As the owner of Stuntlife.com, the world's largest online resource for stunters, I'm pretty dialed in to the street-freestyle scene. Administrating our message boards for the past year, watching membership explode from a handful of friends to more than 8500 registered users (adding on average 40 new members a day!), I have a good feel for the sport and the people involved in it. It's a tightknit and fun bunch, with many who are dead serious about pushing the sport of street freestyle to the next level. We've got our squids, of course, but there are just as many pros dedicated to increasing the legitimacy of the sport.
But I've also noticed that some of us stunters can be pretty nearsighted, especially in terms of the public perception of our sport. This is where we run up against the wall when it comes to taking the sport to the next level--by this I mean X Games-style competitions with mobs of spectators and real prize money, or sponsors that offer more than just a 10 percent discount on parts. We fall into the old "Us vs. Them" trap. "They" don't get it; "they" don't understand "us."
This gets back to that tightknit community thing--for the most part, stunters only hang with other stunters. It's normal to interact with people like us, who understand us. It also has to do with our underground status, and the fact that we aren't exactly invited to participate in the traditional motorcycle world. That's changing now, as magazines (finally!) begin to acknowledge stunt culture, stunt videos make their way into dealerships, and stunt competitions become part of racing events. But this is a slow process. And being recognized by the motorcycle industry is still a far cry from acceptance by the general public.
Which is why it's good, sometimes, to step outside of our stunt bubble and try to see things from the perspective of nonriders. What's with these haters anyway, always ringing the cops the minute a sportbike passes them at 5 mph over the limit, or worse, on its back wheel? What's their problem?
Pull your head out of your helmet and pretend you're inside that Buick for a moment. (Scary, isn't it?) Realize that the public opinion on street freestyle is at least a decade behind that of us inside the scene. Think of it like this: Remember when you saw your first stunt video, Starboyz FTP or LVX? Didn't it blow your mind? I mean, they were doing wheelies for almost a mile, and popping them up standing on the seat! Amazing!
Of course, five years later that stuff is nothing to us. A tank wheelie won't even raise an eyebrow at a competition anymore. But to an SUV-driving soccer mom it's completely different. The average person hasn't seen any of this. They don't know a High-Chair wheelie from a wheelchair, and if they did, they'd just think that one leads directly to the other.
Unfamiliarity breeds fear. The average Joe thinks that just riding a motorcycle on a public highway is only slightly less dangerous than searching for land mines with a butter knife. A motorcycle with the front wheel even an inch off the ground looks totally out of control to them, to say nothing of one dragging its taillight. No surprise that the sight of four guys hoisting Standups sends them running for the 911.
Not that stunters aren't trying to change this. Anyone involved in this sport has seen the movement from the streets to the tracks. Many of the best stunt riders never even ride on the streets anymore, only on closed courses. But the negative image is still the biggest obstacle to the sport's growth. It should be a priority to show people that we know enough to be safe when we stunt, and save it for an out-of-the-way place.
Everyone has an opinion on the future of street freestyle. Some think the sport will peak soon (or has already peaked); others expect it to be the next freestyle motocross, front and center on ESPN. Will PBR, XMX and 1096 hijack American living rooms via the 2004 X Games, or will we always just be a sideshow to "real" motorcycle events? Are we doomed to this stupid "Us vs. Them" crap, the equivalent of a teenager arguing about curfew with his parents? I hope not. That was bad enough the first time around....
Either way, streetbike stunting in America has a way to go. We get closer every day, but they're baby steps. The only thing that will help us is more unity, and all of us working together in the right direction. The popularity of street freestyle has been growing by leaps and bounds, so we're obviously doing something right. If we continue to work it, we can ride this thing all the way to the top.
The only question now is are you with us, or are you with them?