Wheezy Rider: Four decades after his cult film, Dennis Hopper is back on a bike

He's famous as the rugged, Harley-Davidson-riding dropout in the cult 1969 film Easy Rider - but perched on a motorcycle and sidecar for his latest movie, Dennis Hopper looks more like an auditionee for Wallace and Gromit than a hero of the Sixties counterculture.

Hopper has been coaxed back on to a motorcycle by director Quentin Tarantino for his movie Hell Ride.

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The 71-year-old actor, nicknamed Dennis the Menace during his days as a hellraiser, appears alongside ex-footballer Vinnie Jones as two members of a Devil-worshipping biker cult called the 666ers.

Hell Ride stars biker-movie veteran Larry Bishop as Pistolero, who goes after Hopper and Jones because he blames them for the death of his girlfriend.

Hopper can be seen in these pictures astride a classic Indian Four motorcycle, a pre-Second World War machine highly prized by serious motorbike enthusiasts.

The actor became famous for his role as Billy in Easy Rider, which is credited with revolutionising Hollywood in the Sixties.

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Hopper directed the movie, which also starred Peter Fonda as his biker buddy Wyatt and Jack Nicholson as alcoholic lawyer George Hanson.

The movie follows the men on a road trip across the US and features LSD trips, "free love" and a violent encounter with rednecks.

Easy Rider matched Hopper's wild lifestyle. He has been divorced four times, arrested on drugs charges and admits he was an alcoholic.

The bike ridden by Dennis Hopper in Hell Ride is a vintage Indian Chief with a sidecar.

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. The Chief was built from 1922 to 1953.

. Its engine capacity is 1300cc.

. The standard model has a top speed of 85mph but with modifications can reach 100mph. It has a power of about 40HP.

. The Indian motorbike company went out of business in 1953, but a Californian company began making a new model in 2001.