Elvis Presley's nine Triumph motorcycles he bought in California are now a big unsolved mystery nearly 60 years later
Published on Apr 04, 2026 at 1:11 AM (UTC+4)
by Henry Kelsall
Last updated on Apr 02, 2026 at 2:14 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Mason Jones
The mystery around Elvis Presley’s nine Triumph motorcycles is a fascinating one, and it’s also a story that is some 60 years in the making.
Presley is synonymous with motorcycles and automobiles, as well as his music, of course, and he had a particular soft spot for British manufacturer Triumph.
In fact, he bought nine of them in 1965 to go canyon carving, but the whereabouts of them have remained a mystery ever since.
Over six decades since then, Triumph is still hunting for the missing motorcycles.
This is how Elvis Presley bought his nine Triumph motorcycles
Presley loved riding around on a Harley-Davidson, but Triumph was a brand he also had a soft spot for.
A close friend of Presley’s and a member of the Memphis Mafia, Jerry Schilling, brought one of the bikes around to his house in 1965.
This was a Triumph T120 650 Bonneville, and Presley was hooked after going for a ride on the bike.
Alistair Fairgreave, Triumph’s project manager for the Elvis Edition motorcycles of 2025, revealed more to Supercar Blondie.
“When he brought the bike home to the house Elvis was renting in LA, Elvis was impressed and asked to take it for a ride around their Bel Air neighborhood,” he said.
Incredibly, Presley was so smitten with them that he rang up the dealership in Santa Monica.
“He must have liked it, because when he returned, he told his transportation manager, Alan Fortis, to “order one for all the guys”, one for each one of his Memphis Mafia, but… they had to be there tonight,” Fairgreave added.
Yes, not one or two, but nine Triumph motorcycles.
Seven arrived that night, with the other two arriving in the following days.
Presley then formed a private riding club along with members of the Memphis Mafia.
They used the bikes to go carving up canyons and rolling along the Pacific Coast Highway.
“Elvis and the whole crew rode together around the hills of Bel Air, late into the evening… only stopping when the police were called!” Fairgreave told Supercar Blondie
Yet as of the time of writing, nobody knows where these bikes are.
Other vehicles owned by Elvis, such as his BMW, have since been rediscovered.
But the motorcycle locations are still a mystery.
This is what we know so far about Elvis Presley’s motorcycles
Triumph has little information itself on what happened to the bikes.
The story itself actually first came up in 2022.
Triumph had been working with Gibson Guitars on the ‘1959’ Bonneville T120 and Gibson Les Paul.
“The story of the bikes came up, and they offered to search the Graceland archive and look for evidence, as well as speak to Jerry Shilling (one of Elvis’s close friends),” said Fairgrave.
“It was Jerry who had first mentioned the bikes in his 2006 book ‘Me and a Guy Named Elvis’.”
An article was published on the bikes in the British magazine Motorcycle News in May 2022.
In 2023, the company launched an appeal for information to try to track all nine down.
“Triumph is now launching an appeal to fans around the world to help track down or uncover the fate of these bikes,” it said.
Fairgreave revealed that the response that Triumph had to the request was incredible.
“The response when we revealed the story of the Memphis Mafia Triumphs was amazing – with so many fans desperate to know if their bike had a connection to the King,” he told us.
“Unfortunately, there was no way of confirming with the information we had available.”
The company does have the checks used to purchase Elvis Presley’s nine motorcycles in 1965.
Fairgrave added extra context for us on these cheques.
“The most important find of them all was the discovery of the original cheques used to purchase the motorcycles in the Graceland archives,” he said.
“These are signed by the king himself, one with a personal message to Jerry – whose recollections back up the story,” added Fairgrave.
But there are no other documents detailing their whereabouts and what happened to Elvis Presley’s bikes.
How one of Elvis Presley’s motorcycles was found
Amazingly, Faigrave and Triumph did source one of the motorcycles.
“We received a copy of an original logbook, sent in by a lady who owned a bike in the late 60s, previously registered to Jerry Schilling,” he said.
“One of the original Memphis Mafia Triumphs, positively identified!”
This lady had actually painted the bike pink while it was in her ownership.
As of the time of writing, the other motorcycle locations remain a mystery.
These could be the most famous motorcycles on the planet and may be worth a small fortune if found.
If Triumph finds Elvis Presley’s bikes, it could be one of the biggest stories in motorcycle history.
Fairgrave put it best to us what Triumph’s hopes are.
“It is our hope that one day, a Memphis Mafia Triumph will take its place in this iconic line-up, forever commemorating the connection to the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll.”
Hopefully, these bikes will one day return home.
Triumph timeline
1885: Siegfried Bettmann founded the London company, initially importing and selling bicycles before adopting its famous trade name
1902: The brand produced its very first motorcycle, ‘No. 1’, featuring a reinforced bicycle frame and a 2.2-horsepower Minerva engine
1923: Expanding manufacturing scope beyond two wheels, the company produced its first automobile, the 10/20
1936: The motorcycle and car divisions officially split as Jack Sangster purchased the bike business and brought on legendary designer Edward Turner
1959: The legendary T120 Bonneville was introduced, named after the salt flats of previous speed records and epitomizing British motorcycle design
1983: Facing immense financial struggles and fierce Japanese competition, the original engineering factory went into receivership and closed
1984: British businessman John Bloor purchased the marque’s name and manufacturing rights, quietly rebuilding and saving the historic brand
1990: The newly formed company made its official comeback. Unveiled a revitalized, modern lineup of motorcycles at the Cologne Motor Show
2002: The manufacturer celebrated its 100th anniversary, fully re-established as a global powerhouse despite a massive fire at the main UK factory
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Henry joined the Supercar Blondie team in February 2025, and since then has covered a wide array of topics ranging from EVs, American barn finds, and the odd Cold War jet. He’s combined his passion for cars with his keen interest in motorsport and his side hustle as a volunteer steam locomotive fireman at a heritage steam railway.
