Watch Tyler Bereman jump half a mile of desert islands on an MX bike
The Red Bull rider, Tyler Bereman, has successfully jumped six islands in Florida on a dirt bike, landing 15 consecutive jumps across water without a single mistake.
Tyler Bereman has made a career out of jumping things that look like bad ideas, but the Red Bull FMX star took things to a whole new level with this stunt.
The Red Bull rider has completed a near half-mile run across six islands in Florida, jumping between dirt take-offs and floating barges with open water underneath. The project, called Island Hopper, covered 2,316 feet and required Bereman to leave the ground 15 times. Miss a landing and the consequences would have been immediate and wet. Getting pinned beneath a 100kg dirt bike in salt water doesn’t sound like a fun way to round out a day!
The idea first surfaced two years ago at the Miami Formula 1 Grand Prix during a Red Bull athlete workshop. While sitting in a pool, wakeboarder Parks Bonifay pointed out a stretch of water dotted with small islands and asked Bereman if it could be jumped on a dirt bike. Rather than dismissing it, Bereman and his long-time collaborator Jason Baker started working out how it might actually be possible.
That process took 18 months.
Some islands sat just two feet above the water, others four. Several landing zones didn’t exist at all, meaning floating barges had to be engineered to take the impact of a motocross bike landing at speed. Before anything was built in Florida, the entire course was recreated on land in California so Bereman could train properly.
He spent three weeks riding the replica daily, completing up to ten full runs a day to dial in speed, timing and sight lines. Flags, survey equipment and repeated rebuilds were used to eliminate as much guesswork as possible before moving the project onto water.
The biggest unknown was always the water itself. If Bereman came up short, he’d be underwater, clipped to a bike and weighed down by heavy boots. To prepare, he trained underwater escape techniques and breath-hold drills more commonly used by big-wave surfers, with guidance from FMX veteran Robbie Maddison.
Once the Florida build was complete — after around 1,500 hours of work — there was little left to control.
On the day, Bereman slowed his breathing, clicked into gear and set off. One clean run later, he had touched down on every island and rolled out the far end, completing something that hadn’t been done before in freeride motocross.
Island Hopper now sits alongside Red Bull Straight Rhythm and Imagination as another example of Bereman pushing FMX beyond contests and into full-scale engineering projects.
Images / Video : Robert Snow / Red Bull Content Pool
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Simon (AKA Toad) has been working within the motorcycle industry for more than twelve years, and a member of the motorcyclist family since birth. Growing up around British-built single and twins, it was inevitable that a life on two wheels was on the cards, from a very early age!