Photography by Mark Urbano and Chris Cantle
Sportbike Freestyle—as motorcycle stunting is called—is well on its way to becoming a mainstream sport. Since XDL—the sanctioning body for stunt competition in the United States—was founded in 2006 by promoter Randy Grube, tens of thousands of fans have paid to watch riders compete for cash prizes performing outrageous stunts. I checked out the event held in downtown Indianapolis during the Indy MotoGP weekend.
Why the surge of interest in stunting? Grube feels that as the Baby Boom generation ages, the number of people attracted to more-traditional motorsports competition is shrinking. “We’re out of old people,” he says. “The 20-year-old highway [stunt] rider is your customer.” Providing a safe place to compete was a goal many at the event were interested in.
Stunt riding looks dangerous, but it’s not a bunch of guys getting crazy in a parking lot. Safety is an issue, and though precautions aren’t exactly NASA-level, the XDL is slowly adding safety rules and regulations. “We tighten it up a quarter-turn at each event,” says competitor/announcer Thomas Evans. I still saw some things that would give a club-racing official hives—unstrapped helmets, no jackets and loosely tied sneakers—but Evans claims safety is actually good by the standards of the sport. Elbow guards, full-face helmets and back protectors are required at all times, and the sneakers are necessary to give the riders the fine control they need to safely perform their stunts. “Plus, it’s unusual for an injury to occur,” says Evans. “Guys get hurt on the street much worse.”
Like other motorsports, stunting has its own culture and jargon. In the hours I spent watching the stunts, I learned about “The Spreader,” the “Flamingo Coffin,” the “50-50,” “The Switchback” and other stunts. The three-minute routines are judged for difficulty, execution, variety of stunts and overall performance.
The bike of choice is the 2003-’05 Kawasaki ZX-6R for its strong frame, durable motor and wide parts availability. Riders also like the Honda CBR600F4i and the Yamaha YZF-R6. Other bikes are used—San Franciscan Jason “J-Bling” Pullen likes “big Harleys,” and BMW stunt guru Christian Pfeiffer does amazing things with his 2008 BMW F800S. But most machinery doesn’t stand up to the clutch-popping, slam-shifting, rev-limiter-hitting abuse the way the Japanese middleweights do.
“We would blow up Ducatis,” said 2007 champ Alex Flores, patting his battle-scarred ZX-6R.
