James Bond Skyfall Motorcycle sold for 18,400 US Dollar
Should you ever need to take a fast trip across Istanbul rooftops before crashing through a window into the Grand Bazaar, this is the motorcycle for you.
Honda supplied 20 units of its 250cc motocrossers for use in the opening sequence of the 2012 movie Skyfall. Stunt doubles for James Bond (Robbie Maddison) and villain Patrice rode the motorcycles through the spice market, up staircases and along meter-wide elevated walkways in the chase scene.
Other Hondas were set up as camera tenders to film the fast action across the rooftops and through the narrow marketplaces.
The most special motorcycle, although decked out in the livery of the Turkish traffic police, was Patrice’s mount in the chase scene. Being a resourceful villain, he had commandeered a cop’s motorcycle and blasted off into the distance. James Bond hijacked a bystander’s bike, also a disguised CRF250R, and took off in pursuit.
Honda introduced its CRF250R in 2004 and, when not powering across rooftops, it was a successful competition motocross bike.
The 249cc SOHC four-stroke single has electronic fuel injection, a five-speed gearbox and is liquid-cooled. Suspension is via a 48mm inverted Showa cartridge fork and Showa monoshock. Its dry weight is just over 100 kilograms and the motorcycle is tough and agile.
The motorcycle with the Turkish traffic police livery was recently sold for US$ 18,400 (around 610,000 THB). The sale included a letter of authentication stating that the lot was the CRF250R used in Skyfalll’s opening sequence. The vendor bought it at a charity auction in 2013 after Honda donated it.
It still has the film-set specification of special safety lock-wiring throughout and non-functioning display instruments. The motorcycle was sold unregistered and its mechanical condition was not known.
