Modifications for Stunt Bikes

Stunt biking in India picked up a lot in the past decade. With the high revving Pulsars, which became a hot favorite instantly with stunters, and the Karizma with its tractable engine and powerful brakes for endos; stunt biking grew exponentially in India garnering a huge fan following.

For many stunt riders inspiration came from professional stunters like the renowned and highly skilled Chris Pfeiffer and more recently Rok Bagoros. TV channel MTV promoted organized stunt riding in their show titled Pulsar MTV Stuntmania which rightly showcased stunting as an organized sport, exposing enthusiasts to various entertaining styles and techniques and also inspiring many young stunters towards the importance of safety riding gears and armour. 

Stunting is a skillful sport and stunts performed take a massive toll on the bike. Thus preparing the bike for stunts is vital. stuntinsane takes a look at a few essential modifications if you plan on stunting with your bike

Safety

To safe guard your bike against falls, these modifications will be helpful.

Frame Sliders

These are knobs which attach to the frame of the bike and help protect the body work of the bike; majorly the tank. These however, do not protect the engine casing and the frame itself; which may crack on a hard fall.

Crash cages

These are steel tubing around vital components of the bike and help protect the engine casing and frame in the event of a fall. They are widely available for bigger bikes but they can be locally fabricated for bikes used in stunting in our country. Crash cages are more effective than frame sliders and provide enhanced protection for the motorcycle.

Remove Fairing

Removing the fairing, side panels and extra body work is one of the smartest things to do while stunting. A full or half fairing, headlights, mirrors etc are bound to get damaged in a crash, so get rid of them.

12 O’clock bars / Scrape bars

Mostly used as an extension bar at the rear of the motorcycle. This helps the rear scrape the ground while performing 12 O’clock wheelies, ape hangers, cliff hangers etc. Its main function is to protect the tail lamp and tail section of the bike which otherwise, would get smashed while performing these stunts. A similar bar can be fabricated for the front to protect the meter console and headlight assembly for stoppies etc; although a solid prayer might be the only thing protecting you from the nasty falls when stoppies go wrong.

Performance

Stunting has absolutely no use for top-end performance, thus improving the bottom-end performance of the bike is vital as most tricks need the front wheel pointing north quickly. Here are a couple of modifications

Sprockets

Going for a bigger rear wheel sprocket will bump up acceleration by a considerable margin. Stunting obviously calls for extreme sprocketing mods to get the front wheel up effortlessly; so you might have to go up to 5 or more sprockets over the stock configuration. This will need extra chain links to be added and also removal of chain guards. Some modification might be required to the casing over the front sprocket too due to the increased chain angle post a bigger rear sprocket

Hand Brake

Many stunts like high chair, seat standers etc require the rider to be in positions where he/she cannot access the rear brake. Getting a hand brake as a substitute helps in rear brake operation to control the balance of the bike while performing these maneuvers.

Tires

Tires with better grip than stock tires will always help you perform better as stunting stresses on heavy braking and acceleration, all the time.

Brakes

Upgrading to better brake pads or overall better brake systems are a good investment to keep those stoppies rolling and being more confident while performing them. Bybre brakes are good with good bite and feedback. They come as standard fitment for Bajaj bikes and some models of Honda and KTM so getting them installed on other bikes becomes a possibility albeit a few modifications.

Rear Seat and Fuel Tank

A pillion won’t ever be happy on a stunt bike unless he/she is extreme enough to catch the action up close and personal! So, getting rid of that pillion seat or getting a hard cover will help you place your feet firmly on a grippier surface.
A custom flat-top tank also aids in better stability for the rider while performing stunts like the Christ. An easier (but crude) method is to beat down the stock tank.

We would like to stress on the fact again that stunting requires a lot of practice and requires a lot of skill too thus ensuring your own safety is prime. At the same time ensuring that you and your fellow riders do not practice on public roads and endanger pedestrians and other road users. Stunting on public roads is illegal so please do respect the law