Robbie Maddison goes surfing in Tahiti

Adventure-loving Aussie motorcycle Robbie Maddison has now made his biggest splash — literally!

Not content with jumping over football stadiums, being the chief stunt rider on the James Bond movie Skyfall, clearing the Corinth Canal in Greece, backflipping over the Tower Bridge in London, taking a 15-metre freefall from the top of the Arc de Triomphe at the Paris Las Vegas hotel, and hitting a ski jump in Utah at 113km/h and flying for 114 metres, the former freestyle motocross rider has now gone surfing in Tahiti — on a water-borne two-stroke KTM 250 at the popular Papara and Teahupo’o surf spots in Tahiti. The video is called 'Pipe Dream'.

The project was two years in the making, and as you can imagine with this type of unique undertaking a number of prototypes were tested — 30, we're hearing — before the final optimised 'production' version came to light.
Then it was time to hit Tahiti and the seriously enourmous waves. When asked on Twitter how any timers he didn't make the big wave at Teahupo'o he said: "Enough times to seriously consider quitting & more injuries accrued than some on permanent disabilities."

And here's how he described another pummelling: “When I went down, the bike hit me in the back and knocked the wind out of me.

"To be honest, when I saw that wave closing in on me, I thought that it could have been the end. As I was sucked under the water, I did my best to remain calm, but the thought that it could have been the end of me was racing through my head. It’s as close to a near-death experience as I’ve ever come.

"But even as I was being dragged onto the Jet Ski when I finally surfaced, I was thinking that the whole project was a success. You’ve got to push your limits to learn where they actually are. But, hey, I’ve got something really big in the works, mate…”

Maddison, ever the thrill seeker, didn’t just want to ride on water: he also wanted to surf, so that's why the project was so long in the making. He started with a mega potent Honda CR500R, fashioned with two skis. He then tried a variety of designs and, among a number of insights, he learnt that horsepower wasn't necessarily the king when it came to skimming on water:

“Contrary to what you might assume, the overall power output of the bike didn’t have that much effect on its ability to ride across the water,” says Maddo’s mechanic, Buddy Morgan. “Instead, it was the shape and angle of the skis and the number of paddles on the rear tyre that made the most difference.” As one might think with such a project involving so much trial and error, sinking the bike was a very real part of the learning curve.

“I’d say that through the entire project, we sank the bike 30 to 40 times,” continued Morgan, who was faced with a five-hour workload every time the motorcycle was submerged.

Switching back to a two-stroke for the final setup — a KTM 250 SX — simplified the teardown and rebuilding process.

What next for Maddo? We can't see retirement being an option…

Here's the video: