Yes, you read the correctly. The film Outlaws is part American Horror Story, part David Beckham being awesome (and handsome), and part motorcycle movie - and it’s all to get you to buy a $2,000 leather jacket. It’s also likely leaking the new 2016 1,100 cc Triumph Bonneville. Confused? Welcome to the club.
I still don’t quite know what to make of all this. I’d just wrapped up my writing for the day and was scrolling my Instagram when I happened on the above post from Triumph America. The tank on the Bonneville caught my eye, as did the caption about an upcoming film from Belstaff. Hoping for more info on the bike (there have been lots of rumors about new models in Triumph’s retro line and I would love to see this tank on one of them) I followed the link, only this is what I found:
“Belstaff Films presents OUTLAWS. A surreal film within a film starring David Beckham as the Stranger - a mysterious drifter and motorcycle stuntman...”
The concept of what makes a film nowadays is so loose, that I don’t really know what to expect from the full version. It seems to all be in support of Belstaff’s new Outlaws Collection, which makes me think we probably aren’t about to see a feature length film or anything with a real story line to sell some jackets. On the other hand, they have some pretty big names attached (Liv Tyler produced it and it also stars Harvey Keitel and Cathy Moriarty) and it looks as if a lot of effort went into it.
This isn’t Beckham’s first foray into riding Triumphs on screen. If you haven’t seen it, David Beckham: Into the Unknown is worth a watch. No, it isn’t perfect, but Beckham and his friends are fun to watch and the trip seems like a fun one. I’m not a big fan of watching full length content on YouTube, but you can stream the movie on their site here if you’re unable to find a better way to watch it.
Naturally, Triumph told me they couldn’t comment on whether they were using the video to give us a sneak peek at a new model or new option for their retro line. It’s hard for me to think they would put their bikes in this film (they have a longstanding relationship with both Belstaff and Beckham), but not in a way accessible to buyers - but then again, these OEMs do a lot of weird things. The model shown here and in the picture with Beckham have twin disc Brembo brakes and dual Ohlins shocks, which have been rumored on the up-spec version of something Triumph are calling the Street Tracker.
The film is released on September 22nd and new bike season is just around the corner, which means that we’ll find out soon enough.