Motorcycle Stunt Riding - Equipment

Equipment

Stunters will modify their motorcycles to better adapt them to the sport. Stunting equipment includes:

• Frame sliders — These large knobs are attached to a motorcycle's frame to protect the fairing from damage should the rider lay down the bike. Also used by many non-stunters. Frame sliders should not be considered a substitute for a cage when learning how to stunt. Although Frame sliders will reduce the damage to the plastics and certain parts of the bike they are not enough to keep from cracking motor cases and or cracking the frame itself.
• Crash cages — These cages provide more protection from damage than frame sliders. Mostly used by stunters. There are many examples of cages on the market today and a vast array of different designs and styles. It is very important to check around based on the type of bike you have as to what cage will work best at maximizing the protection for your specific motorcycle. A cage should be one of the first things purchased when learning how to stunt due to the fact that most drops and falls will occur during this time.
• Subcages — Subcages are very similar to crash cages, but for protection of a different sort. While crash cages are protection for the frame itself, motor mounts and cases subcages focus on protecting the subframe of the motorcycle. In certain subcage applications will also eliminate the stock passenger pegs and relocate them to a different spot which is more becoming for staggered stance wheelies among other tricks. These pegs will in some cases be solid mounted to eliminate the possibility of them folding up on the rider when doing wheelies on the passenger pegs.
• front Upper Stay — Meant to replace the upper stay on the motorcycle which usually holds the upper fairing and gauges in place. This is only necessary when running a full fairing bike and is meant in like fashion as both the subcage and crash cage to protect the front of the bike and provide increased stability for the front end of the motorcycle. This will not save the front fairing from damage.
• 12 o'clock bar — 12 bars, as they are referred to, are commonly used on stunt bikes. These bars attach to the subframe of the motorcycle and are used when 12ing the bike. These bars are meant to scrape the ground in place of the exhaust or tail section. Furthermore, with the introduction of the 12 bar came an array of bar tricks which all occur while the motorcycle is resting on the bar itself. These tricks include but are not limited to the ape hanger, watch tower, and various other acrobatics while the bike is on the bar. Only used by stunters.
• Hand Brake — The handbrake came onto the stunting scene much later and in actuality within recent years gained popularity. With the sport pushing its bounds into new territory came tricks that involved the rider in a position in which he cannot access the rear brake to control the balance point of the motorcycle. When tricks such as seat standers, highchairs, and spreaders came on the scene at first it was not necessary to use a handbrake, however these tricks quickly developed into scraping while in a highchair or spreader which involved the use of a hand mounted rear brake
• Round bar— A variation of the 12 bar, round bars are becoming more and more popular nowadays with riders straying away from bar tricks and increasing the technicality of Circle combinations. A round bar is the same principle of a 12 bar as far as scraping the bar instead of the tail section or exhaust with one difference. The round bar is just that, its a curved bar that hugs the contour of the motorcycle tail section with no flat sections.