The following is a post I made on another site at the time of the Captain America auction. It was a basic study of the difference between the hero bike and the crash bike using the dvd. I think a lot can be learned about the crash as well as the condition of the stunt bike by reviewing the crash sequence. This was written when Dan Haggarty was alive and well. No disrespect is meant or intended. Rip Mr. Haggarty.
_________________________________________________________________
There wasn't as much evidence of a 2nd Captain America bike as there was of the Billy bike in the movie itself. It appears Fonda rides the same hero bike throughout the movie as there are no glaring changes to the look or spec of the bike. The stunt bike is a bit different though. Here are the basic views of the hero bike in the movie:
Front Forks / Handlebars
The mirror, grips, lever, cables, and small plastic chrome wrapped wire never change throughout the movie until the very end. This is a pretty good sign that 1 hero bike was used throughout the movie. If Fonda is shown on it, it appears to be the same bike. Also the first 3 pictures are from the same scene in the film where the bikes are first shown. The negative is flipped for this scene. Look at the tire, the "Avon Speedmaster" is backwards and that cable in the foreground is the throttle cable.
Tank
The tank paint never really appears to change either. One of the big differences in the Billy hero and stunt bikes was the paint on the tanks. It was simply different. The Captain America paint seems to stay consistent throughout the movie. Even the crashed bike at the end seems to have a very similar paint job.
Left Side
There is a dent in the oil tank on the left side. It is hard to see in this picture but you can see it in the movie once or twice. I have also seen it in some of the production stills on the internet.
Right Side
In both side views the extra bullet lights are clearly visible.
Here comes the crash. These pictures are in order as they appear in the film. As a basic breakdown there are 5 different camera angles of the crash.
The first is right off the ramp at ground level:
It appears the front wheel may have gone flat. The wheel dug into the ramp itself and ripped pieces of wood off. The fork tube actually bent and broke below the lower tree. There was also a fire started above the transmission.
The second camera angle is a little more eye level:
This angle follows the bike as it hits the ground and moves forward eventually falling on its right side. The front wheel and fork are shown bouncing along and appear to rest up against the fence. In the next scenes the bike itself and the wheel seem to remain in the same positions they fell in. From this image you can see there is no mirror on the handlebars and the rear bullet lights are not there. The handlebar risers are different as well.
The third camera angle is the bike on its side in the grass:
There is an explosive charge that goes off rather quickly and results in a lot of smoke. The rear bullet lights are not on the bike and neither is the chainguard.
The fourth camera angle is a different perspective on the bike laying in the grass.
Another explosive charge goes off. This one appears to be slower. I think we can assume the cut was done to rig the final explosive charge and ensure the bike caught fire which it clearly does. The fifth camera angle is from a helicopter and shows the bike burning. The position of the bike seems to line up with the other scenes of the bike on its side.
What does any of this mean. It appears a different bike was used for the crash scene than the rest of the movie. It also appears the bike was intended to burn as it was subjected to at least 3 explosive charges. I think this puts to rest the myth that the stunt Captain America didn't actually burn in the film. It also gives some credence to Fonda's description of the state of the stunt bike. Whatever Haggerty rebuilt he was clearly not using most of the original parts of the bike. Haggerty also claimed that the stunt bike didn't even fall over in the movie which would reinforce his claim that he had 90% of the original parts in usable condition. I think it would be the opposite. He may have had only 10% of the original bike. Haggerty also claimed the first bike he authenticated may have had the Captain America stunt bikes rear fender. If so his supply of usable stunt bike parts for this recently sold bike must have been very small.
Scott