A wheelie long 310 miles sets new world record

Meet Masaru Abe – he’s utterly nuts. He’s also obsessed with scooters, and on Monday, May 1, 2017 he wheelied his Yamaha Jog into the record books, pulling off a feat that would end even the most dedicated wheelie addict a little crazy.

Taking the title of Wheelie King, Abe headed to the Kawaguchi Auto Race facility in Saitama, Japan and proceeded to get it up, and keep it up, for an arse-numbing 500km (310 miles) world record, beating a 25-year-old record of 330km (205 miles).

The 33-year-old is somewhat of a legend in Japan for his scooterist lunacy, and while plenty of riders can barely get the front wheel floating with over 100bhp on tap, Abe can lift his Jog vertical from a standstill, and pirouette until he runs out of fuel.

Fuel was a bit of an issue for the record, too – so his support crew would ride alongside and hand him a refuelling unit, which plugged into a quick-release dry coupling on the handlebar – allowing him to mono uninterrupted.

Abe isn’t the only rider out there who’s got a penchant for setting one-wheel records, either. Twelve time trials world champion Dougie Lampkin wheelied the entire Isle of Man TT course in September 2016, a feat which he puts up there with any of his world titles.

But it’s not just about distance, Dutch rider Egbert van Popta set a new world record in August 2016 when he managed to average 213.3mph on just one wheel! Want to know how he did it? We spoke to the previous record holder – Gary Rothwell – and he told us everything he does to wheelie at over 200mph.

More from MCN

• Are wheelies illegal?
• How to wheelie a motorbike
• Ted Brady sets a new wheelie record