Celebs

WHEN it comes to motorbikes our hottest stars just can’t get enough of sleek, powerful action. Fast, feisty and glamorous …and that’s just the motorbikes, celebrities’ love of the motorbike shows no sign of abating. This week Motorbike Insurance takes a look at some of the biggest names behind the coolest bikes.

Paris Hilton
The motorbike model and socialite has sparked rumours that she is a lesbian after attending the premiere of Showtime’s “The L Word.” Hilton is reportedly keen to make an appearance on the hit US show, which features story lines about a group of lesbian women and their partners.

One insider claimed Hilton got very close to the show’s star Katherine Moennig, and the pair were allegedly spotted dancing, being photographed and whispering in each other’s ear. “Paris and Kate were here holding hands,” a witness alleges.

Sarah Jessica Parker
The Sex and the City star’s clothing label Bitten is a knock out success, especially among female motorbike riders. The line, which is featured in Steve and Barry’s New York Department Store, was created for normal women who want to look fashionable but don’t have the budget for expensive pieces.

The collection with an average price tag of under $20 includes sweaters, shirts, jackets, shoes and practical outdoor gear, suitable for motorbiking. The style icon’s manifesto” reports: “It is every woman’s inalienable right to have a pulled-together, stylish, confident wardrobe with money left over to live.”

Heather Mills
The former model is reportedly “furious” with her estranged husband Paul McCartney for flirting with pop princess Kylie Minogue. The Beatles legend sang a “sexy” duet with Minouge for a New Years TV special allegedly humiliating Mills. The crooning duo sang McCartney’s hit ‘Dance Tonight’ while the sexy star lay on top of a grand piano.

“She’s really mad about the way Paul got close to Kylie. She reckons he did it on purpose and feels it was a deliberate public dig at her,” one insider claims. “She thinks he’s just trying to prove a point that he’s moved on and is comfortable around other women. She was so hurt she burst into tears.”

Its not the first time Mills has lost her temper, she was reportedly angry over McCartney’s friendship with Rosanna Arquette and Nancy Shevell.

“Heather was seething, seeing his flirting as an attempt to humiliate her. She thinks he’s kidding himself is he thinks he’s stand a chance with Kylie anyway,” says another source. Mills, who lost her leg when a motorbike rider ploughed into her crossing a road in Kensington, has threatened to move to America with their daughter Beatrice if McCartney doesn’t agree to a divorce settlement soon.

Brad Pitt
The Hollywood A-lister has been dubbed “super dad” for his dedication to looking after he and Angelina Jolie’s four children. The 44-year-old heartthrob reportedly gets the children up every morning while Jolie has a lie in. “Sometimes the kids will go in and wake her, but they’re not supposed to. Sometimes she’ll get up earlier to take the kids to school, but Brad’s usually the one who gets them out the door,” says one source:

“Brad gets up really early with the children. He changes diapers and gets Zahara and Shiloh fed and dressed for the day. He takes this responsibility very seriously.” Meanwhile, the motorbike mad couple have revealed they may have another child this year. It is not known whether they plan to adopt or have another biological child.

Beyonce Knowles
The super sexy singer and Jay-Z are reputed to have secretly married while in the beautiful French capital of Paris. Sources close to the couple say they pledged their troth in a quiet ceremony and had personal inscriptions tattooed on their ring finger. “They didn’t want all the attention that usually follows them around,” a source claims, “they just wanted it to be intimate and romantic. It was lovely and they are both blissfully happy. They thought the tattoos would be a lovely personal touch.”

A mutual interest in motorbikes brought Beyonce, 26, and Jay-Z, 38, together nearly six years ago while collaborating on the single ’03 Bonnie and Clyde.’

It is thought the rapper proposed to Beyonce in May of this year while vacationing in Cannes.

Keanu Reeves
The Speed star has named a Los Angeles motorcycle route he adores 'The Devil Ride' because he can cruise to the ocean in the dark without switching on his headlights.

Reeves jumps on to his motorbike and heads for this route immediately after filming so that he can enjoy a little down time and relaxation. "There are a couple of spots on Mulholland Drive in the Hollywood Hills, where, if there's a good moon out, you can coast all the way down to the ocean, says the actor:

“ You shut off you lights and go. It's very quiet. You're guided by the moonlight. It's very pleasant... and you can hear and feel the breeze. There's a certain aspect to riding. You're getting away and enjoying nature."

In spite of several motorbike smashes, Reeves refuses to sell off his much loved 1974 Norton Commando 850. The star, whose many accidents have resulted in him puncturing his abdomen and breaking teeth and ankle, says, "After an accident I just vow to go a little slower."

Angelina Jolie
The actress is reported to want Brad Pitt to give up his motorbike “my sweetheart” for one she bought him for his 44th birthday. The couple’s four children have also been busy making him cards. “His family is the best birthday gift Brad could ever have,” says a source. “Shiloh’s always been a daddy’s girl, and nothing makes Brad smile more than playing with her.”

“Zahara loves colouring and said she wanted to make a card for Daddy. The Maddox and Pax joined in. They were drawing and doodling, trying to out do each other,” the insider added. Meanwhile, Jolie has admitted that she feels as if her biological daughter Shiloh is an “outcast.”

MELANIE GRIFFITH
The Hollywood actress is so loved up with her Spanish husband Antonio Banderas that she is taking motorbike lessons. Heartthrob Banderas, adores motorbikes and gave his wife a 750 Honda as a gift because he has a romantic notion of them taking off on the open road together, but Griffiths admits she's terrified of high speed.

So she's being taught how to drive a motorbike so when she flies out to meet Banderas, who is on location in Spain directing a film, she’ll be able to impress him with her biking knowledge. "I got on a bike once and almost killed myself. I didn't know how heavy they are, says Griffiths: "I wanna learn how to ride in Los Angeles so I can go back to Spain and surprise him."

DENNIS HOPPER
The Easy Rider star has got back into the saddle with his Hollywood chums for an epic motorbike ride between Russia's Moscow and St Petersburg.

The journey marked the launch an exhibition of American art at Moscow's Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts. Hopper, whose paintings and photographs are currently on display at the country's prestigious Hermitage museum, says, "Yeah, Jeremy Irons, Laurence Fishburne, Thomas Krens (director of Guggenheim Museums Worldwide) and me are riding on motorbikes from St Petersberg to Moscow. It’s wild."

JOSH BROLIN
The Hollywood star was so afraid that a motorbike smash would affect his latest movie that he kept it secret from filmmakers Joel and Ethan Cohen, fearing he wouldn't be able to work with them otherwise.

Brolin sustained a broken collarbone after an accident in Los Angeles saw him flying over the handlebars of his bike. The actor was so concerned his injuries would jeopardise his role in No Country For Old Men, he kept quiet about his pain. "I didn't say anything to anybody for a week until my lawyer said I had to, that I was liable, says Brolin: “I was under the impression that you grit through it and if nobody knows, that's better.

"So I told Ethan I had a hairline fracture. But it was a clean, absolute break. I'm asking the doctors if I should have an operation. But there was the risk of an infection and no movie.

“It's the Coen brothers! I'm trying to decide all this on four grams of morphine." Brolin finally began filming two weeks after the accident.

LEONARDO Di CAPRIO
The Titanic star is so terrified that his father will die in a motorbike smash that he is pleading for him to give up his hobby. Di Caprio’s father, George, was knocked out after a car hit him from behind, suffering concussion and several broken ribs. The Hollywood heartthrob dashed to his dad’s hospital bed side upon learning he’d defied death now he wants him to leave his motorbike in the garage.

"Leo has been asking his dad to stop riding his bike on the busy streets of Los Angeles, says one source.

HUGH LAURIE
The motorbike addict is offering up an autographed replica of the racing cycle his cranky doctor character rides in hit TV drama House - to raise money for the charity, American Red Cross. The Oxford born star and Honda are collaborating for the charity push and will auction off a 2005 CBR1000RR Repsol sports bike on website eBay.com.

BEZ
The Happy Monday’s star was so put out by comments from celebrity astrologer Jackie Stallone about his rotten teeth that he’s invested in a sparkling set of new dentures.

The step on dancer, who once appeared with Sylvester Stalone’s mother in Celebrity Big Brother, says that motorbike accidents are responsible for his poor set of knashers.

And Bez admits she was right to comment on his poor oral hygiene, so he spent a whopping £12,000 on dazzling dentistry. "My teeth are battered from all my motorbike accidents, says Bez: “There are none at the back of my mouth, which means I have to swill my food around for ages when I'm eating."

STEVEN TYLER
The bike-mad rocker has designed his very own Harley Davidson motorbike. The Aerosmith frontman, used the time while convalescing from throat surgery to design a new custom-made bike creation. The Steven Tyler Signature Series includes 10 limited-edition custom motorcycles, a snip at £44,400 each, according to America's Life + Style magazine.

The new bikes made their debut at Florida based Bruce Rossmeyer's Destination Daytona, the world's largest Harley Davidson dealership. "I love to ride, says Tyler: “I love the freedom to have the wind blow through my hair, and I love the vibrations! They go into my backbone and remind me of being on stage.”

"Growing up in Yonkers, New York, I went to hardware stores and admired minibikes. When I discovered big bikes and found that they had a motor and you didn't have to pedal, I was hooked."

JUDE LAW
The Hollywood hunk was forced to spend hours astride a scooter while filming a remake of the Sixties blockbuster, Afie. As the role, formerly played by Michael Caine, rides a Vespa scooter, Jude was forced to practice for hours, attending a motorbike training session in west London.

"Jude was pretty useless on the Vespa to begin with but he really gritted his teeth and got on with it, says one insider: "To be honest, after a couple of hours he had noticeably improved."

MARCIA CROSS The desperate Housewives’ star Marcia Cross is said to be livid after nude photos of her and her husband were leaked on the internet. The shots were taken by her motorbike mad husband and picture her fully naked in their outside shower. According to reports, the photos landed in the wrong hands when she tried to throw them away. Cross hired a private company to take away their trash. When her rubbish was off-loaded at the dump, the photos were found. Cross has reportedly prevented the photos from being distributed by saying she has a copyright on them.