Keanu Reeves and the happy story of his love... for motorcycles

The magnificent Keanu Reeves has long been a Hollywood legend — there are more than 70 works in his filmography and he does not seem to be going to stop. But, besides movies, the actor has another passion, to which he devotes the lion's share of his free time — it's motorcycles.

In one of the long-standing interviews, Keanu said that the craving for motor transport appeared in his early childhood. This was facilitated by the fact that the boy grew up in Toronto is a city that has become a real Mecca for Canadian bikers every summer.

Many years later, at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, Keanu would say that motorcyclists were like pirates and he wanted to be like them. The actor delivered his speech no longer as an ordinary speed lover, but as an independent motorcycle manufacturer.

Although Reeves has been staring at bikers since childhood, he himself decided to ride an iron horse for the first time only at the age of 22. It happened in Munich, where the actor was with the film crew. There was a young lady in their team who smartly dissected the Kawasaki KLR600, and it was she who inspired the motorcycle theorist to become a hardened practitioner.

Returning from Europe to the USA, the young actor began to look closely at technology and discovered motorcycles of the English brand Norton. He kept his love for this brand for the rest of his life, although there were a lot of different cars in the actor's garage. The company's executives are aware of Reeves' love for their products and do not get tired of praising him for his constancy and lack of craving for expensive "show-offs".

The first motorcycle is still lovingly kept in the collection of the star biker, among many other devices. You can see Keanu on this Norton Commando 850 in the already quite old movie "My personal state of Idaho".

Since the actor's shooting schedule has always been very busy, it was not easy for him to combine trips around the world and his hobby. But Reeves quickly found a way out of the situation, turning a minus into a big plus.

His favorite motorcycles were waiting for him at home, and on business trips he tried new brands and models, buying motorcycles with mileage on arrival and selling them when it was time to leave.At the same time, Keanu, as always, was a stranger to pathos and bought equipment with mileage, although he could afford a new one.

Thus, he was the owner of wonderful examples of motorcycles: Moto Guzzi T3 1973, Harley-Davidson Shovelhead, BMW 750, Suzuki GSX-R750 and many others. Among his temporary motorcycles were choppers, sports models and immortal classics — Keanu has not decided on his class and loves all kinds of two-wheeled cars.

It is quite logical that sooner or later a passionate motorcyclist, not burdened with financial problems, wanted to create bikes himself. When future business partner Gard Hollinger asked Reeves about why he was opening a motorcycle development and production company, the actor replied simply — "Because we're all going to die."

No one understood what Keanu wanted to say, but apart from the reputable Chop Rods customization studio, Arch Motorcycles soon appeared, producing bikes of its own design. Most likely, this passionate motorcyclist wanted to realize his childhood dream — to independently embody the idea in metal and plastic, and then present his creation to the world.

It should be noted right away that Arch Motorcycles is not a gathering of visionary philanthropists led by an ideological and slightly strange silverless. Motorcycles of this brand cost a lot of money and in the basic configuration can cost customers almost 100 thousand dollars.

Experts say that the price is based not only on the authority of a Hollywood star — Arch motorcycles are actually good and well worth the money. Keanu himself takes an active part in the design and solution of production issues, not letting things take their course. Often the head of the company tests his products himself, which gives him unspeakable pleasure.

What are Arch Motorcycles motorcycles? All metal parts of bikes are turned out of solid aluminum blanks, and all assembly processes are carried out exclusively by hand. Each piece of equipment is made only to order and it is customized for the future owner as an expensive couture suit.

The company makes extensive use of carbon fiber and innovative materials, and prefers to install V-shaped engines with a volume of up to 2.3 liters as a power unit. All cars are produced in scanty batches, so their buyers can be proud of their motorcycles. The Arch Method 143 model, for example, was released as a concept in 2017 and it is planned to produce no more than two dozen cars in total.

Motorcycles from Keanu Reeves, despite the high price and a considerable queue for purchase, are in great demand. A good and extraordinary actor produces the same motorcycles and no one finds anything surprising in this.