STURGIS, SD – The 85th annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is in full swing, with events happening all weekend long around the Black Hills centered on the world of motorcycles. One motorcycle legend who is visiting Sturgis for the first time made history on Saturday night at the Thunderdome.
Colby Raha was raised in Colton, California, and his first love was BMX biking, but soon the raw power of motocross drew him in. Raha developed a creative, fearless style that earned him seven gold medals at the X-games. After spending the majority of life around motorcycles, he figured it was time to come to the legendary Sturgis Rally.
“It’s my first time in Sturgis,” Raha said. “It’s amazing to see all the support and the patriot, motorcycle, blue collar, just great people everywhere you go…I’m amazed so far.”
The 30-year-old Raha came to the 85th Rally to attempt a 200-foot world record jump on a Harley Davidson V-Twin motorcycle on Saturday night, honoring one of his two-wheel heroes, the legendary Evel Knievel.
“Evel Knievel, he paved the way from the beginning, he really risked it a lot more than anybody else because he was paving the way, testing new ramps going distances without using a speedometer on a bike that wasn’t built to jump.”
Raha and his crew spent about a week at the Thunderdome on Highway 34, testing the approach and the 77 mile per hour speed he needed to make the jump. He admitted to having a few nerves.
“Anybody that’s risking their life on a 600 pound bike going over 180 feet is going to be nervous but I think that’s what the daredevils are good at, is turning off the fear switch. When it comes time to go, you gotta go.”
Raha came up a few feet short on his first attempt. His second attempt was almost exactly at the 200 foot mark. On his third jump, Raha officially broke the world record but wanted one more shot. On his fourth attempt, he shattered the world record—now set at 205 feet and officially certified at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. The hundreds of bikers cheered as Raha stood atop the landing ramp, celebrating his new world record.
“We landed it perfectly,” he said. “I executed it perfectly three times in a row and that last one, I left the throttle on and this landing is small going that big. That was a violent landing, I held on for dear life. I felt like Knievel on that one. A few of us on the planet know what it’s like to launch this bike the distances we’re going and I’m feeling what Evel must have felt, holding on to this thing, going these distances, it’s an amazing feeling and it’s what gets me fired up.”
A new world record on a Harley V-twin, in honor of the godfather of all motorcycle daredevils, Evel Knievel. The 205-foot jump breaks the world record held by Doug Danger, set back in 2015 here in Sturgis. Danger jumped 21 cars at the 75th Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.