The motorcycle that McQueen rides is a modified Triumph TR6 Trophy and did not exist in WWII. McQueen attempted the jump across the border fence but crashed. Bud Ekins performed the barbed wire leap stunt and was a Triumph dealer. Triumph was McQueen’s favorite motorcycle. Bud Ekins later doubled for McQueen in “Bullitt” and did a lot of the motorcycle riding for “CHIPs”. McQueen’s motorcycle is the same model that Fonzie rode in “Happy Days”.
In his later years, he had a flathead 1947 indian, which looked like a well worn motorcyle. He grew a beard for diguise, and would go riding in that outfit. He called it the blob