Video: See the radical M85 stunt motorcycle in action

What you could be looking at here is the first of a new breed of stunt motorcycle – a selective mix of offroad power and styling with the nimbleness and versatility of a downhill mountain bike.

Well that’s what Industrial Design degree students and builders Grady Barfoot and Dustin Griffin think, and that’s the reason behind the M85 Project Bike.

The idea emerged from the pair’s joint interest in freeride mountain bikes and backgrounds in dirt bikes.

Grady Barfoot, 26, from Arlington, Texas and 22-year-old Dustin Griffin from Eureka Springs, Arkansas, originally came up with the project after seeing the promo video for another machine, the FX Bike, which uses a similar concept with a Honda XR50 motor.

However, Barfoot and Griffin wanted to take the idea to the next step, using an improved motor and putting their own knowledge and preferences into the ultimate stunt motorcycle.

Grady Barfoot said: “The FX Bike runs a bored out XR50 motor; simple, air-cooled, torquey, but slow and heavy. In our opinion this is the first place the FX Bike faults.

“We looked at two-strokes for their weight but were worried that the powerband would not lend itself well to this application, we found that the modern Kawasaki KX85 is a powervalve motor and is easily tuned for a mellow trail application.”

Read the full story on how they created the bike in MCN this week (December 19, 2007).