[L8 Braker]

Big meaning X-Games or anything that is televised regularly, not just sponsorship...

Now, I have done my share of mile long wheelies and further...I've also had a few stoppies that rolled more than a few feet, so I have an understanding of how difficult it is to do what they do...

I also go to every stunt event that comes to town or close by...Hell, I've even worked in a few of 'em......I have extreme respect for the elite stunters around the nation and enjoy the shows they put on...

But I was having a discussion with one of them the other day and he brought up this question and raised some good points...He didn't think it would be able to make it to the upper level because alot of the event are slower paced...

The 12 0 clocks, no handed wheelies, circle wheelies, burnouts...Very few will tune in just to watch the slow paced things...There is only so much you can do with a stoppie...There are only a few tandem teams...Even the guy on MTV said how he's the only one doing a paticular stunt...

All the prime time shows have major speed and acrobatics involved and that has translated into major deals with TV...Skatboarding, motocross, BMX stunts(double back flips :2eek)...Sportbike stunting dosen't seem to have that hook...

That's my worthless 2 cents...What do you guys think...And I'm not afraid to be proved wrong on this, in fact, I'm hoping that I am....

 

[Pyromaniac]

I think that's pretty much it. I think the average person is more impressed watching a guy on a skateboard fly 15 feet in the air on a board and do a 900 degree rotation, than watching a guy on a sportbike do a slow no handed wheelie, regardless of the skill they take to perform.

 

[Casket Crew]

I don' think it'll ever make it even medium much less "big" there are to many people out there that can "stunt" and so I think that it is precived as being "extreme" enough.

 

[03silvers]

i dont doubt it will go somewhere big within 5 years...90 percent of the public is amazed at the art of a wheelie...do them in public down the highway...everyone will stare and watch, it will never be as big as skateboarding or bmx but i think that is due to the high cost and danger involved

 

[joberly]

I can see it as part of the X-games... I just quiver at the site of young people trying stupid stuff like this on the street! It definatly takes skill... and I mean a lot of companies that produce MX gear also produce MC gear.... A*, etc. So the advertising/sponsorship is already there.

 

[the great ESKIMO]

yeap, one day! i have mad respect for "real" stunters. ones who devote their lives, bodies, and bikes to the sport. espeacially CBO over at stuntlife.

 

[the great ESKIMO]

its also funny, no matter how hard a stunt is, all people want to see is a wheelie...

 

[L8 Braker]

its also funny, no matter how hard a stunt is, all people want to see is a wheelie...

Which completely supports why it will never make it big...

 

[leemajaz]

i can see x-games in the future of stunting. right along with sportbike ice racing. cool shyte

 

[snigg]

i hope not. id rather it stay "underground" or whatever you want to call it. rather just keep it to the streets

 

[erniespts14]

in my area a couple years ago only a couple of ppl I knew had bikes. Now all of a sudden every one has one. I mean guys i know get them with no riding exp at all and trying to stunt them cause its "cool". Some even on 1000s. Its nuts, I mean these guys never even ridden a dirt bike before. And they dont wanna just ridem they wanna stuntem. Needless to say ppl are getting really hurt around here. Its almost like its a fad or something. i dunno what to think. If uve never ridden before u shouldnt really be starting on 1000. But it can be done, im not gonna say u cant do that. But even if ur starting on a 250 and u think ur gonna stunt it, not ever riding at all ur still gonna get hurt. u need to learn to ride first!!!!!!

 

[L8 Braker]

in my area a couple years ago only a couple of ppl I knew had bikes. Now all of a sudden every one has one. I mean guys i know get them with no riding exp at all and trying to stunt them cause its "cool". Some even on 1000s. Its nuts, I mean these guys never even ridden a dirt bike before. And they dont wanna just ridem they wanna stuntem. Needless to say ppl are getting really hurt around here. Its almost like its a fad or something. i dunno what to think. If uve never ridden before u shouldnt really be starting on 1000. But it can be done, im not gonna say u cant do that. But even if ur starting on a 250 and u think ur gonna stunt it, not ever riding at all ur still gonna get hurt. u need to learn to ride first!!!!!!

So you're answer to the question izzzzzz???

 

[Chauncey1]

IMHO, I'm a little divided on this one. Sure, the people that truly devote themselves to this sport no doubt deserve the national attention and dollars that could be afforded them. On the other hand, I don't think that the sponsors of such shows as the extreme games would allow this to happen because if they did sponsor such events, then the kids at home watching would get the idea in their heads that they can do the same thing. That would increase the risk exponentially for lawsuits over endagering lives, property, etcetera, since motorcycles are considered a motor vehicle by most, if not every, state.

Because of the motor vehicle thing, kids would itch for a bike, scrounge the moolah necessary to get one, tag it, go out with their friends on public roads or parking lots or whatnot, and attempt these manuevers while in the vicinity of other motorists. Cops would have a field day with this, obviously.

Sponsors wouldn't want to pony up the dough required to promote this sport if they see it as a potentially life-threatening and lawsuit-friendly to other people, such as motorists, because stunters require large areas of pavement, right? Like parking lots and streets to perform their stunts, which are public domain. You all can just see it now, can't you? "Well, officer, I saw it on X-Games and I wanted to try it..."

BMX, skateboarding, snowboarding, all that is fine because those sports are generally held on closed circuits and they generally don't involve serious risk of injury to people/property unlike stunting, which from what I understand, requires extraordinary reflexes and timing, something most kids don't have.

I just can't see this becoming a big thing simply due to the risk of harm to other people and to themselves. Too much legal liability involved with the DOT, insurance companies, and riders...I don't know, perhaps I'm talking out of my ass?

 

[Billy]

I don't think it will, just because it costs too much to get into.

 

[taziscool]

I really hope it goes away, PERIOD. As to the topic.....never will be big, because doing those things is ILLEGAL on a road......exactly where all the practice takes place.

 

[Ebbs15]

there isn't enough AIR time or Danger percieved in it to be on the Xgames... and honestly I don't know alot about stunting... but I seem to see the same shit over and over again... every once in while I see a new trick but there isn't enough variety... just my $0.02

 

[TheSollyLama]

Big as in X games? Yes. I think stunting in general, bicycle, skateboard, dirt bike, street bike is all well within the target of so called extreme sports. The public's love of freestyle dirtbiking is mostly fueled by a grassroots "if I had a dirt bike, I could do that" kind of following. You can go to the local track and crash all the Nac Nac's your medical coverage can handle. Same with street bikes.

Will it ever be mainstream? No. There's very little in it for manufacturers, who are the key sponsors. Factory rides rule, and there's no compelling reason for the manufacturers to support freestyle beyond sideline shows at races. It also take up more room than an MX ramp and landing area.

Like MX, the real action is on the track. The rest is a sideshow. Even the big freestyle competitions are thinning out.
like any other fad de jour, sport bike stunting will come and go in the breath between albums from the next boy band.
The purists will still do it, just with less tv camera around.

 

[Nevrsumr22]

I don't think it will but that's what all the people in the X-Games said 10 years ago. As far as bikes go I know the slow stuff is harder but I get a b***** rush from seeing someone do a highchair 70 mph down the street.

 

[SMFCPACFP]

The lifespan of a stunter is too short.

 

[buzzard]

I really hope it goes away, PERIOD. As to the topic.....never will be big, because doing those things is ILLEGAL on a road......exactly where all the practice takes place.

Not really. Even the stupidest people I know that stunt go to warehouse areas (usually at night) to "practice" Only morons stunt on the street, and those guys are never going to be in any competition or whatnot. I don't want to be a big hypocrite, I like to pick the front wheel up when I am out west of town, away from traffic and everything. But I am hardly a stunter. I couln't do a stand up wheelie or stoppie, or anything else really.

I guess it would be cool to see stunting on x-games or something. But I am not exactly inclined to sit there and watch a video of a guy doing slow 12 o'clocks and circle wheelies. I ride, I can imagine how much control it takes to do that stuff, but it's not "action" packed. Stand up wheelies on the highway are action. That will not be on x-games I assure you.