Extreme skills
…and he’s cut the lockstops off. Bike asks five masters of extreme skills to explain how to be a summer riding god
By Martin Fitz-Gibbons
» Turn tighter than ever before
Former British MotoGymkhana champion Rob Fox reveals the secrets of low-speed sorcery
‘When I started in Moto Gymkhana I was getting my knee down, taking wide lines, riding like a maniac. Loads of fun, but my times were appalling. I started scrutinising videos from Japan, and learned it’s not about riding fast, it’s about riding the shortest distance. I changed my technique.
‘In Gymkhana we need to lean the bike over so it can turn tightly. I keep my bum in the middle of the seat and grip the tank with my legs. Don’t slide about, don’t hang off, don’t move my hips. I lock the bottom half of my body.
‘It’s all in the arms, elbows and wrists. You must be relaxed, but keep control. You’re going to be turning the bars more than you’ve ever turned them. But you’ve got to bend and twist your wrist, so you can turn the bars without adding more throttle or brake. Turning to the right is easier because your right hand comes back to your tummy. When you’re turning left your right hand is pushed out as far as it’ll go, and it’s hard to keep precise control of throttle and brakes.
‘I don’t touch the clutch. My 1990 Honda NSR250R is geared to do tiny little turns on idle, with the smallest front sprocket (13T), and a huge rear sprocket (51T). It gives precise, instant acceleration – such fun.
‘Coming into a rotation I’ll brake as late and as hard as I can, almost all with the front brake. Before I let it off I start getting the gas back on, just a few millimetres, and at the same time start turning. So I’ve got the brake on, the gas on, and I’ve got the thing on full lock. The NSR has a good steering lock, but I hacksawed off the lockstops on the bottom yoke so I could turn the bars even tighter. I can get the fork stanchion to touch the frame.
‘Get round the cone, let go of the front brake, wind on more gas and I’m on to the next obstacle – which hopefully I’ve remembered from the morning’s course walk. Generally I’m riding in a state of panic.
MotoGymkhana isn’t for everyone, but it gets my adrenaline flowing.’
» Find a list of MotoGymkhana clubs around the world at motogymkhana.org
» Sling a road bike sideways
DTRA National Pro champion Jack Bell makes a Ducati Scrambler 1100 dance like a dedicated dirt-tracker
‘In some ways a Hooligan-class bike is easier to ride than a standard 450cc flat tracker. My Ducati Scrambler 1100 sounds like a beast, but the power is so linear at the bottom end. You have to move around on the bike more, you need to think about your lines more, and you must predict what’s going on. But they are heavy – if you crash one, you go down with a thud.
‘I’m at the top of third gear down the straight, using the rev limiter as a guide on when to brake. As I tip in I’m sat more to the front of the seat, then I throw the bike in, stamp on the rear brake and control the slide. In flat track we’re turning left, so I’ll have my right butt cheek off the side of the seat, and my right elbow up in the air. I have a steel shoe on my left foot, which wants to be coming off parallel with the left footpeg, and my right knee is pushed up against the fuel tank.
‘In the corner I want to scrub the speed off, turn the handlebars in, and get a feel for what the dirt’s doing. By the middle of the corner I’m starting to think about getting back on the throttle. The Ducati has about 90bhp, but you don’t want loads of power straight away otherwise it’s going to spin up like crazy, then you’ll be full-lock sideways about to high-side. It’s all in the throttle control. You just feed it in, get a feel for the slide – if you add too much, you might need to roll off slightly to find traction. Then on the straight I’m back to full throttle.
‘It’s a big bike, it’s a beast and it’s got some power behind it. But the Scrambler is the most fun bike I’ve ever ridden. I can come out of a corner, get both feet on the pegs and it just goes where I want it to go. On a 450 you’re having to work for it a lot harder. But a Hooligan bike is really nice to ride… when you treat it with respect.’
» Ride flat out for 24 hours
Five-time world enduro champ Iván Cervantes rode a Triumph Tiger 1200 for 2493 miles in a day – all completely pinned
‘From the beginning I say, no, it’s impossible. To break a world record, Triumph asked me to ride a Tiger 1200 GT Explorer at Nardò Technical Centre – a 12.5km (7.9-mile) circular test track in Italy – for 24 hours.
It’s very tough to ride for this long, especially at high speed. Even at the Dakar Rally I ride for a maximum of 12 hours. Then I think: ‘Why not?’
‘I trained for two months, physically and mentally. I rode a Tiger 1200 nearly every day, starting very early in the morning. Then two weeks before I sleep during the day and ride at night.
‘I prepared my stomach, too. On the day I had a good breakfast, then didn’t eat much during the attempt. From when I start the challenge at 7am until 10pm I have only energy bars and electrolyte drinks. After that, my stomach wants some pasta!
‘On the bike I was always at 204kph (127mph) – that’s the Tiger’s top speed because it has a limiter. At 204kph a 30-litre tank of petrol lasts 80 to 90 minutes, then I need to stop for refuelling. After a couple of hours, the biggest problem is that it gets boring, just passing the same signs every 12.5km.
‘When it gets dark and rains I get nervous. I touch the white line and it’s slippery, but a bit of fear makes me focus again. After four hours I think, if the rain continues I don’t know if I can keep on riding.
‘Around 3am I hear my team cry ‘We did it!’ and I can breathe normally. They tell me, now we have broken the record it’s time to sleep. But I cannot sleep – I want to get over 4000km (2485 miles), to make it difficult if someone attempts this again in the future.’
» Brake like a BSB beast
British Superbike superstar Tommy Bridewell explains how he stops his Honda Fireblade on one wheel, with one foot
‘How quickly I add front brake depends on the corner, but most of the time I’ll go straight to maximum pressure (12 bar, 174psi) instantly – bang. I used to brake with one finger, but I wasn’t able to pull as hard as I wanted, so now I use two.
‘This picture from Jerez is me initially grabbing the front brake, which lifts the rear wheel. I’ll then judge whether I want to continue with the same pressure, or whether I slightly let off to regain rear contact. You stop faster with both wheels on the ground, because when the rear wheel lifts you’re not getting any engine brake assist, either electronically or mechanically.
‘If I’m upright and it’s dry, I won’t lose the front – I’m more likely to go over the handlebars. I lock my arms out, so my upper body can’t rotate over the front of the bike, and dig my knees into the tank. I’m trying to push my body as far back as possible. The more weight over the back, the better.
‘Sticking out my right leg moves weight to the side, which helps turn the bike. I tend to drag my boot on the floor – I can wear through two right boots in a weekend. I rarely dangle my left leg, because it doesn’t feel natural.
‘Initial braking is all front brake, then I add rear brake to help turn the bike. By corner entry it’s 50/50 front and rear. I use a scooter-style rear brake lever on the left bar. I’ve never used a foot rear brake, and a thumb brake is okay on corner entry but I don’t like it on exits.
‘Using the rear brake on the exit is where I really gain an advantage – I use it to control wheelspin. I can go straight to 100 per cent throttle, then control the powerslide using rear brake pressure. There’s a bit of an art to it.’
» Ski behind a bike at 159mph
Stunt rider Jonny Davies fulfilled his childhood dream by jumping off the back of a moving bike – and then accelerating
‘The record for being dragged behind a bike was held by my childhood idol Gary Rothwell. He set it in 1999, when I was maybe seven years old. I became a stunt rider in 2015, and as my career progressed I started to believe that anything was possible if you put enough practice into it.
‘Kawasaki offered me any bike – H2R, H2 – but I needed stability. With the H2 SX being quite long, with a low centre of gravity, it was ideal. Kawasaki fitted a grab rail with a secondary thumb throttle, plus a kill switch in case it went tits up. I added a steering damper, some crash protection and a tail tidy. The original numberplate would have hit my knees…
‘I had just three practice days before the attempt. I managed 80mph at first, then built up speed from there. For the actual attempt I had to jump off at 110mph to carry enough speed. I’m riding along in fifth gear, holding the throttle in my right hand, then my left hand’s going back between my legs. When I’m ready I let go of the twistgrip, reach right through to the grab rail with my right hand, then jump straight off the back.
‘As I jump, my left hand moves from the seat to the grab rail in one move. As soon as I’ve landed, I’m pushing the thumb throttle to accelerate as hard as possible. Once the supercharger starts boosting, it’s a wild ride.
‘Hitting the ground is less chaotic than I had imagined. I can look through the front screen, I can see the speedo, and I can steer the bike from the back as well. I had titanium plates made for my boots – they’re lighter, more durable, and dissipate heat better than steel.
‘Once I’m being dragged, I’m on full throttle all the way. I went through the timing beams at 159.52mph… then I had to get back on. I was running out of tarmac so I had to jump back on at 110mph. I’d practised this a lot with the bike parked on the centrestand, but in the end I just shut my eyes, leapfrogged and landed. It was the biggest relief of my life.’
» Check out Jonny’s stunt shows at jdstunts.com