``Stunt Biking is about adrenaline rush and freedom``

Stunt biker Hrishikesh Mandke speaks about his passion
At first glance he looks like any average 29 years old. But give him a motorbike and Hrishikesh Mandke will make you realize how deceptive looks can be. He has done numerous live road shows, commercials for Bajaj, Hero Honda, Yamaha and done stunts for the serial 'champs'. A test rider for indiabike.com, he also performed bike stunts in Lafangey Parindey which was a Yashraj Film. His stunts include basic wheelie, high chair wheelie, half old school wheelie, nak nak wheelie, full old school wheelie, flamingo wheelie, seat stander wheelie, circle wheelie, tank spread wheelie, basic stoppie, high chair stoppie, tank spreader stoppie, rolling stoppie, seat stander stoppie, burnouts, chain saw, side skitching and Christ.

Stunts began happening at 7
Mandke recounts, "I used to do stunts on my cycle and when I was 7 years old I had this perception to do something different and adventurous. Six years ago I saw a guy doing a wheelie and decided that I wanted to be a professional stunter. Since I was already proficient with my cycle stunts, gear bike stunting was the next logical step."
 At his first live road show when he was asked for his autograph, Mandke was thrilled and surprised. Thereafter there has been no looking back as he has signed autographs on palms, t-shirts and bikes with markers in cities all over India. Mandke explains, "Live stunt shows are for half an hour. After that the spectators break the barricades and charge towards the stunters for autographs and to show their appreciation and excitement. I once had a fan exclaim that so far he thought stunt shows were animated and morphed, there was nothing real about them. After seeing my performance he had changed his mind and become a believer." 

He is different
His female fan reactions have ranged from 'wow you rock' to 'damn it. What the hell do you think you were doing out there? You are crazy and mad." The guys on the other hand are either jealous or overtly enthusiastic and Mandke has had calls at two in the night from some of them asking how to perform a wheelie. Time and privacy consideration forgotten. He adds, "I have had to change my number many times." The Deccan resident has done stunts wearing Santa costume for Christmas, waving our Indian flag in one hand on Independence Day and wearing traditional costumes during festivals. Perhaps the only guy who can do a wheelie without the front wheel for shows and advertisements, the 29 years old is all for the passion, the adrenaline high and the freedom stunting gives him. His stoppie with five passengers has earned him extra skid points.
 
 Memorable experience of adventure
He recounts the time he did his wheelie without the front wheel, "I had gone to the garage and the mechanic was working on a bike for which he had removed the front wheel. I asked him if I could take it and experiment with some stunts. He agreed and I loaded the bike on a tempo and took it to a lonely place to do the wheelie. Oh, the thrill of it!"
 Mandke's own bike for practice is an old Bajaj Pulsar 180 that has been modified by adding a hand brake, removing the front and rear main and tail-lights and increasing the sprocket size to give the bike more power. He is presently looking for sponsors for bike test rides and stunting and confesses that when he was a novice he was frightened once when while doing a wheelie, his bike's brakes failed.
 
 The close shaves he had
And he has had his share of close shaves like the time when after completing his wheelie, he kept the bike down on the road, his bike's handle wobbled at the speed of 80 - 90 kmph and all that he saw in front of him was a divider.
Initially his parents were not happy about his stunting as he used to crash a lot, but now being a professional stunter with so many shows and advertisements to his credit they are supportive. Today his mom sits behind him while he does a wheelie.
 
Message for others
His safety precautions include the helmet, proper stunting jacket, gloves, kneepads and he practises at lonely place. On a parting note he says, "Don't try these stunts at home, we stunters are professionals with immense practice."
 —Khursheed Dinshaw