'Pawn Stars' boss Rick Harrison offers $85,000 for Hollywood icon's bike — it still wasn't enough
Fans are used to seeing "Pawn Stars" boss Rick Harrison playing hardball with sellers to squeeze out a deal for precious vintage items and artifacts at the lowest price possible. In Many cases, he just turns down the deal if the sellers won't lower their demands. That's why it was surprising to see Harrison offer a whopping $85,000 for a run-down motorcycle, but what was even more astonishing was that the guest refused to sell even at that price. It was a 1940s Indian motorbike, which was once owned by the Hollywood star Steve McQueen. While Harrison was desperate to get the bike, he failed to make a deal as the seller, Ed, refused to let it go for $85,000.
In the episode, Harrison and his sidekick, Chumlee, travelled to the seller's home to take a look at the famous and valuable bike. Harrison noted that the 1940s, four-cylinder, vintage Indian motorcycle could be very valuable given the name attached to it. "It's a cool bike, but since Steve McQueen owned it, it makes it that much more," Harrison said after looking at the bike for the first time.
Ed confirmed to Harrison that McQueen himself had ridden the bike decades ago, and his father bought the vehicle at the actor's estate sale. He came prepared with the certificate of authenticity, so that Harrison didn't need to bring an authenticator along with him. "I absolutely love Steve McQueen in my office. There are two pictures of people, one of them is Jimi Hendrix, and the other is Steve McQueen. I'm sort of big on the guy," Harrison shared.
The pawn shop boss further explained that the actor was a bad-ass in real life and on camera, and he had to do a stunt on his own in the "Great Escape" as the stuntman couldn't keep up with him on a motorcycle. While he loved the bike, Harrison did notice some damage around it. Ed then shared that there were a couple of chips, and the bike once caught on fire when his father took it for a trip. Furthermore, he hadn't started the bike in the past six years, so it wasn't in running condition.
"Not only did the guy let the bike sit around for years so you can't even start it, but he also set it on fire and didn't fix it. I should walk away on principle," an upset Harrison said in his interview. However, since it was McQueen's bike, Harrison knew the "cool factor" was "off the chart". So decided to ask for the price. "I'm firm at $130,000 right now. You're getting a deal at that price," Ed said in response.
But Harrison felt it was too much, given the condition of the bike. He told Ed that he could get $70,000 for the item, as it would cost a lot to get it repaired, and even after that, it could get $100,000 at best at an auction. When Ed refused to go below $120,000, Harrison made a last-ditch offer of $85,000. However, Ed wasn't willing to go below $100,000, so the deal was off.
"I can't let it go for that it means too much to me," Ed told Harrison in the end.
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