James Blackwell (born October 4, 1966; known professionally as Bubba Blackwell) is an American

stunt performer A stunt performer, often called a stuntman or stuntwoman and occasionally stuntperson or stunt-person, is a trained professional who performs daring acts, often as a career. Stunt performers usually appear in films or on television, as opposed ...

and motorcycle jumping world record holder who is sponsored by and promoted by the

Harley-Davidson Harley-Davidson, Inc. (H-D, or simply Harley) is an American motorcycle manufacturer headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Founded in 1903, it is one of two major American motorcycle manufacturers to survive the Great Depression along with i ...

motorcycle company. Before his association with Harley, Blackwell was sponsored by the now-defunct

Buell Motorcycle Company Buell Motorcycles is an American motorcycle manufacturer based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It was founded in 1983 by ex-Harley-Davidson engineer Erik Buell. Harley-Davidson acquired 49 percent of Buell in 1993, and Buell became a wholly owned sub ...

(Buell was partnered with Harley before Buell became defunct in October 2009). Blackwell is best known for breaking

Evel Knievel Robert Craig Knievel (October 17, 1938November 30, 2007), known professionally as Evel Knievel (), was an American stunt performer and entertainer. Throughout his career, he attempted List of Evel Knievel career jumps, more than 75 ramp-to-ra ...

's jump record for buses using a

Harley-Davidson XR-750 The Harley-Davidson XR-750 is a Motorcycle racing, racing motorcycle made by Harley-Davidson since 1970, primarily for Track racing, dirt track racing, but also for road racing in the XRTT variant. The XR-750 was designed in response to a 1969 chan ...

flat-track racing motorcycle.

Records

Bubba Blackwell began his career on April 26, 1998, when he jumped 20 cars in

Everett, Massachusetts Everett is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, directly north of Boston, bordering the neighborhood of Charlestown. The population was 49,075 at the time of the 2020 United States census. Everett was the last city in the ...

at Boston Harley-Davidson, breaking the 19-car record held by Evel Knievel. The following year, on July 4, 1999, during an airing of ''

The Tonight Show ''The Tonight Show'' is an American late-night talk show that has been broadcast on NBC since 1954. The program has been hosted by six comedians: Steve Allen (1954–1957), Jack Paar (1957–1962), Johnny Carson (1962–1992), Jay Leno (1992–2 ...

'' with

Jay Leno James Douglas Muir Leno ( ; born April 28, 1950) is an American television host, comedian, and writer. After doing stand-up comedy for years, he became the host of NBC's ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Tonight Show'' from 1992 until 200 ...

, Blackwell jumped 14 buses at

Del Mar Fair Del, or nabla, is an Operator (mathematics), operator used in mathematics (particularly in vector calculus) as a vector (geometry), vector differential operator, usually represented by the nabla symbol ∇. When applied to a function (mathemat ...

in California, tying the record held by Knievel, who leaped 14 buses at

Kings Island Kings Island is a amusement park northeast of Cincinnati in Mason, Ohio, United States. Owned and operated by Six Flags, the park was built by Taft Broadcasting and opened in 1972. It was part of a larger effort to move and expand Coney Islan ...

in 1975 (although Knievel's rear tire touched the 14th bus, his landing was successful). Five months later, Blackwell broke Knievel's bus-jumping record by jumping 15 buses. Blackwell broke Knievel's last remaining jump record on a Harley-Davidson XR-750 by jumping 52 stacked cars on October 4, 2008. The jump took place at the Deep South Speedway located between

Pensacola, Florida Pensacola ( ) is a city in the Florida panhandle in the United States. It is the county seat and only incorporated city, city in Escambia County, Florida, Escambia County. The population was 54,312 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. ...

and

Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. After a successful vote to annex areas west of the city limits in July 2023, Mobil ...

. The jump also marked Blackwell's 41st birthday.

Accidents

On July 4, 2001, Blackwell attempted to beat his record, attempting to jump 22 cars at

. The Del Mar track was a soft dirt horse track and Blackwell lost traction and was unable to obtain the necessary speed to clear the jump. He came up short and crashed. The crash is featured on television series including ''

World's Most Amazing Videos ''World's Most Amazing Videos'' is an American reality television series that ran on NBC from March 3, 1999, until 2001, as a filler program when other shows were cancelled and later revived on Spike TV from 2006 until 2008. The show showcases ...

'', ''

Shockwave In physics, a shock wave (also spelled shockwave), or shock, is a type of propagating disturbance that moves faster than the local speed of sound in the medium. Like an ordinary wave, a shock wave carries energy and can propagate through a me ...

'' and on the

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel, known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery, is an American cable channel that is best known for its ongoing reality television shows and promotion of pseudoscience. It init ...

's ''

Destroyed In Seconds ''Destroyed in Seconds'' is an American television series that premiered on Discovery Channel on August 21, 2008. Hosted by Ron Pitts, it features video segments of various things being destroyed fairly quickly (hence, "in seconds") such as pla ...

''.

Return to jumping

Following the Del Mar crash, Blackwell retired from jumping and limited performances to the Buell stunt show. However, in celebration of the 100th anniversary of

, Blackwell returned to jumping his

at Ukes Harley-Davidson Motorcycle Dealer in

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on August 30, 2003. Blackwell planned to attempt to beat the XR-750 record again on June 12, 2010, by jumping 22 Ford Focus cars at the

Rockingham Park Rockingham Park was a horse racing establishment in Salem, New Hampshire, in the United States. Notable horses to run at Rockingham Park included Seabiscuit, who raced there in 1935 and 1936,''Daily Racing Form'' staff (2005). ''Champions: The ...

Salem, New Hampshire Salem is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 30,089 at the 2020 census and an estimated 30,647 in 2022. Salem is a northern suburb of Boston located on Interstate 93. As the first town along I-93 north ...

. However that event was canceled. Blackwell is still periodically jumping the XR-750. In 2013, Blackwell jumped over two helicopters with their blades rotating. He also returned to Ukes Harley-Davidson for a jump to celebrate the 110th Anniversary of Harley-Davidson.

Cycle shows

Motorcycles

During a show, Blackwell rotates through several motorcycles, including: * A Harley-Davidson XR-1200 (stunt bike) * A

Harley-Davidson VRSC The Harley-Davidson VRSC (V-twin racing street custom), or V-Rod, is a line of V-twin cruiser motorcycles made by Harley-Davidson from 2002 until 2017. They are often called muscle bikes for their relatively high power output. The V-Rods are th ...

(stunt bike) * A

Harley-Davidson Super Glide The Harley-Davidson Super Glide was a motorcycle made by the Harley-Davidson Harley-Davidson, Inc. (H-D, or simply Harley) is an American motorcycle manufacturer headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Founded in 1903, it is one of two major ...

(stunt bike) * A Harley-Davidson FLHTCU (stunt bike) * A

(jump bike) Before Buell went out of business in 2009, Blackwell was sponsored by the Harley-Davidson subsidy and his stunt shows also included the Buell Blast and the Buell Lightning. Between 2010 and 2013, Blackwell discontinued using the Buell motorcycles. However, in 2014, Blackwell returned to using the Buells in his stunt shows.

Stunts

One of the highlights of the stunt show was Blackwell lifting the front wheel, doing a motorcycle

wheelie A wheelie, or wheelstand, is a vehicle maneuver in vehicle acrobatics in which the front wheel or wheels come off the ground due to sufficient torque being applied to the rear wheel or wheels, or rider motion relative to the vehicle. Wheelie ...

, on his street-legal Harley-Davidson FLHTCU outfitted with the 120 cubic inch twin cam engine. Blackwell also performs burnouts, including going through all 5-speeds of his custom

. The burn-outs often end with the rear tire of the motorcycle blowing. Toward the end of the Buell sponsorship, Blackwell toured with ''Team Bubba'', which included two other stunt riders other than himself performing stunts on the Buell motorcycles. However, with the liquidation of Buell Motorcycles, Blackwell exclusively performs stunts with the Harley-Davidson twin-cam engine motorcycles and jumps on the Harley-Davidson XR-750.

''Heirs to the Dare''

On March 10, 2014,

premiered the television show, ''Heirs to the Dare'', featuring Blackwell. ''Heirs to the Dare'' also featured stunt performers Henry "Pitbull" Rife and Super Joe Reed. The Discovery Channel describes Blackwell as "best known for breaking Evel Knievel's jump records for both cars and buses. He's known as 'king of the Harley' and he's had some really bad falls with 42 broken bones, to date. Bubba attempts jumps over objects that include helicopters with blades in full rotation as he earns big dollars for big jumps to support his family."

Retirement

After 21 years of performing professional stunt riding for Buell Motorcycles and Harley-Davidson Motorcycles, Blackwell retired on August 15, 2015. Blackwell said of his planned retirement that he accomplished all of his dreams and enjoyed fatherhood over stunt performing.Knowles, A., "Farewell to Bubba Blackwell: Daredevil hangs up suit, parks bikes", Fox6 WBRC, August 11, 2015 He announced his jump the weekend of August 15, 2015 in

Peoria, Illinois Peoria ( ) is a city in Peoria County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. Located on the Illinois River, the city had a population of 113,150 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Ill ...

would be his farewell performance.Underwood, J.
"Local daredevil to give 'farewell performance' Saturday in Illinois"
August 12, 2015. ''Gulf Coast News''. Blackwell said he would follow his daredevil career with a

lawn A lawn () is an area of soil-covered land planted with Poaceae, grasses and other durable plants such as clover lawn, clover which are maintained at a short height with a lawn mower (or sometimes grazing animals) and used for aesthetic an ...

care business but kept his motorcycles and jumpsuit and may one day return. Bubba came out of retirement on August 20, 2016, with a jump at Fox River Harley-Davidson in St. Charles, Illinois when he successfully cleared 15 Jeep Patriots after a 2-hour rain delay during the 2016 Illinois HOG Rally.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Blackwell, Bubba 1967 births Living people American motorcycle racers Motorcycle stunt performers American stunt performers