MotoBrief

Last Saturday the man responsible for the most famous motorcycle stunt in movie history died. Bud Ekins was an off-road racer turned Hollywood stuntman who doubled for Steve McQueen in the climactic motorcycle jump in “The Great Escape.”

Ekins was a legend and will be missed. But he’ll never be forgotten — I’m sure I’m not the only person who feels that the first 2 1/2 hours of “The Great Escape” is just an elaborate prologue to a movie about a guy trying to jump a motorcycle into Switzerland.

Bud Ekins was 77.

Some days, after half a dozen close calls with distracted auto drivers, it can feel like the world’s out to get you. But really, it’s not just you. According to the San Jose Mercury News, they’ll even run down George Clooney.

I’ve scoured the web about this story and nowhere, not from one of these so-called “journalists,” can I find an answer to the most important question: What was he riding?

Fortunately Clooney and his passenger weren’t hurt. But seriously, what was he riding?

Update: So the police have cleared things up — Clooney was riding a Harley-Davidson. Their statement said the other guy was driving a 1999 Mazda Millenia. We only get year, make and model on the car? Some people have no sense of priorities.

Anyway, it sounds like a classic case of automobile driver inattention and neglect. The car attempted to turn right from the left-hand lane, Clooney was on the right and got tagged by the car.