Aussie daredevil Robbie Maddison ‘surfs’ with dirt bike

Each failed take required four hours of maintenance on the bike to get it up and running again as it would sink each time the rider was thrown free. It took about three years of development to build this amphibious KTM. After that it’s all up to Robbie, who has to keep the momentum going by staying on the power and letting the special rear tyre, which looks like a paddle board, handle the rest. The bike was specially modified for the trick, complete with skis, allowing him to ride on top of the water. “Contrary to what you might assume, the overall power output of the bike didn’t have that much effect on its ability to ride across the water”, says Maddo’s mechanic, Buddy Morgan. I don’t think the photos or video show how physical it was.

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Maddison said he tested his concept on San Diego’s Mission Bay last fall, when he made three laps for a total of 7 1/2 miles early one morning “before the birds were up”.

When Maddo was asked regarding his decision in doing the stunt, he said, “I’ve grown up surfing my whole life”.

“She was talking like she was looking at a UFO, ” Maddison said.

At one stage the bike hit Madison and was lost underwater for more than an hour before its flotation device brought it back to the surface. “It ruined the bike but not the ocean”.

“Then I was sucked under and tumbled around beneath the waves”. “It engulfed me and taught me a lesson or two”.

The action man, who is also a keen surfer, posted his latest antics on YouTube and the 3 minute 58 second clip entitled Robbie Maddison’s Pipe Dream, has already been viewed more than two million times.

“There I was on a motorcycle, with the worst thing that could possibly happen”.