Bike stunt riders are a totally completely different breed. Whereas the remainder of us are simply making an attempt to maintain our bikes upright and infrequently pop a good wheelie, these guys are out right here just about defying the legal guidelines of physics.
Working example: Magnus Carlsson, a 51-year-old Swedish stunt rider who lately set the document for the fastest handlebar wheelie at a mind-bending 202.67 kilometers per hour—that’s round 126 miles per hour. Loopy stuff.
In the event you’ve by no means seen a handlebar wheelie earlier than, properly, merely take a look at the picture above. As a substitute of sitting on the seat like a traditional particular person, you climb onto the handlebars. Then, as if that’s not already loopy sufficient, you pull within the clutch, rev the engine to the moon, and dump the clutch to pop a wheelie. It’s a staple in most stunt riders’ repertoire, however doing it on the pace Magnus did simply raises the stakes a lot larger.
Clearly, to realize such a feat requires dedication. And I imply quite a lot of dedication. Suppose three a long time of the stuff. Magnus isn’t some daredevil who simply awoke at some point and determined to go for a document. The truth is, he first tried a handlebar wheelie means again in 1992 and tried to set a document three years later at Sweden’s Skövde Airport.
Through the years, he saved perfecting his approach, refining his stability, throttle management, and precision. The handlebar wheelie wasn’t only a stunt to him, because it was the stunt to rule all of them being the one which took probably the most effort and a focus all through his profession. So when he lastly broke the 200-kilometer-per-hour document in June 2023, it was the end result of over 30 years of dedication.
After all, a stunt like this isn’t doable with out the fitting machine, and Magnus had the right one: the KTM 1290 Super Duke R. Extensively thought to be one of many craziest bare bikes ever constructed, this bike packs a monstrous 1,301cc V-twin engine that churns out a ridiculous quantity of energy and torque. It’s a motorcycle that wheelies virtually too simply—only a flick of the wrist and the entrance finish desires to raise. And whereas it’s not precisely constructed for handlebar stunts, if there’s any machine that would make this document doable, it’s the Tremendous Duke.
KTM has since upped the ante with the 1390 Super Duke R, refining the already-insane formulation with much more energy, higher electronics, and sharper dealing with. And with the (significantly) excellent news following the model’s near-death experience late final 12 months, there’s an opportunity Workforce Orange’s bikes will proceed breaking information.
And hey, if stunt riders like Magnus are nonetheless selecting their machines, that’s bought to rely for one thing, proper?
Picture by: Guinness World Information
Carlsson additionally set a document for the longest distance sitting backwards on a motorbike.
However simply while you assume he would possibly decelerate, Magnus went and broke one other document a number of months later—this time for the longest distance using a motorbike backwards. He lined an astonishing 306 kilometers (190 miles), shattering the earlier document of 202 km (125.5 miles). Apparently sufficient, his steed of selection was one more orange machine, a KTM 390 Duke, full with a basket on the rear seat with a few water bottles for Magnus to remain hydrated all through the course of the experience.
So yeah, hats off to Magnus, a dude who’s proof that stunt riders don’t simply push limits—they fully erase them. As for me, I’ll persist with making an attempt to get my wheelies a bit of extra constant. But when there’s ever a world document for “most time spent serious about doing a handlebar wheelie (or different loopy stunts, for that matter) earlier than taking flight,” I’d simply have a shot.
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