Wednesday, April 2

Road to the Record -- Capes' 247-Foot Jump

By Dave Finger
EXPN.com

Ryan Capes took his best shot at motorcycling's distance-jumping record on Saturday, and came up six feet short. His quest to break the overall record of 253 feet fell victim not to the limits of the rider, but to the limits of the in-run.


Click Here for Full Video of Ryan's 247-foot-long Jump

Capes, 23, had logged his previous best jump of 233 feet-the ramp-to-dirt record-back in October 2002. To launch the biggest air of all time, Capes constructed his jump at a friend's house in Machias, Wash. He said his goal was to fly 260 feet. But he called off his record attempt after landing hard on a jump that measured 247 feet-astounding yes, but six feet shy of the record.

Ryan Capes, March 29th 2003 -- 210-foot ramp-gap, 5th gear ¾ throttle, 74 mph, 247-foot final distance.

"The facility didn't give me enough room to get my bike going 80 mph," said Capes. "My in-run distance needs to be a minimum of 1,200 feet to throw me farther than any man in history."

Capes made a total of seven jumps on Saturday, moving his take-off ramp back four separate times, which lengthened the distance of the successive jumps-but shortened the run-in. On his final jump, Capes hit the steeply pitched, 50-foot-long, 12-foot-high ramp at 74 mph, accelerating his Honda CR 250 in fifth gear all the way. Observers on-site estimate that Capes was 65 feet off the ground at the peak of the jump. Although the jump did not break the horizontal record, it was almost certainly history's greatest distance jump on the vertical scale.

"That's one of the biggest airs I've ever seen or heard of," said distance legend Seth Enslow, who was on-site to give advice and encouragement. "You gotta give the kid respect. He's going for it and there's nobody else really building their own ramps and trying to do distance."

Ryan consults with distance legend Seth Enslow (on left) about the logistics of jumping over 200 feet.

Ryan's bike was specially overbuilt and modified with stiff suspension to endure the punishment of the jumps. He also installed a 14-tooth countershaft sprocket to boost his top speed.

"I know I can set the world record, I just need more speed," said Capes. "My thoughts after this last jump are that 260 and 270 are in the bag. The only thing that worries me now is jumping over 300."

Capes will now begin a search for a site with enough room to give him a shot at breaking the record this summer. And until then? "I'll be shaping up my freestyle routine. And trying to learn the backflip at Travis Pastrana's house."

Each time the ramp was pushed back the ramp-gap distance was confirmed and the launch angle was lined up.

The jump log from Saturday's throttle transition follows:

Jump 1 - 185-foot ramp-gap, 4th gear pinned, 67 mph, 218-foot final distance.

Jump 2 - 185-foot ramp-gap, 4th gear pinned, 66 mph, 214-foot final distance.

Jump 3 - 185-foot ramp-gap, 4th gear pinned, 67 mph, 219-foot final distance.

Jump 4 - 190-foot ramp-gap, 4th gear pinned, 66 mph, 203-foot final distance (he touched-down further up the landing, not allowing the transition to fall away as much).

Jump 5 - 190-foot ramp-gap, 5th gear ¾ throttle, 72 mph, 240-foot final distance.

Jump 6 - 200-foot ramp-gap, 5th gear ¾ throttle, 71 mph, 238-foot final distance.

Jump 7 - 210-foot ramp-gap, 5th gear ¾ throttle, 74 mph, 247-foot final distance.