Filed under: Motorsports, Suzuki, Motorcycles, Celebrities
Travis Pastrana invents and completes the hydrojump
Click above for a few more pics of the hydrojump
Motocrosser, X-Game gold-medal winner and Subaru USA rally car driver extraordinaire Travis Pastrana has once again gone and done something so crazy that we wonder how the man can still be among the living. Previously, Pastrana became the first rider ever to land a double-backflip in competition, and now he's gone and done something else unthinkable: the hydrojump. After speeding to about 70 miles per hour, Pastrana hydroplaned his Suzuki dirtbike in five-foot deep water for 110 feet, ending after launching himself and his bike off a floating FMX ramp. According to his official site, they are still searching for Pastrana's bike at the bottom of the lake, a water-filled volcanic crater in Costa Rica. Apparently, the bike was bone-stock with no modifications in order to ensure that the hydroplaning was successful. We've made a gallery of a few more pictures, and the video of the jump will be available in November on the sixth Nitro Circus DVD.
Gallery: Travis Pastrana hydrojump
[Source: Travis Pastrana via Hell For Leather Magazine]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
BLS 2:09PM (3/27/2008)
It takes a real man to wear those pants.
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Franz 2:11PM (3/27/2008)
I wish we could see the video. This is just crazy.
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Joe 2:11PM (3/27/2008)
Travis Pastrana is absolutely insane/awesome.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=TshiY-a9lcQ
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Pete 2:11PM (3/27/2008)
sounds smart to me... let's sink a motorcycle full of fuel, oil, and other environmentally unfriendly stuff at the bottom of a lake. even if they do recover the bike, what about the fluids that leaked out of it?
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FSM 2:36PM (3/27/2008)
I agree with you. But lets now prepare ourselves for the envirohippy insults in 3 ... 2 ... 1 .....
why not the LS2LS7? 2:45PM (3/27/2008)
Been there, done that. Travis Pastrana already had to deal with your like back when he jumped into the San Francisco Bay during the X-Games.
One motorcycle in a lake for 20 minutes isn't a bigger deal than a couple boats with outboard motors moored at a dock for several months.
why not the LS2LS7? 2:47PM (3/27/2008)
see here.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/1999/07/07/MN60909.DTL
Andre 3:01PM (3/27/2008)
You making the motorcycle sound like an Oil tanker, lol..
It's a Motorcycle, not enough a gas or oil in it to cause cause an environmental concern, Now if 100 - 1000 people did it then yeah..
Scorch 3:03PM (3/27/2008)
I agree. Let's call the UN and inform them that someone has just jumped a bike containing approximately one gallon of gasoline/oil into a lake containing millions of gallons of water.
But seriously, if everyone were doing it, it would be a problem. I seriously doubt after seeing this stunt everyone with a dirtbike is going to flock to Costa Rica and try it for themselves.
Be rational.
Disgruntled Goat 5:43PM (3/27/2008)
RE: "sounds smart to me... let's sink a motorcycle full of fuel, oil, and other environmentally unfriendly stuff at the bottom of a lake."
Not taking sides one way or the other, but you do wonder why they couldn't simply tether a float to the thing so they could retrieve it. How hard is that?
ryan 9:39PM (3/30/2008)
When he did the SF bay jump, they drained nearly all fluids and gas just so the bike hand enough to last for the two minute run - the impact on the bay from the bike was nilch. He probably did the same thing this time.
I know this because I see said bike every day in the front lobby at my office.
Greg 2:29PM (3/27/2008)
Did I read that correctly? He rode a motorcycle across the top of a lake for 110 feet? Good God...
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snakesausage 3:14PM (3/27/2008)
Seriously, I have hydroplaned my dirt bike across 40 to 50 feet of water many times. It is not as hard as it looks…You just get it up to about 60 mph in high gear and put your weight on the back wheel and accelerate as you cross the water. You must be sure that the land meets the water at a gradual angle or it will not work and you will end up over the bars. the other thing that you must watch out for is the water coming off of the front wheel will try to push your feet off of the foot pegs and cause you to flail off of the back.
Now hydroplaning 110 feet and then jumping, that is a serious feat. Of course this is the guy that jumped out of an airplane without a parachute “Point Break” style.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDBrdl2sZWs
Pastrana is a sick!
why not the LS2LS7? 3:56PM (3/27/2008)
That fellow didn't even have the courtesy to give Pastrana a reach around.
Greg 4:55PM (3/27/2008)
Sounds like I need to give it a try. I wonder if it works as well on a GS500 as it does on a dirtbike.
Aki 2:31PM (3/27/2008)
Outrageous stunt, I'd really want to see a vid of it.
Environmentally unfriendly? Sigh. You don't even know the thing is leaking oil/fuel.
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Pete 6:22PM (3/27/2008)
sigh... do u think a motorcycle fuel tank and engine are completely watertight??? think before u type.
it's a cool stunt to hydroplane 110ft but couldn't they just find a wide enough river/lake and then jump the bike?
here's my stunt, i'll pour 1-2 gallons of fuel and then 2-3 qts into ur water source/reservoir. wouldn't u be upset/concerned?
looks like the general autoblog audience has an iq under 70. note to editors: put more pictures/less text on the blog. i think u're going over ur audiences' heads.
HotRodzNKustoms 2:32PM (3/27/2008)
Travis Pastrana is the man, one of the most popular men at the X Games and this jump is just part of the natural evolution of extreme sports.
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tankd0g 2:41PM (3/27/2008)
I had no idea that this was even possible. I suspect Pastrana also did not know wether or not this was possible until about the 65 ft. mark.
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L.WOOD 2:49PM (3/27/2008)
It's folks like Pete that make me wonder when humans will begin committing mass suicide to prevent human related harm to the environment. We cannot expect to be here and not harm the environment by modifying our behavior. We have to be gone. That is the only way humans will not harm the environment. But that is not going to happen, so we need to lighten up and enjoy the ride.
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