Motorcycle stunt riders are a completely different breed. While the rest of us are just trying to keep our bikes upright and occasionally pop a decent wheelie, these guys are out here pretty much defying the laws of physics.
Case in point: Magnus Carlsson, a 51-year-old Swedish stunt rider who recently set the record for the fastest handlebar wheelie at a mind-bending 202.67 kilometers per hour—that’s around 126 miles per hour. Crazy stuff.
If you’ve never seen a handlebar wheelie before, well, simply look at the image above. Instead of sitting on the seat like a normal person, you climb onto the handlebars. Then, as if that’s not already crazy enough, you pull in the clutch, rev the engine to the moon, and dump the clutch to pop a wheelie. It’s a staple in most stunt riders’ repertoire, but doing it at the speed Magnus did just raises the stakes much higher.
Clearly, to achieve such a feat requires dedication. And I mean a lot of dedication. Think three decades of the stuff. Magnus isn’t some daredevil who just woke up one day and decided to go for a record. In fact, he first attempted a handlebar wheelie way back in 1992 and tried to set a record three years later at Sweden’s Skövde Airport.
Over the years, he kept perfecting his technique, refining his balance, throttle control, and precision. The handlebar wheelie wasn’t just a stunt to him, as it was the stunt to rule them all being the one that took the most effort and attention throughout his career. So when he finally broke the 200-kilometer-per-hour record in June 2023, it was the culmination of over 30 years of dedication.
Of course, a stunt like this isn’t possible without the right machine, and Magnus had the perfect one: the KTM 1290 Super Duke R. Widely regarded as one of the craziest naked bikes ever built, this bike packs a monstrous 1,301cc V-twin engine that churns out a ridiculous amount of power and torque. It’s a bike that wheelies almost too easily—just a flick of the wrist and the front end wants to lift. And while it’s not exactly built for handlebar stunts, if there’s any machine that could make this record possible, it’s the Super Duke.
KTM has since upped the ante with the 1390 Super Duke R, refining the already-insane formula with even more power, better electronics, and sharper handling. And with the (considerably) good news following the brand’s near-death experience late last year, there’s a chance Team Orange’s bikes will continue breaking records.
And hey, if stunt riders like Magnus are still choosing their machines, that’s got to count for something, right?
But just when you think he might slow down, Magnus went and broke another record a few months later—this time for the longest distance riding a motorcycle backwards. He covered an astonishing 306 kilometers (190 miles), shattering the previous record of 202 km (125.5 miles). Interestingly enough, his steed of choice was yet another orange machine, a KTM 390 Duke, complete with a basket on the rear seat with a couple of water bottles for Magnus to stay hydrated throughout the course of the ride.
So yeah, hats off to Magnus, a dude who’s proof that stunt riders don’t just push limits—they completely erase them. As for me, I’ll stick to trying to get my wheelies a little more consistent. But if there’s ever a world record for "most time spent thinking about doing a handlebar wheelie (or other crazy stunts, for that matter) before chickening out," I might just have a shot.
Source: Guinness World Records
