POWERPLAY

Harley-powered Farmer www.STUNT-S.de:
Stuntman Rainer Schwarz from bavaria rides a "Buell"

Mo mercy - thumbs are down for the rear rubber! With his hand to the ear, Rainer listens to the frenetic cheers of the audience, while the rear tire smokes off into blue clouds - is the yelling loud enough? The noise is getting louder again - and Rainer twists the throttle even further. The screaming tire makes his last turns, while the audience disappears into clouds of blue smoke. Finally, a short "bang" signals the end of a short tire life. "Dead in the name of stunt riding" is what the doctor on the notice - the next tire is already waiting...

No matter if at the GERMAN BIKE WEEK, the SPEEDWEEK at Oschersleben, ATLAS RACE DAYS at Genderkesee or the  Custom PERFORMANCE at Bad Salzuflen: The Stunt Team of Rainer Schwarz is one of the most demanded motorcycle-artists of germany - and this is not just for the tire-killing final of each performance. Rainer and his team do their artistry at each weather conditions, even wind and rain: Wheelies, Stoppies, Burnouts and artistry with up to four persons aboard his Suzuki - and now powered by Buell.

Rainer feel at home on the rear wheel: Single, with two, three or even four members of his crew, ha can do wheelies and stoppies. If the road is wet, one of the guys clamps on to the front fork dragging the rear wheel literally into the sky!
Burnouts are generally celebrated until the tire goes bang - sometimes with two bikes simultaneous. Who doesn't sniffs some rubber at this performance must wear a gas mask! Rainer started his career on a 50 cc Kreidler and Honda MB 5, which he balanced on the rear wheel in front of his moped riding friends. Following 2 "beginner" years with 34 horsepower (comment Rainer: "a bit difficult to pull on the rear wheel, but someway I sucseeded..."), the first GSXR 1100 was a logic choice: Power for the farmer boy. Free from his chains, he started his first year with 200 km/h - on the rear wheel, of course!

"Better don't ask for my practise sessions" grins Rainer to the question where he learned the skills of balancing on the rear wheel. Since yet, he had no trouble with the "green-white" sport spoilers of the bavarian police: Who can read the license plate of a motorcycle which does 240 km/h - on the rear wheel.

German Funnybike Dragster-ace Werner Brückle discovered the young talent, while the contact to Harley-Davidson/Buell was made through the german "High Performance" custom Harley magazine. Buell europe manager Manfred Mäntele was already looking for new ways to promote the sporting Harley-sidekick with the certain "Streetfighter"-appeal to a new breed of customers. Rainer soon adapted his riding style to the V-Twin with "just" 90 hp instead of his beloved 160 hp at the GSXR: "The engine characteristic is completely different", explains Rainer, " the Buell delivers it's power at much lower revs. I can wheel up the Buell at around 2.000 rpm - at the Suzuki, that's just idle!" Rainer would love to have some more horses between his legs, but the real art of riding the V-Twin is the torque: "The Sportster engine of the Buell has a more "aggressive" characteristic than a jap four, which makes it very responsive to even slight turns at the throttle", explains Rainer, "at a four cylinder, 500 to 1000 rpm don't make much difference, while the V-twin reacts immediately."
Rainer and his team develope the program continuously, so there's always something new and different to see. The Custom PERFORMANCE 2000 saw the premiere of 4 (!) riders aboard the BUELL and the first "standing Burnout: While doing a wheelie,

Rainer balanced the bike on the rear Bracket and burned the tire while standing behind the bike!
Beside the holding bracket at the rear and additional pegs at thefront axle, the Buell remained stock - but as the americans say: don't try this at home! Not every motorcycle rider has the integrated "gyro" sense, allowing him such artistry. Beside his stunt shows with the Buell, which will remain Rainers ride in 2000, the Suzuki still rests in the garage: The world record on the rear wheel - currently logged at 277 km/h - is one of Rainers goals, he is looking forward to more than 300 km/h. His current best: 267 km/h - and he will beat it by far...

www.STUNT-S.de  • Text: HR-F.de
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