14 DAY TRIAL // If you’ve seen “Skyfall,” you know Robbie Maddison. You might not know him by name, but you most definitely know him by skill. He’s the guy who was James Bond actor Daniel Craig’s motorbike stunt double. Yup, that glorious rooftop motorcycle chase was all him.
Now, you’d think that, after this jaw-dropping display of deftness, Robbie Maddison would be done with motorbiking. Or at least with stunts on two wheels. Well, he sure wasn’t.
Earlier this year, the Australian stunt rider took his motorcycle surfing in Tahiti and rode it atop a mammoth wave the Pacific Ocean was courteous enough to roll his way.
Lucky us, the endeavor was caught on film
Since motorbikes riding surf waves aren’t exactly commonplace, Robbie Maddison had a crew with him to document his every move.
The video produced, available below, starts innocently enough: a random guy riding his motorcycle through a dense and luxurious forest.
About a minute in, however, the bike winds up in a river. Then, seemingly in the blink of an eye, the rider leaves the river and heads for the open sea.
A massive wave emerges and heads his way, and history is made before our very eyes.
It might look easy, but the stunt was actually quite tricky
What with Robbie Maddison being a riding extraordinaire, it’s no wonder the stunt doesn’t look all that complicated or difficult. Except it was.
For starters, the Australian daredevil had to fashion himself a bike that, apart from the usual wheels, handle, engine and whatnot, also packed skies-like boards. Without these, the motorcycle would have inevitably sunk the moment it hit the water.
What’s more, word has it that, before Robbie Maddison at long last settled on the right bike design for this stunt, several prototypes were created and put to the test.
All in all, the stunt rider and his team sank about 30 two-wheelers before getting the stunt right.
