What happened shortly before? A risky overtaking, a forbidden manoeuvre? The agent has to say!
February 14, 2023
He’s dressed like Poncherello, even though he’s driving a BMW. Chips’ famous cop, played by Erik Estrada, drove a Kawasaki. The successful American series, filmed between 1977 and 1983, was also a huge success in Italy.
As for the video, we don’t know exactly what infringement the motorcyclist could have committed, but the policeman approaches him and beats him! Then he speeds up and goes away and looks just like Poncherello for a second!
Returning to the series, it seems that the creator, Rick Rosner, had the idea of making it during a coffee break when he saw two young patrolmen go by on a motorcycle.
The most dangerous scenes of the series were shot by stuntmen but the two actors Wilcox and Estrada shot many scenes with small stunts. Estrada was also seriously injured in a motorcycle accident while filming an episode in 1979. He fractured his wrists and several ribs. The accident and Estrada’s hospitalization were incorporated into the storyline of the series.
Estrada did not know how to ride a motorcycle but did a eight-week intensive course. The motorcycle officers were never riding Harley-Davidsons. In fact, instead of the American brand there were Kawasaki KZs, officially used by the Los Angeles highway police. The two protagonists used the KZ 900 in the first two seasons and the KZ 1000 in the remaining ones.
