Inspired by the heady mix of danger, petrol fumes and burning rubber? Wondered how to become a motorcycle stunt rider?

If wheelies, skids, jumps and high speed two wheel tricks are your thing there’s no reason why you shouldn’t make a career out of becoming a motorcycle stuntman – but it will require a shed load of hard work.

There are no university or college courses to teach you how to become a motorcycle stunt rider, but the British Action Academy is the closest thing there is to motorcycle stunt school.

Learning to be a motorcycle stunt rider is a BLAST

The British Action Academy offers regular seminars and courses through its British Live Action Stunts Training (BLAST).

BLAST is aimed at anyone who is seriously considering a career as a professional stunt performer.

It is the UK’s only industry Health and Safety approved stunt training course and it is run by leading stunt performers and coordinators – guys and girls that have been there, seen it, done it, and survived to tell the tale – over three days of intense theoretical and practical training.

Designed for experienced stunt performers who want to polish their skills as well as newcomers trying to break into the stunting profession, BLAST will put you through a series of realistic stunt scenarios testing you to the limits of physical and mental ability.

Every motorcycle stunt rider must register with Equity

Once that course has whet your appetite you will be more determined than ever to go on and work as a professional motorcycle stuntman. To do that in the UK you must be at least 18 years old and signed up to the British Equity Stunt Register.

You will have to work for at least three years as a Probationary Member of the Register, a further minimum of two years as Intermediate Member when you will be able to perform supervised stunts, before progressing to Full Membership, and a further period of not less than five years to become a fully fledged Stunt Action Co-ordinator, meaning you can perform stunts and plan and supervise stunts for others.

Because of the potentially dangerous, hazardous or specialist aspects of the work, career progression for Stunt Performers is strictly regulated by the Joint Industry Stunt Committee.

The motorcycle stunt rider must keep meticulous stunt records

Logbooks must be kept providing evidence that stunts have been performed in a wide variety of disciplines – so even if you want to specialise in motorcycle stunts, you will have to be proficient in a diverse set of stunt skills.

But in whichever discipline you specialise, endurance and flexibility are key qualities you will need. A sudden phone call might require you to traipse across the country at short notice for a shoot and because the stunt team plays second fiddle to the acting cast, stuntmen usually get the wrong end of the filming schedule which can mean long hours, extreme conditions and antisocial hours.

You will also need the ability to get along with the stars of the show – the actors that you will be needed to perform as a stunt double for.

The world’s greatest motorcycle stunt riders

If you want some inspiration to help kick start your new stuntman career, check out the Bikesure celebration of the world’s greatest motorcycle stunt riders and the stomach churning, gravity defying tricks they have performed.