A large, excited crowd, comprising mostly young men seduced by sport bikes and speed, were pushing against the flimsy barricades erected in the portico of Express Avenue mall — all to catch five professional stunt bikers show off their daring stunt moves.
The second edition of Pulsar Stunt Mania saw the stuntmen, who call themselves Ghost Ryderz, perform dangerous stunts on the modified Bajaj Pulsar 200 NS within what looked like a small space. The audience got a chance to witness superb routines as the bikers displayed stunts that mixed acrobatic manoeuvres with traditional wheelies, stoppies and burnouts.
The event went beyond being just an exercise to flaunt the new Pulsar, as Ghost Ryderz sought to raise awareness about safe riding practices and kindle the interest of young people in freestyle stunt riding. The stuntmen performed with bikes modified for the purpose and wore safety gear. Ghost Ryderz demonstrated that freestyle stunt biking is a sport that demands discipline and skill.
“This is a well-established professional sport in Europe and America. The wrong perception associated with freestyle motorcycling stunt could change significantly with such events,” hoped Mikhil Mohan, co-founder and manager of Ghost Ryderz, discovered by the auto major four years ago.
Just as the performance was promising to get into the fifth gear, the organisers decided to cut it short by at least 30 minutes, thanks to the impatient crowd that began scaling the steel gates of the premises for a better glimpse of the action. But, the organisers were only happy. “We didn’t expect such a big crowd,” one of them said.