Don't get us wrong, a standard stoppie is plenty daring, pitching the back tire way up in the air at 50 mph with no safety measures to save your butt. If you go past the balance point, you're going over the bars. But hucking an endo up at 160 mph-now that's just insane, and that's exactly what "Insane" Kane Friesen did recently during a taping of the Discovery Channel's Stunt Junkies TV program, shattering the old record (officially 98 mph, held by Gary Rothwell and set in 2002) for the World's Fastest Stoppie in the process.
Stunt Junkies is a television program dedicated to explaining the science and techniques behind the most extreme sports stunts, and for their first episode featuring sportbike stunting, the Discovery Channel couldn't have selected a better stunter than the flamboyant, photogenic-and extremely talented-Friesen. They also couldn't have picked a more exciting, and dangerous, stunt than an extremely high-speed endo. It helped matters that Friesen is a well-connected rider, because it took a concerted effort from a bunch of his sponsors and industry associates to pull off a feat like this.
Step one was finding a capable motorcycle. Since qualifying as an official endo for record purposes required the bike's speed to be measured with the rear wheel off the ground (not at approach speed), Friesen figured he would need to clamp on the front brake at around 160 mph to hit his goal stoppie speed of 135 mph. Clearly, a fast bike would be required, a need fulfilled by Carter Powersports in Las Vegas, who provided a brand-new, 160-hp Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R that would clearly be up to the task. Friesen's sponsors at FMF added a few more ponies via a set of Friesen's signature pink-logoed exhaust cans, and GPR Stabilizers kicked in one of their top-line rotary steering dampers-an essential component if you're going to be rolling along on the front wheel at triple-digit speeds. Lastly, suspension guru Paul Thede at RaceTech worked his magic on the forks, installing stiffer springs and tweaking the damping circuits to best stand up to the incredible forces this stunt would exert on the front end.
The filming of the episode occurred over a three-day period-the first chronicling the bike setup and Friesen's preparation for the stunt, including familiarizing himself with the brand-new ZX-10R he had just picked up from the dealership days earlier. The second and third days were spent on-location at the airstrip at SkyDive Perris in Perris, California, where the record attempt would actually take place.
The third day the actual record attempt took place. Friesen made just four passes in total that day. The first attempt rolled in at right around 102 mph-already breaking the record-and Friesen, confident and excited, methodically stepped the speed up. By the fourth attempt he hit 137 mph, breaking the old record by a comfortable margin of 39 mph, ahead of his own goal of 135 mph. The producers were pleased, applauded accordingly, and shut it down for the day. Friesen is stoked to hold the record, but of course he thinks he can (and will) go even faster in the future. Better him than us-137 mph is insane enough, as far as we're concerned.