Man Wheelies 500km NonStop On A Scooter!

We all know riding is an art that requires finesse. Two-wheelers have opened up new avenues to creative tricks and stunts which require peak human control and excellent sense of balance. One of the most popular stunts is the wheelie. Japanese stunt rider Masaru Abe has taken the art of wheelie to a whole new level by performing the stunt for a whopping 500km! The exact distance stands at 500.5322km. The icing on the cake, however, is that he performed the longest continuous wheelie with a Yamaha Jog 125cc scooter! With this feat, Abe has smashed the previous record of 331.0195km which was set way back in 1991 by trials rider Yasuyuki Kudo.

The scooter with which the stunt was performed was by no means an ordinary one. To name a few notable changes, the front wheel had been lightened by chopping off three out of six spokes from the alloy wheels and by removing the brake assembly as well! This made sense as the front wheel was going to stay up in the air throughout the record-breaking run! With this modification, the scooter shed 2kg at the front. To minimise wind resistance, the inner cowl at the front was drilled to let more air pass through. For maximum grip for the rider, the floorboard was taped with sandpaper. Talk about ingenuity! The twin rear shocks were designed in such a way to ensure optimal balance while undertaking a wheelie. A trussed backrest made from chrome-molybdenum steel let Abe rest his back throughout the 13 hours that it took to beat the older record. 

The modified Jog featured two tanks - a ‘subtank’ and a main tank. The subtank, custom made in Taiwan, was fixed inside the under-seat storage of the scooter. It is capable of holding 15 litres of fuel. The stock tank, on the other hand, holds six litres, thus bringing the total capacity to 21 litres! From the practice runs, the Jog’s fuel efficiency was estimated to be around 40kmpl. This translates to a range of 840km! A Honda CBR 600RR donated its fuel pump for the run. Surprisingly, the engine’s intake and exhaust systems are more or less stock with modifications made to the torque cam and variomatic transmission to offer better wheelie characteristics. Other changes included a can holder for storing Abe’s Red Bull cans!

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Abe aimed for a 600km run but after 12 hours, Abe was crying out in pain and shouting, “It hurts! I hate this! I want to stop,” followed by words of encouragement to himself, “You got this, don’t stop!” But the extreme fatigue proved to be too much for maintaining his grit. Hence, he ‘settled’ for a shorter 500km run. The feat was performed on Kawaguchi Auto Race facility in Saitama, Japan, an oval track where Abe battled the gradients and gusty winds, riding for a gut-wrenching 13 hours!

Abe explained, “If I didn’t go further than what I thought my own limit was, then someone else would. I thought if I was going to try and break the record, then I would have to post unattainable numbers that would leave people totally speechless.”

“That was the most pain I’ve ever felt. Both of my arms were numb from the pain and I had lost feeling in them. My vision was blurred... I was only partially conscious. I was completely dehydrated. I’d never experienced that before,” added Abe. Here’s to you, Abe!

Source: Red Bull Content Pool

Also read: New World Wheelie motorcycle champ hits 318kmph