Tag

Chris Pfeiffer

Browsing

It is with a heavy heart that we report the death of legendary stunt rider Chris Pfeiffer, who passed away this past weekend. Speedweek is reporting that the 51-year-old icon’s body was found after he took his own life, ending a months-long bout of serious depression.

A legend in the stunt-riding community, Pfeiffer won multiple motorcycle stunt world championships and brought the niche extreme sport to mainstream attention with his close links to BMW Motorrad and Red Bull.

His shows pushed the boundaries of what could be done on two wheels, paved the way for a countless number of stunters who are in the sport today, and reached a legion of fans around the world. The man was truly impressive.

At EICMA this year, BMW Motorrad is expected to unveil its first of many 300cc motorcycles that it is developing with Indian partner TVS. While we have known about this news for some time, the German company is just now giving us the official nod, showing today the BMW Concept Stunt G 310 in Brazil

At the core of the Stunt G 310 concept is a single-cylinder engine, likely punched out to 310cc in capacity, given the name. Making things interesting, the cylinder head has been reclined back towards the rider, and rotated 180 degrees in order to create a super-short wheelbase, with an extra-long swingarm, for the concept.

Also of note is the placement of the exhaust silencer, which is mounted vertically, right next to the rear shock. BMW says this is to protect the exhaust can from getting damaged in a crash, though we imagine it’s at the expense of suspension fade.

We doubt much that BMW will keep much of the Concept Stunt G 310’s colors and styling when the German brand’s small-displacement bikes arrive, but clearly BMW Motorrad has younger riders on its brain with the design. Having Chris Pfeiffer help one last time hock the company’s wares helps too.

Perhaps one of the most well known names worldwide for motorcycle stunt riding, Chris Pfeiffer has decided to retire from the sport. This marks an end to the 45-years-old’s 20-year career, which has seen him perform around the world at thousands of shows.

Largely responsible for legitimizing stunt riding beyond just hooligan antics, the BMW-sponsored Red Bull rider announced his retirement on his Facebook page yesterday, much to the dismay of 270,000+ followers.

One of the greats in motorcycling, Pfeiffer says he is leaving stunting to the next generation of riders. His message to fans is after the jump.

Chris Pfeiffer was in the former-Yugoslavia recently, and our friends at Motori.com.mk were on hand to see the Red Bull rider do his thing on his BMW stunt bike. Along with the usual fun stunting footage that goes with Chris Pfeiffer’s work, the guys at Motori took some HDR photos of Pfeiffer performing for his fans and around the capital city of Skopje, Macedonia. Head over to their site to read the interview (Google translated from Macedonian to English). Thanks for the tip Baze!

Stepping out of the A&R office briefly today, we noticed a slight nip in the air, which in California means that the weather has dipped below 70°F. For the rest of the country though rain, ice, and snow have already begun to rear their ugly heads, and two-wheeled enthusiasts have already begun to put their motorcycles in the garage for winter’s cold freeze.

But these actions are not necessary, and BMW has sent Chris Pfeiffer with a modified BMW G450X “Snowcat” to remind us of that. Video after the jump of some quality snow-filled hooliganism.