never put oil in them. They just sit them in the garage and look at them.
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Auto Show profiles celebrities and their wheels. Liesl Guinto can be reached at highway1@latimes.com
