Ghost Rider (motorcyclist)

"Ghost Rider" is the alias used by a Swedish motorcycle stunt rider, called "probably the most famous flaunter [sic] of road rules the world has ever seen",[1] whose YouTube videos have achieved a "cult following" with millions of views.[2]

Biography

Ghost Rider performs in a series of independently produced DVD movies where the recurring theme involves Ghost Rider himself performing illegal maneuvers on his motorcycle on public roads across Sweden and other countries in Europe. The movies show Ghost Rider, mostly in the perspective of cameras mounted on his motorbike, racing at extreme speeds on busy roadways, provoking law enforcement officers into high-speed chases, and performing various dangerous stunts in mostly uncontrolled environments. Ghost Rider usually wears black leathers and a black helmet with black visor to help protect his identity.[3]

Ghost Rider's motorbikes of choice for the movies are the Suzuki GSX-R1000 and Suzuki GSX-1300R (Hayabusa). He has used a variety of different year models with differing modifications to each, including a fully carbon fiber GSX-R1000 K4 in Ghost Rider Goes Crazy in Europe and a 280+ brake horsepower turbocharged GSX-R1000 K5 in Ghost Rider Goes Undercover.

Swedish rock band Europe used various clips from the Ghost Rider movies in their music video for the song "Got to Have Faith" from their 2004 album Start from the Dark.

Identity

Ghost Rider has been identified by various media as being, or as possibly being, Swedish ex-racer and mechanic Patrik Furstenhoff.[4][5][1][6][7] Furstenhoff is listed at Guinness World Records as holding the record for the first documented 200-mile-per-hour (320 km/h) wheelie on a 500 hp (370 kW) turbocharged Suzuki Hayabusa,[4][5] and an earlier wheelie record.[8][9]

Arrest

Swedish detectives studied the videos posted by Ghost Rider in an attempt to determine his true identity. In early 2016, Ghost Rider was arrested and charged with various crimes, but the Swedish police did not reveal what clues in the videos gave him away. The police also confiscated his motorcycle and computer, and found that the account used to post the Ghost Rider videos on YouTube was linked to the computer. At the time of his arrest, his age was given as 20 years old, making him six years old when his first video was released in 2002.[10][11]

Notable feats

Vehicles

Each movie has a scene where Ghost Rider rides a highly tuned, turbocharged Suzuki Hayabusa. The Hayabusa in Ghost Rider: The Final Ride was tuned to 417 bhp (311 kW), and the one used for the later movies was at 499 bhp (372 kW).[1][3] Although Ghost Rider's primary vehicle is a motorcycle, he uses a wide variety of other vehicles in the movies including different types of cars, bicycles, minibikes and even a snowmobile on public streets.

Filmography

To date, a total of six Ghost Rider titles have been released. The fifth, titled Ghost Rider: Back to Basics was originally due to be released in December 2006. However, due to unforeseen circumstances it wasn't released until the 15th of February 2008. The latest, Ghost Rider 6.66: What the F**k, was released in 2012.

Title Year
Ghost Rider: The Final Ride 2002
Ghost Rider Goes Wild 2003
Ghost Rider Goes Crazy in Europe 2004
Ghost Rider Goes Undercover 2005
Ghost Rider: Back to Basics 2008
Ghost Rider 6.66: What the F**k 2012

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 Blain 2012.
  2. ↑ The Local 2012.
  3. 1 2 Spiegel TV 2003.
  4. 1 2 3 MCN 2011.
  5. 1 2 Clink 2012.
  6. ↑ Kerr 2006.
  7. ↑ Pope 2014.
  8. ↑ Young & Footman 2001, p. 226.
  9. ↑ Fivella 2013.
  10. ↑ "'Ghost Rider' who posts videos of himself speeding is finally arrested". Mail Online. Retrieved 2017-06-03.
  11. ↑ Mills, Kelly-Ann (2016-02-26). "Ghost rider taunts police by posting videos of himself driving at 137mph". mirror. Retrieved 2017-06-03.
  12. ↑ Martinsson & Ovander 2002.
  13. ↑ Johansson & Axelsson 2009.
  14. ↑ Guerrero 2005.
  15. ↑ Van der Valk 2005.

References

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