Jalopnik: stunt

Travis Pastrana Jumps Motorycle From Water

Wes Siler — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 09:45:00 EDT

Travis Pastrana, rally driver and motorcycle stuntman extraordinaire, has completed the world's first Hydrojump. The stunt consisted of mooring a ramp 110 feet from the shore in five-foot deep water. He then raced his motocross bike at the water in excess of 70mph, keeping the power on as he went feet wet. This was fast enough for him to hydroplane all the way out to the ramp and jump off of it. The bike was completely stock, with no flotation devices or special tires.

The stunt was made all the more difficult due to the choppy waves and windy conditions. Pastrana needed to hit the four-foot wide ramp with precisely the right amount of speed, flotation and angle; otherwise it'd have been like hitting a wall.

Speaking immediately afterwards, Pastrana said, "This is one of the most dangerous jumps I have ever made. If I had failed to get into the lake at the proper speed I could have ended up hitting the ramp really hard."

The stunt will form part of the Nitro Circus 6 DVD.
[Via Hell For Leather]

World's Most Difficult-to-Explain World Record has a New Record

Wes Siler — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 10:30:00 EST

Whatever happened to the World's Tallest Man or the World's Longest Female Beard? English Stuntman Terry Grant has just set a new record for spinning a car through the tightest gap. Basically, he performed a J-turn - -where you speed in reverse, yank on the handbrake while simultaneously spinning the steering wheel all the way in one direction, pushing in the clutch and shifting into first gear — through a gap only 18 centimeters longer than his car, a Renault Twingo. This shattered the previous record, set in 1999, by nearly 1.5 meters.

KTM Unveils 690 Stunt

Wes Siler — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 11:45:00 EDT

Most of the motorcycle industry goes to incredible lengths to portray bikes as safe lifestyle accessories. So it's refreshing to see a manufacturer acknowledge that sometimes, riding a bike is about breaking rules. The KTM 690 Stunt features as standard many of the parts considered necessary for serious stunt riding. We're not just talking about pulling wheelies either, there's BMX pegs on the front wheels for two-person stoppies or burnouts. If wheelying is your thing, there's a 12-o'clock bar and a thumb lever operated rear brake, which comes in handy when you're sitting on the tank with the front wheel in the sky. For now the 690 Stunt is merely a concept bike, but if KTM's recent history is anything to judge by, it could soon be a reality.