I reckon all FMX fans, most motocross riders, and quite a few motorcyclists remember the first time they saw Robbie Maddison fly 322 feet through the air and break the world record for the longest motorcycle jump on his modified Honda CR500 in 2009. He's since gone on to beat his record a couple of times. But there's another class of world-record jumping on two wheels that has its own place in the record books: jumping Harley-Davidsons.
Evel Knievel is rightly credited for creating the excitement that surrounds long-distance jumps on two wheels, and he popularized it while (primarily) riding a modified Harley-Davidson XR-750. Since then, his records have been broken. Until August 2nd, the world record for jumping a Harley-Davidson belonged to Seth Enslow, and it stood at 183.7 feet.
Colby Raha has well and truly demolished that.
At the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, Raha made history as he jumped his 550-pound Harley-Davidson Sportster 205 feet in Thunderdome—that's more than half of a full-sized football field. He needed to hit the ramp at around 80 mph and did so in front of thousands of spectators.
"This jump at the Thunderdome in Sturgis channeled the spirit of Evel Knievel, an absolute legend of the sport. And I’m beyond stoked to have landed it as part of my Record Breakers event,” Raha said. “It was a dream to push the limits at the Thunderdome, and I felt really dialed in the whole time. I’m grateful for the support from Rockstar Energy and all the partners who helped make this world record attempt possible.”
Raha is well-known for competing in the X Games and winning gold for in the QuarterPipe High Air competition during his debut. Since then he's gone on to win 11 more medals and create a fanbase that's centered around his wild stunts on social media.
