The true story of actor James Dean's wintery dash across the United States on his Royal Enfield motorcycle is told in author Lee Raskin's book James Dean: At Speed.
Now it turns out there is more to the story.
Raskin has discovered the serial number of the Royal Enfield motorcycle Dean rode from Indiana to Pennsylvania in the winter of 1953-'54.
Dean was on his way from a visit to his home in Indiana back to New York City, where he was appearing in a play. It was bitter cold. Raskin writes that Dean wore an aviator's leather helmet and a hood to cover his face, with just slits for the eyes.
Dean blew the engine near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
The motorcycle was not a Royal Enfield 500 twin, as Raskin originally thought, but a very rare bird: a 1951 Royal Enfield J2. That's a 500cc single-cylinder motorcycle with TWO exhaust ports and, thus, twin mufflers.
It's an unusual design and must be even more rare in the United States. If you own one you own a rare and desirable motorcycle. If you own one and it's the one James Dean rode, it would be a rare and desirable and, now, very valuable motorcycle.
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Royal Enfield Motorcycles: Do you own the Royal Enfield James Dean rode? Author finds serial number once thought lost
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