Dirt bike jumping creates an amazing adrenaline rush that we crave – and live for. Still, it’s also one of the scariest feelings in the world.
We’ve all hit that jump and took a nosedive before, so we know the gut-wrenching feeling of fearing for our bones. Still, we can’t help but be fascinated with insane dirt bike jumps. Of course, once you’re in the air you will need something to do.
We’ve put together this list of the 10 craziest dirt bike jumps with videos for each one and some advanced tips for jumping dirt bikes to help you land those epic stunts of your own.
10 of the Craziest Dirt Bike Jumps (With Videos)
1. Alex Harvill’s Record-Breaking Dirt Bike Jump
It only seems fitting to start our list of insane dirt bike jumps with a record breaker.
Alex Harvill entered the Guinness Book of World Records in 2013 for having the world’s longest “dirt to dirt distance” jump. It measured 297-feet 6.6-inches long. This massive jump occurred at the Horn Rapids Motorsports Complex located in West Richland, Washington.
That’s a few inches shy of covering a football field in the air!
As you watch this video, you can’t help but to be captivated by the poise and perfection he brings to the table. Honestly, Alex jumping his 450cc dirt bike looks effortless and it makes us believe we can all do such a thing, even though we know we can’t.
Alex did go on to set another time to break records. He was scheduled for May 7, 2017 at the GEICO 500 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Race at Talladega Superspeedway. There, Harvill planned to hit 105 mph, jump, and clear 426 feet. During preparations for that jump, he sustained a foot injury and canceled the event.
We haven’t seen this attempt rescheduled yet, but if it does happen again the world will be watching.
2. Robbie Maddison Water Jump
If we are going to discuss record-breaking dirt bike jumps, then it only makes sense to touch on what Robbie Maddison has done. This Australian stunt rider is nothing short of amazing and his stunts always blow us away.
If you haven’t seen the amazing feats he tackled on his “Water Bike” in Tahiti, make sure you check that out. This mind-blowing stunt is well worth the detour.
Thanks to the help of Samsung, he was able to add three more records to his name. He started by making history for the Longest Motorcycle Ride on Water. He clocked 19.8 miles which took him just over 31 minutes to complete.
Then, he smashed the Top Speed on a Waterbike when he hit 58 mph. After that, the crew set him up to take a water jump record. He was able to hit 61 feet to seal the deal for the Longest Distance Jump from Land to Water record.
3. Robbie Maddison’s Ski Jump
While we could probably do an entire article about the craziest dirt bike jumps from Robbie Maddison, we will include just one more. No one will deny that Robbie is known for his crazy antics, but taking a dirt bike down an Olympic ski jump in Utah might just be the most insane. Who comes up with this stuff?
Whoever it is, they’re awesome.
His crew worked closely with Sarah Hendrickson, a professional ski jumper, to get this stunt together. She offered her advice and Matt McCaul, a ramp builder, made sure everything was ready for the big day. In the video below, Sarah talks about how different it is to jump in skis compared to a dirt bike.
Robbie’s speed at launch is 71 mph, just slightly faster than what a ski jumper would hit. On average, a ski jumper hits 59 mph on a large hill and 65 mph on flying hills. One of the biggest differences is that the dirt bike drops when it launches instead of propelling forward as a ski jumper does.
To compensate for this difference, the team needed to heighten the take-off. The ski lift is -11, but in this stunt, it gets propped up to -6. They figured that putting it at 0 would shoot him 65 feet in the air. Performing the jump any higher than -6 would be too hard on the wheels and bike.
Watch the crew talk about carpeting the hill for the landing – it’s pretty amazing. Considering that Robbie has to land at 35 degrees, the team had to get a little creative.
In the process of doing this jump, Robbie added another world record to his name. He accomplished the Largest Vertical Drop of 185 feet. In the end, he landed a jump distance of 374 feet. Not too shabby!
4. Dirt Bike and Jeep Collision
Many of us have had the pleasure of enjoying a day in the desert with a dirt bike, but few of us will ever experience this excitement. Dirt bike rider Kal, otherwise known as Rabid Leprechaun, was planning a tandem jump with his friend off of a 100-foot dune in the Qatari Desert.
Mid-air he realizes that there’s a Jeep where he is supposed to land. Oops.
Luckily the Jeep driver realized this too, and in the slow motion edit you can see the driver slam on his brakes and twist the Jeep to the right. Had he not done that, this may have ended very differently.
Even though it becomes a scary incident when that dirt bike hits the Jeep, everyone walked away unharmed. That’s the important thing, isn’t it?
He does however, clip the hood and the Jeep with the bike’s back tire. In the video, you will see the crazy indent his tire made and a pretty sweet tire mark tattoo as well.
Let this video serve as a friendly reminder always to have a spotter when you plan to hit a jump. This entire incident could have been prevented pretty easily.
5. Jumping Glamis Dunes
In this next video, you will get to watch Ronnie Renner and some of his friends take on the Glamis Dunes. This was part of the 2014 Ronnie Renner Freeride Tour put on by GoPro.
Ronnie and his friends hit the dunes on their 450 bikes shod in paddle tires. They have no trouble going super-fast and hitting fifth gear in the process. The result is massive amounts of air time.
To be honest, we aren’t sure these guys know how to let off the throttle.
While we are discussing Renner, it makes sense to include a video of him before Glamis. This is him and his team visiting Caineville, Utah. Riding Utah is like riding on the moon and by the looks of it, these jumps appear to occur in a zero-gravity environment.
In fact, during this video, Mike Mason completes a jump over 200 feet and Renner gets upside down. While we aren’t discussing riding on walls today, you have to admit, that’s pretty cool as well.
6. Jumping Over a Lamborghini
Brothers Carter and Stephen Sharer wanted to do something outrageous, so they decided to jump over a Lamborghini on their dirt bike.
That’s wild alright.
Leading up to the jump, we spend a good amount of time watching some dirt bike tricks and warm-up. You also get a glimpse of the homemade ramp made for this stunt.
Prior to seeing this jump, let’s talk about the elephant in the room, shall we? Where did these kids get the money for a Lamborghini? Maybe it’s mom and dads, but what parents would be okay with their kid jumping their exotic supercar with a dirt bike? Not any of ours.
Furthermore, the mom comes out and watches the stunt occur. Looks like she doesn’t mind having their expensive vehicles used as props for her son’s adventures.
As you watch this dirt bike jump, pay close attention to the ramp positioning. It appears to us that he put it at the tail end of the Lambo. While we understand that they were attempting to protect the car, we aren’t fond of the sneakiness.
In fact, he gets enough air to have jumped the middle, so he should have just gone for it. We would have like to see him have some more balls.
Says the writer about someone jumping a dirt bike over a Lamborghini.
7. Danny Dunn’s 200-Foot Jump
Onto a video that shows Danny Dunn launching his CRF450 across 200-feet. He does this in fifth gear on the throttle stop.
In fact, Danny was the first to hold the record for the largest jump on a public motocross track.
If you are interested in the track itself; it is located at Dunn’s Playground Motocross in Brownsville, Kentucky. Just check out the amazing amount of air he gets off this jump. Incredible!
At Dunn’s Playground, they have a pro national style motocross track, an amateur motocross track, a supercross track and a freestyle area, all open to the public. Riding there is completely free; all they ask for is a donation. If you ask us, that’s pretty exceptional.
8. Jumping the Mexican-American Border
In this crazy dirt bike jump video, we meet someone named VroomVroomDana.
Before we get started on the riding, let’s touch briefly on the guy in the truck on the trail. Very strange and clearly not the best situation. If you go out riding on trails alone, be safe!
Shortly after that, we encounter the residue of someone’s party, which just further proves the point that you probably don’t want to be riding in situations like these alone. Now that we’ve been a parent to you let’s move on to what you came for.
While we don’t actually see any crazy dirt bike jumps that clearly take this guy over the border, we still like what he’s doing. We do see at one point that the gate he must be used to going through was repaired since his last visit.
Another thing we noticed was that these trails are ferocious and require lots of skill. The jumps and hills he tackles are worth him making this list even if the title is a little misleading.
And speaking of houses in the desert.
9. Jumping a Dirt Bike Over a House
In this next video, you get to witness Tyler Bereman’s entry into Real Moto 2017, an all-video moto contest promoted by X Games. In this crazy dirt bike jump video, we see several insane moves.
Our favorite, by far, is Tyler jumping over a house. That’s something you just don’t see every day. His other jumps net lots of air as well, so they are worth watching. Quite frankly, we would love to have a playground like that to practice some moves in – lucky guy!
10. Jumping a Ramp in a Yard
At first glance, this might not seem like the craziest dirt bike jump ever, but give it a moment.
While many of the videos included in our list were to the extreme, we wanted to highlight one that is just done in the backyard of a home. It inspires us and keeps us motivated that we can attain greatness as well.
What makes this video unique is the amount of space the rider is working with. He uses a Freestyle ramp and comes pretty close to the house and pond in his yard, but he gets the job done.
He also doesn’t have a ton of room to get the bike going. He launches in first gear and does a pretty decent job if you ask us. Of course, the neighbors probably aren’t fond of his backyard practice, but that’s what makes it even more fun to dream about doing this ourselves.
The Do’s and Don’ts of Dirt Bike Jumping
Now that we’ve shared with you some of our favorite dirt bike jumps, let’s talk about what you should and should not do when it comes to jumping. Next time you head out on the natural hills or motocross jumps, consider these pointers.
How to jump your dirt bike: the basics
When you first start out learning how to jump a dirt bike, you want to make sure you are in a central standing position. Ensure you have a good line and you are wearing the right gear. If you hit an odd angle, it’s possible to kick out the rear or send you off the side of the jump.
In addition, you want to use an even throttle. If you prefer, go ahead and accelerate slightly as you leave the up-ramp. Once you become better at jumping, you’ll be able to back off the throttle while leaving the up-ramp. This allows you to direct the front of your bike down to land steep jumps.
Front end too high
If you accelerate to the extreme, it will force you into an air-wheelie jump. To correct this, you need to lean forward as far as possible, pull your clutch and tap your rear brake. This will help you pull down the front of your dirt bike. If you go upside down, these tips won’t do anything to save you.
Back end too high
If you end up backing off the bike’s throttle too much as you hit the up-ramp, you will go into a nosedive. We’ve all been there, and it is a scary situation. You want to try to lift the front so you need to get the rear wheel to spin as fast as possible. Do this by accelerating while in the air.
It might sound weird that we’re suggesting that you brake and accelerate midair. The truth is the physics of the wheels spinning in the air have a lot to do with how the bike flies.
Landing just right
As you land your dirt bike jump, make sure you use your legs to absorb any impact. Keep your elbows out and maintain straight wrists. These techniques allow you to spread out the pressure throughout your chest, shoulders and arms so your wrists remain protected.
You also want to wear a high-end chest protector during at least your first few jumps. Most likely, you will crash at least once.
Advanced tips for dirt bike jumping
If you are ready to move onto advanced dirt bike jumping skills, check out these tips.
Don’t panic as you cross it up. As your bike goes sideways during the jump, make sure you keep your body in line with the bike’s front suspension before you land. It will amaze you to see what you can get out of when you do this.
If you are coming up short, don’t ditch the bike. Instead, rev hard right before the landing. This helps you stiffen your suspension and tighten the chain. Then, the suspension can absorb the majority of the impact and prevent your legs from snapping.
Always scout your jump first. You also want to check the landing as well. The best way to do this would be to watch someone else do the jump, and when possible do several runs yourself. This gives you the best idea of entry line, speed, etc.
If you are jumping a hill ridge, make sure to see what’s happening on the other side. It’s not unheard of for people to die when they hit each other coming over a hill.
Do your first big jump as a table top. This eliminates the fear of over-jumping or landing short, especially if you know there’s nobody else around.
Practice, practice, practice!
If you want to perform some of the craziest dirt bike jumps and maybe become an internet sensation, make sure you practice a lot. Seriously. You will need to devote insane amounts of time to perfecting the skill. Who knows, perhaps you’ll end up on our site in the future when you do!
Ready to get wild? These are 8 of the craziest stunts of all time and professional advice on how to do them.