Street Freestyle Riding:
Why it should Recognized as a Legitimate
Extreme Sport


Stunting a motorcycle has been around for more years than any one person can remember. For some reason only young outlaws ride bikes right? Wrong, today’s stunters are suburban kids with great talent. They have decided to put these talents to good use, with yet another extreme sport. This is not just another extreme sport in the line of motocross, skateboarding and or even skydiving; it’s not a sport that everyone can do. Why hasn’t this extreme sport been recognized at even the level it is now? No one knows the answer to that. It could be a variety of different things, such as, lack of publicity, or even the badass attitudes of the riders. One thing is certain; this sport has grown by 500% in just a few years. In the year 2001, if you looked at the number of crews on Stuntlife.com, there were only a few different crews that were legitimate teams. Now in almost 2005, there are hundreds of teams, and at least 80 competing teams (Stuntlife.com). There are the illegal sides to the sport also. 100 mile an hour wheelies down public highways, is not the best way to get the good side public opinion. I can remember when skateboarding in downtown areas was illegal, or when ski resorts didn’t allow snowboarders.

Extreme motorcycle riding has been around longer than our grandfather’s time. Many different sources believe that this extreme sport started as early as 1913. The wall of death carnival show was probably the first time anyone could have used a bike in this manner. The bikes were just not powerful enough to be used before that time. After the carnival shows died down, there really was no documented motorcycle stunting until after the First World War. In our army and the British army, they were commissioning soldiers to learn to ride motorcycles for their countries. During the so-called “break periods� of the war, the motorcyclists would get together for the local towns and put on stunt shows to show how they master their machines. They would also stage these shows for the new recruits coming into the ranks; maybe it was more of an easing into the war?

Britain’s White Helmets performed many stunts with twice the number of people to bikes. One of there best known stunts, that a lot of people over the years would recognize, is the twenty-five person pyramid. This team, the White Helmets, was put through very experienced half year training courses. These classes were only to train the recruits for the rigors of riding in war. They went above and beyond their duties to train themselves, and their teammates, to put themselves to the extreme limit for the enjoyment of spectators. In his book, Street Bike Extreme, Mike Seate believes that there are many different reasons why this crazy sport has come around. “The factors that gave birth to the sport boil down to these: both the bikes and the boys are to blame.� (8)

Many of these teams had very similar riding styles. The Purple Helmets were a copycat team of Britain’s teams. I remember seeing pictures of guys climbing up ladders on bikes years ago, way before I even could ride a bike. Well, those pictures were the Purple helmets on their Triumph cycles. During these hard times all of these “teams� were military men, not only were they good at stunting their bikes, but they also had to dodge bullets and bombs all day long. Through the years there has always been the crazy guy on the motorcycle, but we wouldn’t have a lot of the tricks we do today if not for the crazy innovators of the past.

In the town of Hollister, in California an extreme stunt show was held in the year 1947. It was an illegal show, set up by some veterans on the Second World War. At the time, many shows were being set up like this, but the local public and of course the authorities did not enjoy it. Many say that this sport has no fuel to go anywhere, I disagree. “It’s tempting to label freestyle riding as just another fad…this seems like a possibility –until you realize people have been saying the exact same thing about stunt riding for nearly 100 years.� (Mike Seate, the history of our world.)

During this time, another super crazy motorcycle-lovin’ young rider was playing in traffic on his bike as well as the prior innovators. His name was Doug Domokos, after Evel Knievel; Domokos was the second corporate sponsored rider. He had a contract with Kawasaki Motors. Today he still holds the world record for longest wheelie, about 295 miles across the southwest desert. Domokos performed for the public and got paid for it, for about twenty years.

Everyone knows the name Evel Knievel, and if you don’t than you would have to be living on the moon for the past half century. Evel jumped more obstacles than most of today’s skateboarders. Many people thought that Knievel had a death wish, but if you ask anyone who loves stunting they would tell you its just pure fun and adrenaline. It would be more than fair to give credit where credit is deserved; Knievel probably, single-handily changed the face of extreme motorcycling. Some believe that he created freestyle motocross, some say that he created street freestyle; well, he probably did both of those feats. Not only was he doing jumps, but he was also doing circle wheelies on his dirt bikes before this sport was even a glimmer in anyone’s eye. I could go on and on and tell you all of the innovators of the sport, but I don’t have the time.

Up till the mid nineties no one really stunted a motorcycle as well as the innovators of the past. Until three crazy guys named the Starboyz started pissing off the local Akron Ohio police force. 150+ mile an hour wheelies, sounds crazy huh? That used to be an every day occurrence for these three outlaws. Now they have there own clothing line, videos, and of course some local sponsorship. The first time I saw FTP 3 I was hooked. They were the reason I ended up buying a bike. There have been so many innovators of the sport; credit can’t be placed upon one single person, but one thing is for sure the Starboyz made this sport more mainstream than it had ever been. Seeing these guys ride their furred out 900rr’s down the highway was probably the start of a lot of the big names in the industry today. Today the police are on patrol for stunters, just as they are on patrol for street racers. So the sport has tried to go legitimate.

The legitimate side of stunting should be recognized because I believe that this sport really has something different than the other extreme sports before it. For one you have to have some money to buy the bike, not 100 bucks and mom to drive you to the local skate shop to buy a board. Then on top of that you have to have enough kahoneys to wreck that bike over and over till you get the numerous tricks. The competition side of the sport is very technical. Wheelies are done at twenty miles an hour and under, very technical moves are integrated into each trick and then are scored. Why can’t this have a spot in the X-Games? Well I’m here to tell you the lowdown on where the sport has been, where it is today and where the stunters of today would like to see it go. Today, stunters are trying to keep the sport alive by creating a less dangerous sport, something the public could support. ““We’re learning the technical side of the sport. It’s a controlled environment, that’s the way I see it. If were going to make this sport go a long way and that’s what everybody is here to do, we have to clean it up a little bit, so it’s a sport people can put money into. People aren’t going to support criminal activity.�
(Rodger, Control Coalition). The public has viewed this sport as an illegal activity for many decades, from the beginning of it we are just idiots with death wishes. There is absolutely no reason why the talent of the stunting community shouldn’t be a part of the X-Games or one of those types of shows.
In 2001 a few people got together to create the XSBA. The Extreme Sport Bike Association was finally put together. There were only a few problems with it though. Many stunters don’t want to check there bikes for mechanical problems and the usual race track check stuff. Stunters don’t care if they are riding for five people or two thousand. It’s the enjoyment of the sport that they crave. “The passion, dedication and seriousness that these enthusiasts devote to the sport are unlike anything I’ve seen in the mainstream motorcycle world. Today’s stunters are every bit as professional as any full-time road racer.� (Aaron Frank, Coming Around).

They don’t want be told they can or can’t have a part on their bike because it’s not allowed in competitions. So Stuntlife.com has helped our stunting generation, they have set up numerous exhibitions and competitions. These competitions have been judged by the greats of the sport. Drew Stone is a documentary filmmaker who loves this sport like it was his kid. He believes that this sport could benefit from a few different things. He recently filmed the stunt show that was put on MTV. Drew believes that the millions of people that watched the show will now recognize the sport, and hopefully that will boost the idea of it being a “real� sport. He documents the lifestyle, not what he wants to see, the real world of this sport. “Now what I think what needs to happen is a tour needs to go out, like a Tony Hawk skateboard tour. Not a competition, everyone thinks competition. Competition pits riders against each other, we need an exhibition.�

Many stunters hate the way the competitions are judged. It is kind of based on figure skating, getting points for pulling off tricks perfectly. Aaron Brunelle is a member of the team Geared Up. He wants to see the way competitions are judged go away also. The legitimate side of the sport is set up by stunters for stunters, what’s that mean? It means that these shows are not what they could be. Stunters are judging stunters, giving points to there buddy because they know them instead of the new guy who pulled the trick off better. The prize money for winning a show is nothing; usually it only amounts to gas/hotel and food money for the trip to the show. Again, the stunting community could gain a lot by corporate sponsorship.

During the 2004 stunting season, which is still far from over, seven of some of the best riders the US has to offer went and competed in Australia. Tony D was on that trip along with a few others. He views the chance to go and compete there as a chance of a lifetime. “The seven of us made history in our sport. No one can take that away from us, No one.� For some reason stunting is just not hitting it big like in Europe. In Europe, many countries have had the idea of stunting for many years. It is a big thing over on that side of the pond. Europeans have had over five thousand people in the stands on numerous occasions. Australia is probably on the same page as the United States, they have the stunters, just no big market for it yet.

Many of today’s riders began riding when they were young, it’s a lifestyle. Riding bikes has and will always be a way of life for the riders, no matter which side of the sport someone chooses. Whether its road racing, stunting, or motocross. Any extreme sport has one thing in common: you put all of yourself into it or you don’t do it. That is the way Evan Wheeler of Control Coalition feels. “All I want to do is ride. I don’t care about money, don’t care about nothing. All I want to do is put gas in my truck, head down here to the spot and put my bike on the pavement and I’m happy.� Our sport has the same “scare factor� as any other of the extreme sports. Jumping off one hundred foot jumps in snowboarding and motocross is going to hurt if you mess up. Wheeling at fifty miles an hour sitting over a gas tank is probably going to hurt just as much if you mess that up, so why hasn’t this sport been recognized? I believe that the media and public opinion on our growing sport is a completely negative view. I’m not the only one who thinks this.

Aaron Frank was the senior editor at Motorcyclist magazine, a mainstream magazine for all of the aspects of riding. “I was honored to be offered the editor in chief position, but I have to be completely honest- at the time I was less than excited about the subject matter. Spending all my working hours with wheelie boyz and professional parts polishers? Thanks but no thanks.� That was his reaction to the position of editor in chief for a stunt magazine. My point is that people automatically pre-judge our sport without even giving it a chance. “As for my reservations about the extreme street bike scene, well, those couldn’t have been more off base […].� (Aaron Frank, Coming Around). That was his reaction to this sport after just a year of hanging out and seeing what this sport has to offer. Now keep in mind that this reaction came from someone who already loved riding motorcycles. Just think the about the normal soccer mom’s view on the sport. When I bought my bike, my parents couldn’t have been more against the idea of me on a “crotch rocket.� If this sport wants to go anywhere, than the supporters of the sport should keep in mind that if do a wheelie on a public highway than there will be some repercussions. I’m not saying not to do wheelies, just look around and see who you’re going to **** off first.

That brings the media into this story. I’ve seen my fair share of Illegal Street- Racing stories on the nightly news for a lifetime. Now the news has discovered a new sport that they can rip apart. In the past month I have seen three news stories, one on the Streetfighterz, Scooter Trash and of course the Starboyz. The news broadcasters don’t care about what the riders think about the sport, they just want their ratings.

Most stunters think that the media has it out for the sport, and they could be right. To this day I have never seen a positive story on the world of stunting on TV, not even the competition-track ridden events. “McSweeney later told us he happened to be listening to the local radio station when a news broadcast came over the air about some crazy guys riding motorcycles on one wheel, down the freeway. We wouldn’t know anything about that, though, and the situation remains unsolved by the local Melbourne authorities [….].� That was radio news report about the stunters that went to Australia to compete, it seems that even just competing isn’t enough wheelies fro these guys. The stunting community is an easy target for these news reports, even if its one guy that does a random wheelie, stunters are targeted because of what we do. I’m not condoning wheelies on public streets, but I do think that the media and news groups could be fairer and get both sides of a story for a change.
“Most everyone involved with sport has had the same interesting stories to tell about run-ins with law or outright hostile reactions with the public.� (Mike Seate, Street Bike Extreme pg.12) Police views on our sport are that we are a dangerous stupid crowd. That is my personal opinion, taken from the numerous encounters with Denver police on the topic of stunting. Not all are bad, in the group I rode with last summer; we had a couple of police officers that stunted. The only time I’ve ever been hassled, is when I ride my bike with my friends. I think they get off on it. The stunt community tries as hard as we can to keep it off the streets; we look for loading dock areas or big parking lots to practice in. Most times we are run off by the cops, yet most times the owners of the property don’t care. If there were a few spots to practice at than cops wouldn’t have to deal with wheelies on public streets, and in turn we wouldn’t be putting ourselves at risk.

There are many factors why the public views our sport as an illegal activity. Well in all honesty, it is. Until stunters aren’t harassed about where we want to ride there will not be a shared opinion with the media. Again, if stunters had spots to practice at we would not put anyone in jeopardy. “Actions that led to the deadly accident put everyone on the highway in jeopardy. It was extremely dangerous and scary� (Fox News, ***. State attorney Kirsten Brown) This excerpt was taken from a Fox News report in the Midwest about two months ago. A kid was wheeling on a highway with his buddies and ending up hitting a parked car on the side of the road, he died. If a biker goes down riding a wheelie or just crashes, which I have numerous times, there is the very slightest chance that he will injure anyone else. You will probably at the most die and total your bike, so why do stunters take that risk? Because the risk does not out weigh the fun for most stunters. Like all extreme sports, we do it because we love it. We couldn’t picture doing anything else with our time and money; I think most would agree with me.

This sport has had the time to improve from what it was just a few years ago. The passion that I see in my friends who ride is enough to believe that this sport will go somewhere some day. Just think about all of the thousands of guys out there practicing to get better. We all believe that it will blow up on to the mainstream sooner or later, regardless of public opinion and the views of a few million biased media reporters. Obviously if Drew Stone is putting thousands of dollars to put out his videos, then there must be some kind of market. If Aaron Brunelle and his brother Jacob are giving up their dad’s business to travel and stunt at the competitions, then there must be some market for it. There are numerous stunt related companies popping up everyday, now even our own magazine has gotten national recognition. Even MTV wanted a piece of the action. I absolutely believe that this sport has exactly what it takes to ride side by side with freestyle motocross at the X-Games.








hey this is for my english midterm....let me know what everyone thinks!!!
this is the rough draft.

 

my head hurts from reading its long and from what i read good. teachers dream, they'll fail ya cuz they probly hate stunters too

 

come on guys i want to know what everyone thinks. i spent alot of time and effort, id like some feedback!!!!!

 

could you record it on tape so i can listen to it?

 

you guys suck is it that hard to read? come on i interveiwed drew stone , aaron brunelle, ive worked hard on this i just want some feed back jesus christ people are fing lazy

 

thought it was pretty good, you want a teachers prespective get TEACH in here to look at it, yes he is an actual teacher from wht i understand...

 

thx bill if you talk to him ask him for me.

 

ive never talked to him, just see his posts, he is pretty knowlegeable.

 

i read the first couple sentences. you have horrible grammar


please tell me this is for a GED?

 

I thought it was pretty GOOD, i dont know how the teacher will like the word "BADASS" or "pissed off"
other than that it was good
need to do a spell check too

 

Title= Why it should BE recognized. Good deal!

 

Once you get past the first paragraph it is much better. Change the beginning

Also always spell check your work.

 

Yeah I thought it was good man..

 

First, I'm glad this is your rough draft because you need to organize it better.
Second, remember that your writing this for your teacher. Stunters can understand what you're talking about, but a person, who may not even ride a motorcycle, will be confused. With that in mind, I would suggest you explain a little about the sport, it's problems, and what this paper is about in your introductory paragraph.
Lastly, you're doing a good job so far. Keep at it...

 

Looks good to me

 

Here we go. Get out your pad and pencil. Here are the things you need to work on.

1) Know your audience.
While colorful language and writing with a more relaxed and young tone is good for hitting your demographic, you have to keep in mind that you're trying to appeal to an older, more mature, professional audience. Colorful language and a young tone can be a death touch for getting your point across with an older audience. It makes them feel like you have less in common and automatically makes them begin to close their mind to what you have to say.

2) Know your eight parts of speech and how to use them.
The eight parts of speech may very well be the most important factor when communicating a point in a paper. Don't end sentences in prepositions, don't start sentences with conjunctions, and so forth. Perfect grammar will take you much further than you might expect.

3) Structure will make or break you.
There is a structure necessary for trying to persuade anyone to see eye to eye with you. Make your argument, support it with facts and evidence, and close with a strong conclusion that reinforces your argument and leaves them interested. The best way to accomplish this is to use the old standard method for writing a paper. First, use an introductory paragraph to state your argument and summarize the points you will make to support it. Try to have at least five. Next, make a paragraph explaining further each point and make sure that they all directly pertain to your argument. The worst thing you can do is make a point that is only partially pertinent. You'll hear the famous words, "what the hell does that have to do with anything?" Finally, make a paragraph that wraps everything up. Again, state your argument, summarize your points, and leave the audience interested.

4) Keep it interesting and entertaining.
This is self explanatory. If your paper is boring, it doesn't get finished. Trust me. You wrote a ton of boring **** for nothing.

5) Transition and order is great.
Don't jump around. Keep everything chronological and ordered. It helps everyone understand progression in a subject.

6) (the most important thing you could ever possibly do for your paper) Write it for a reason.
Write something that you could save and have more people read. Don't write the paper because you have to. It shows. Put some serious thought and heart into it. Don't just try to complete the assignment. The assignment is to teach you how to express yourself. Express your feeling for the subject matter, not your ability to finish a paper.

My suggestion is to tear this whole paper up and start over. While it has a lot of cool information in it. It barely makes a point and would most likely be skimmed instead of read due to it's lack of serious and gripping context.

 

Where do you attend college and where are you in your program? I'm not trying to be a dick. I'm genuinely curious.

 

metro state in colorado ive run most the paper by my teacher and he has had no complaints. he is an older guy that is all for new things. i know i need to fix some grammar and stuff, but ripping it up and starting over? is my writing really that bad? anyway thx for every ones input guess ill start over since it is ****.

 

Bro, I'm really not trying to rip on your writing skills. I just gave my honest opinion and info on writing papers. It wasn't meant to in any way hurt your feelings. The majority of people would do a lot worse. If you're teacher has no problem with the paper then make your little tweaks and turn it in homes. No sense in working extra if it isn't appreciated. Personally I would have absolutely no respect for an English or any other language arts teacher who would say that all that stuff was fine with him. The only reason I got so good at the **** was because I had insane perfection freaks for teachers in highschool. My Brittish Literature and grammar teacher failed me for 3 years straight. I had him for several other classes as well. Now that I know what he was trying to accomplish and how much good he did for me, every time I'm in ATL I try to go shoot pool with him and we hang out. The people who are the hardest on you and the most honest are the ones who do you the most good.

 

i understand where ur coming from. im not taking it personally. its cool dont worry about it.