History Main / MyHorseIsAMotorbike

* Celty from ''LightNovel/{{Durarara}}'' is a modern-day headless spirit called a dullahan. Her preferred method of getting around is a reanimated headless horse, [[{{Glamour}} which she disguises as a pitch-black motorcycle when she boards the ship for Japan]]. As a bike it doesn't have any headlights, still has [[TheShadowKnows the shadow of a horse]], makes hoof steps instead of engine sounds, and also whinnies on occasion.
* In ''LightNovel/FateZero'':

Contrast with AutomatonHorses, that is an inversion where real horses are treated like machines by the plot, and Compare to MechanicalHorse, a machine that really does look like a horse. If characters use the motorbike to joust, then it's MotorcycleJousting.

* Inverted in ''Comicbook/TheAvengers'' vol 3 #2: When the Avengers are caught in a reality warp that transforms Britain into a medieval kingdom under the control of Morgana La Fey, Captain America and Hawkeye, two Avengers associated with motorbikes, are the only members of the Queen's Vengeance seen riding horses ([[{{Thememobile}} with appropriately logoed barding]]).
* Marvel hero the ComicBook/BlackKnightMarvelComics used to ride a flying motorcycle he called his "atomic steed". He got it from the Knights of Wundagore, who naturally used it in a similar fashion.
* ''Comicbook/GhostRider'': the character's RetroactiveLegacy establishes that Riders of previous eras often rode a HellishHorse or other animal native to their region (camels, etc.). Johnny Blaze and Danny Ketch ride motorcycles.
** Ghost Rider himself is an example of OlderThanTheyThink: The first character to use the name was a western vigilante who rode a white horse. Much like the Human Torch, The Angel and several others, the concept was revisited during the Marvel era.
* Mustang Suzy, a character from the '90s ''ComicBook/{{Hawkman}}'' books, combined this trope with the Centaur. She was a cyborg whose torso was grafted to the fuel tank of a motorcycle. She also showed up allied with Circe for [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1987 "The Witch and the Warrior"]].
* When ComicBook/JonahHex was transported to the post-apocalyptic future in the series ''Hex'', he swapped his horse for a cool motorcycle. He does the same thing when he travels to ThePresentDay in the New 52 ''All-Star Western''.
* A similar inversion to ''The Avengers'' in one {{Elseworld}} in the ''Comicbook/JudgeDredd: Alternity'' one-shot: in a fantasy kingdom, Dredd is a knight who rides a horse called Magister, as an analogue to the Lawmaster bike.
* Creator/DCComics superheroes Comicbook/KnightAndSquire ride motorbikes. In some 50s stories and the Creator/PaulCornell miniseries, they even have stylised horses' heads. Knight's bike "Anastasia" can even follow a scent!

* In the ''Comicbook/Robin1993'' "Pulp Heroes: Weird Western Tales" annual, the modern-day Trigger Twins ride horses, but also hire a [[AllBikersAreHellsAngels biker gang]] as muscle.
* In ''ComicBook/SheHulk'', the time-displaced Western hero Two-Gun Kid receives a sky-cycle as a gift from his descendant Hawkeye via VideoWill. The Kid explicitly compares it to a horse.
* The ''ComicBook/SixGuns'' miniseries has several LegacyCharacter versions of old Creator/MarvelComics western characters, including the Black Rider (who, as the name implies, rode on a horse in his original incarnation), now the leader of a biker gang.
* In the [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} rode a flying horse for a while. In the [[ComicBook/Supergirl2011 Post-Flashpoint universe]] Kara rode a space rocket bike during one story.
* ComicBook/TomStrong has the Weird Rider, an 1800s cowboy using a space-traveling bike. Calls it his horse, too.
* In ''ComicBook/TopTen: The Forty-Niners'', the Black Rider is a Zorro-inspired hero who "cuts a dashing figure" atop his motorcycle Midnight. When he shows it off to Leni he claims he named it after a horse he once owned.
* In Franchise/TheDCU, UsefulNotes/{{the Golden Age|of Comic Books}} cowboy-themed hero the ComicBook/{{Vigilante}} rode a motorbike instead of a horse.

* In the ''Comicbook/RobinSeries'' "Pulp Heroes: Weird Western Tales" annual, the modern-day Trigger Twins ride horses, but also hire a [[AllBikersAreHellsAngels biker gang]] as muscle.

* ComicBook/TomStrong has the Weird Rider, an 1800's cowboy using a space-traveling bike. Calls it his horse, too.

* The 1943 update of the 1927 Broadway musical ''[[Literature/AConnecticutYankeeInKingArthursCourt A Connecticut Yankee]]'' had uplifted [[Myth/KingArthur Arthurian]] characters adopting jeeps as the new horses.

->''I'm a cowboy''
->''On a steel horse I ride''

* In a short story "Deep in the Depths of the Acme Warehouse", set in modern New Orleans, fantasy AntiHero {{Literature/Kane}} and his sidekick ride Harleys. In typical fantasy setting, Kane used to ride a huge black stallion named Angel.

The TropeNamer is a meme derived from ''VideoGame/SengokuBasara'', [[ThisIndexIsNotAnExample though though work is actually an]] [[InvertedTrope inversion]], where Date Masamune's [[CoolHorse real horse]] is [[PurelyAestheticEra outfitted with handlebars and tailpipes]] to make it resemble a motorcycle.

* Invoked and played with in ''Film/{{RRR}}'', where one of the various parallels/contrasts between our two heroes Ram and Bheem is that Ram tends to ride a horse while Bheem tends to ride a motorcycle. (It's set in the 1920s, so both are available.)

* {{Lampshaded}} in ''Film/WeWereSoldiers'', where Colonel Moore theatrically explains to his officers that helicopters are horses that you don't have to feed or catch. The film, and the book it was based on, both center around one of the first US Army Air Cavalry units. In RealLife, the helicopter pilots were notorious about breaking uniform violations by sporting old Cavalry [[NiceHat scout hats]] instead of their uniform caps. Hardly unforgivable, when you consider that their unit was the 1st Battalion of the U.S. 7th Cavalry regiment (yes, ''that'' [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7th_Cavalry_Regiment 7th Cavalry]]).

* ''VideoGame/SengokuBasara'', despite being the TropeNamer, is not an example as the "motorbike" is still a [[CoolHorse real horse]], just one that's been [[AnachronismStew outfitted with handlebars and tailpipes]]. Never mind that the tailpipes have no purpose, and the rider, Date Masamune, doesn't even use the handle bars, preferring to ride with his arms crossed. So... [[RuleOfCool Why?]]

* Celty from ''LightNovel/{{Durarara}}'' is a modern-day headless spirit called a dullahan. Her preferred method of getting around is a reanimated headless horse, [[ZigZagged which she disguises as a pitch-black motorcycle when she boards the ship for Japan]]. As a bike it doesn't have any headlights, still has [[TheShadowKnows the shadow of a horse]], makes hoof steps instead of engine sounds, and also whinnies on occasion.

* ''Series/{{Nicholls}}'' was a western [[TwilightOfTheOldWest set in 1914]]. Creator/JamesGarner played {{Sheriff}} showed he was embracing the new age by riding a Harley-Davidson motorcycle instead of a horse.

[[folder:Anime and manga]]

[[folder:Film]]

* In the 1995 Ian [=McKellan=] film adaptation of ''Film/RichardIII'', the title character is a Nazi. Upon getting his car stuck in mud, he yells the famous "A horse, a horse! My kingdom for a horse!" line.
* In ''Film/PrettyWoman'', the protagonist wanted someone to pick her on a white horse. [[spoiler:Her love interest used a white ''limousine'' instead]].

* In ''Film/HerbieRidesAgain'', the titular car decides to defiantly participate in a medieval-themed "jousting" tournament (they even referred to the track as a "list") which basically was duels of cars (given names from the Arthurian legends) [[GameOfChicken playing Chicken]].

* In ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'', the HorsemenOfTheApocalypse have traded up to {{Cool Car}}s in their respective colors instead (or at least three of them have, Pestilence drives TheAllegedCar instead, fitting with his theme). War even goes the extra mile in that he drives a Mustang, which is named after a kind of horse.
* The ''Series/{{Mythbusters}}'' bought an old Jeep, fitted it with a foam horsehead, painted it black and used it to test a mounted archery myth.

* In ''Series/AmericanGods2017'', Mr. Wednesday's car (which he even nicknames "Betty") is heavily implied to be this. In Season 2 we see Wednesday [[spoiler:sacrificing it in order to stop a train, by parking it on the train tracks, while giving it an eulogy speech as if it was a Viking warrior before its demise. As the train crashes into the car and both vehicles explode, a vision of a horse can be seen leaping from the fires.]]

[[folder:VideoGames]]

* The ''{{VideoGame/Civilization}}'' franchise employs this in an interesting way, meant to emulate the RealLife example of mounted forces transitioning to motor vehicles. Military units can upgrade as a civ's TechnologyLevels increase, and the upgrade for Cavalry is traditionally [[TankGoodness an early tank]]. Furthermore, at least in Civ V, the Lancer [[HunterOfHisOwnKind (a mounted unit which gets a combat bonus against other mounted units)]] upgrades into the Anti-Tank Gun, and from there to the Helicopter Gunship (which are sometimes known IRL as Air Cavalry).

* ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooWhereAreYou'': In "Mystery Mask Mix Up," Shaggy uses Scooby as a motorbike. His ears are the handlebars and his legs spin like a motorbike's wheels.

* ''VideoGame/SengokuBasara'', despite being the TropeNamer, is not an example as the "motorbike" is still a [[CoolHorse real horse]], just one that's been [[AnachronismStew outfitted with handlebars and tailpipes]]. Never mind that the tailpipes have no purpose, and the rider, Date Masamune, doesn't even use the handle bars, preferring to ride with his arms crossed. So... [[RuleOfCool Why?]]
* ''Anime/MelodyOfOblivion'' styles the motorcyles to resemble horses. They transform into {{Bishonen}} for extra [[RuleOfCool cool factor]].

* ''Anime/YuGiOh5Ds''
** Inverted in the [[Manga/YuGiOh5Ds manga]], in which the Skeleton Knight uses a horse instead of the motorcycles that everyone else uses while dueling.
** Played straight with Sherry [=LeBlanc=], a French woman with a flower-knight theme; her D-Wheel is modeled to appear horse-like, with the card zones running down the back of the neck.

* Creator/DCComics superheroes Comicbook/KnightAndSquire ride motorbikes. In some 50s stories and the Creator/PaulCornell miniseries, they even have stylised horses' heads. Knight's bike "Anastasia" can even follow a scent!

* In ''ComicBook/SheHulk'', the time-displaced Western hero Two-Gun Kid receives a sky-cycle as a gift from his descendant Hawkeye via VideoWill. The Kid explicitly compares it to a horse.
* Marvel hero the Black Knight used to ride a flying motorcycle he called his "atomic steed". He got it from the Knights of Wundagore, who naturally used it in a similar fashion.
* ''Comicbook/GhostRider'': the character's RetroactiveLegacy establishes that Riders of previous eras often rode a HellishHorse or other animal native to their region (camels, etc.). Johnny Blaze and Danny Ketch ride motorcycles.
** Ghost Rider himself is an example of OlderThanTheyThink: The first character to use the name was a western vigilante who rode a white horse. Much like the Human Torch, The Angel and several others, the concept was revisited during the Marvel era.
* Inverted in ''Comicbook/TheAvengers'' vol 3 #2: When the Avengers are caught in a reality warp that transforms Britain into a medieval kingdom under the control of Morgana La Fey, Captain America and Hawkeye, two Avengers associated with motorbikes, are the only members of the Queen's Vengeance seen riding horses ([[{{Thememobile}} with appropriately logoed barding]]).
* Mustang Suzy, a character from the '90s ''ComicBook/{{Hawkman}}'' books, combined this trope with the Centaur. She was a cyborg whose torso was grafted to the fuel tank of a motorcycle. She also showed up allied with Circe for [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1987 "The Witch and the Warrior"]].
* In Franchise/TheDCU, UsefulNotes/{{the Golden Age|of Comic Books}} cowboy-themed hero the Vigilante rode a motorbike instead of a horse.
* A similar inversion to ''The Avengers'' in one {{Elseworld}} in the ''Comicbook/JudgeDredd: Alternity'' one-shot: in a fantasy kingdom, Dredd is a knight who rides a horse called Magister, as an analogue to the Lawmaster bike.
* ''ComicBook/MortadeloYFilemon'': PlayedForLaughs in "Mortadelo de la Mancha". Mortadelo and Filemón believe themselves to be Literature/DonQuixote and Sancho, and Mortadelo steals a motorbike for Filemón to ride, mistaking it for a donkey.
* In the ''Comicbook/RobinSeries'' "Pulp Heroes: Weird Western Tales" annual, the modern-day Trigger Twins ride horses, but also hire a [[AllBikersAreHellsAngels biker gang]] as muscle.

[[folder:Film (Animated)]]

[[folder:Film (Live-Action)]]

* The film ''Film/KnightRiders'' is all about a modern biker gang who act like Arthur's knights of the round table.
* Although we do not see any motorcycles in either of the ''WesternAnimation/{{Cars}}'' films, motorcycles are implied to be their equivalent of horses, as tractors are for cows.

* ''Literature/GoodOmens'': The HorsemenOfTheApocalypse now ride motorcycles.

* ''Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians'': Ares the god of War used to ride a war chariot, that was red and gold and had pictures of people dying painful death adorning it, pulled by a pair of fire breathing horses. It changed into a modern version, a flame-painted Harley Davidson the "size of a baby elephant", with a Caucasian skin seat.
* Taking this to its logical conclusion, Elves in Creator/MercedesLackey's urban fantasy setting ride shape-shifting steeds that get to be horses ''and'' motorcycles.

* ''Series/HappyDays'': Fonzie's motorcycle was his "horse" on occasion.
-->'''Q:''' What does Fonzie feed his horse?
-->'''A:''' [[CatchPhrase 'Aaaaaaaaaay!]][[note]]'''A2:''' Gasoline.[[/note]]
* On ''Series/GetSmart'' Smart went undercover to break up a medieval-themed biker gang which jousted on motorbikes.

* Parodied in an episode of ''Series/DesigningWomen.'' Charlene visited a psychic who warned her to beware a shoemaker on a red horse. Not too long after, a man named Schumacher came in the room to tell them he had just hit their car with his Mustang (which was yellow, but Charlene decided that was close enough.)

* This trope is used as lyrics for Music/{{Manowar}} song "Return of the Warlord"
* Implied in Music/TaijiSawada's solo song "Empty Room," with the symbolism in the "Horse is my mate" line, which, due to being GratuitousEnglish literally could be read as a tribute to bestiality or heroin - except the reference is that the subject of the song is entirely alone except for his "horse." Since the rest of the song is set in a fairly modern setting and the writer was a BadassBiker, it's pretty obvious the reference is not to an actual horse but a motorcycle.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jM8dCGIm6yc "Wolf Totem"]] from Mongolian folk metal band Music/TheHu's features a group of Mongolian bikers following a warrior on a horse. The imagery is clearly inspired by the traditional [[HordesFromTheEast Mongol nomadic hordes]].
* The song Renegade, by Music/{{Hammerfall}} : "On through the night he rides/ on his raging horse made of steel...".

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhBnW7bZHEE The music video]] for Music/IronMaiden's "The Writing On The Wall" features the [[MetalBandMascot Eddies]] [[HorsemenOfTheApocalypse of the Apocalypse]] riding into town on motorbikes.

* The Rider version of Sakata Kintoki in ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'' uses a motorbike that's actually his bear mount from folklore updated for modern times.

* [[Webcomic/TheAdventuresOfDrMcNinja Dr. McNinja's]] magic motorbike Sparklelord is actually a transformed - no, not a horse, but [[spoiler: close. It is a unicorn.]]

* The motorcycles in ''WesternAnimation/BikerMiceFromMars'', which sometimes acted like sentient horses.
* In ''WesternAnimation/ZorroGenerationZ'', Tornado is a motorcycle.
* ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooMysteryIncorporated'': In "Stand and Deliver", in the VillainOfTheWeek is the Dandy Highwayman, a high-tech version of TheHighwayman who rides a motorbike instead of a horse.

* The ''{{VideoGame/Civilization}}'' franchise employs this in an interesting way, meant to emulate the RealLife example of mounted forces transitioning to motor vehicles. Military units can upgrade as a civ's TechnologyLevels increase, and the upgrade for Cavalry is traditionally [[TankGoodness an early tank]]. Furthermore, at least in ''VideoGame/CivilizationV'', the Lancer [[HunterOfHisOwnKind (a mounted unit which gets a combat bonus against other mounted units)]] upgrades into the Anti-Tank Gun, and from there to the Helicopter Gunship (which are sometimes known IRL as Air Cavalry).

* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorcycle_chariot_racing Motorcycle chariot racing]] is a sport which uses chariots pulled by motorcycles instead of horses. Inspired by ''Film/BenHur1925'', it was first introduced in Australia and quickly spread to America and Europe, reaching its peak in popularity during the 1920s-1930s. [[https://www.thereisnothere.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Mdh8uYF1.jpg And yes, it's as awesome as it sounds.]]

* [[http://www3.nfb.ca/fm455w/Collections/Photos/WWII/Rubrique3_Le_front_interieur/Section2_Le_recrutement_et_la_conscription/3-2-1ENG_c087430k.jpg This]] recruitment poster.

[[folder: Real Life]]

* The 1970 animated adaptation of ''Literature/AConnecticutYankeeInKingArthursCourt'' ends with the protagonist waking up in hospital and wondering if it was AllJustADream, until he looks up King Arthur in an encyclopedia and sees a medieval painting of the King astride a motorbike.
** The scene where Hank and the KingIncognito are about to be hanged has King Arthur saying that his knights couldn't turn up in time to save them even if they got fresh horses on the way. Fortunately they turn up on motorbikes instead.

* The 1943 update of the 1927 Broadway musical ''A Connecticut Yankee'' had uplifted [[Myth/KingArthur Arthurian]] characters adopting jeeps as the new horses.

* ''Comicbook/GhostRider'': the character's RetroactiveLegacy establishes that Riders of previous eras often rode a HellishHorse or other animal native to their region (camels, etc). Johnny Blaze and Danny Ketch ride motorcycles.

* ''Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians'': Ares the god of War used to ride a war chariot, that was red and gold and had pictures of people dying painful death adorning it, pulled by a pair of fire breathing horses. It changed into a modern version, a flame-painted Harley Davidson the "size of a baby elephant", with a caucasian skin seat.

* The Italian regiment Reggimento Corazzieri (literally Cuirassiers' Regiment), the honor guard of the president of the republic, was, in most of its incarnations, a cavalry unit (either of mounted archers or cuisassiers), and currently alternates between horses big enough to not appear small with the tall soldiers of the regiments and [[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3f/2june2006_059.jpg equally enormous bikes]].

* ''Literature/FireAndHemlock'' Tom Lynn acquires a cool horse, which he exchanges for a cool car, because horses are a ''bit'' out of fashion. The horse and car are very similar to each other, roughly the same colour, and the car is difficult to handle, as is the horse.

* In ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'', the HorsemenOfTheApocalypse have traded up to {{Cool Car}}s in their respective colours instead (or at least three of them have, Pestilence drives TheAllegedCar instead, fitting with his theme). War even goes the extra mile in that he drives a Mustang, which is named after a kind of horse.

* ''Series/KnightRider'' uses several modernised Western tropes, with Michael Knight as TheDrifter (albeit one with [[HeroesRUs a wealthy patron organisation]] backing him up) roaming from small town to small town across the Midwestern United States fighting evildoers, and [[CoolCar KITT]] as his faithful steed... [[SapientSteed who can talk]], is at least as much of a main character as Michael and does at least half of the actual heroics himself.

[[folder:Film]]