My Life in Bikes Mattie Griffin

BMW-backed stunt rider explains how he got to be where he is today, slicing off the top of his fingers and the bikes he has ridden so far.

Where did your biking journey begin?

My Dad had a scrap yard in Galway when we were kids and we spent the summers helping him fix cars and bikes, then fly around the yard trashing them.

First bike?

A Yamaha YB100, then a Suzuki TS185. We didn’t have money and any bike my Dad could ever afford wasn’t running. It was like: you fix it, you can ride it.  When I was 15 I had a TY250. It was hard to kick into neutral and the easiest way was to lean down and feel the gear lever in with your hand. One day I put my hand down and got it caught in the chain and sprockets, slicing the tops of my fingers off. The most unpleasant part was riding home after, looking at my mangled hand.

My family didn’t want me to have a bike after that, but I’m like: ‘no way’. I had the bug.

When did you start stunt riding?

In 2004 and it happened really fast. I was pretty handy at wheelying, stoppies and stuff and a stunt rider called Dave Hanahoe said I should try competing.

I didn’t know him from Adam back then and remember hearing about this guy who could do a 180 stoppie and touch the back down. I thought it was amazing.

I tried his 929 Blade and he thought I was good, so pushed me to get a bike. I bought an older Blade to see how I got on. I did a competition in Ireland in 2004 and won it straight out.

What were your tricks at the beginning?

Lots of wheeiles and scraping the rail, like the other guys were doing, but a bit better. Dave pushed me to go to the world championships in the Czech Republic and I came 15^th out of 69 riders, which was pretty good. I had my own bike shop business then, but started getting paid for stunt shows. I thought: ‘this could work out, let’s give it a try.’

I bought Dave’s 929, but realised 900cc is too much and looked at a 600. They’re lighter, but still have loads of power. I got a B1H 636 ZX-6R and did really well on it, finishing 5^th in the world.

And now you’re a sponsored stunt rider?

I was at the TT doing shows on the Kawasaki, but got the chance to do something as part of the Bandit 1200 launch.  Suzuki were shocked to see their bike standing on the back and front wheels and agreed to sponsor me.

I picked a GSR600, which wasn’t ideal, but it’s hard to know what’s going to be good. The following year I got a GSX-R600 K6. I rode that really well in competitions and came top 10 in the world. When the contract finished BMW snapped me up.

How often are you out?

Most weekends. I’ve got two bikes that get shipped all over the place and I fly or drive out to meet them. Last year I was in India, Canada, Japan and all over Europe.

I’ve done some shows with Christian Pfeiffer. He has tricks he can do really well that I can’t and vice versa. That’s what I love about stunt riding: every rider is different and unique.

Favourite tricks?

At the moment it’s high chair circles, reverse drifting and riding the bike backwards doing circles standing on the front pegs.

How often do you practice?

During the week and shows at the weekend. If you miss a few days your body feels it and you don’t feel good on the bike. In the winter it’s so cold after 10 minutes my fingers go numb and I can’t feel the levers, so I have to keep warming them on the exhaust.

What’s next?

I don’t try new tricks and risk falling this time of year. You push for new things in the winter when the work slows down.  It’s feast or famine: summer you’re double booked and winter you could have a month where you do nothing. If you could spread them out it would be great.