Martin jumps over two barbed wire fences on a custom Triumph Scrambler 1200
Guy Martin’s motorcycle jump was filmed on a grassy field near Füssen, right on the Germany/Austrian border. It’s the same spot where Steve McQueen jumped a fence on a 650cc Triumph TR6 bike back in ‘63 in The Great Escape movie.
To recreate the iconic scene, Martin wanted to use the same place, but this time he wanted to jump higher and longer on his motorcycle than McQueen did. So, instead of jumping one barbed wire fence, Martin jumped over two 8-foot high fences with a modified Triumph Scrambler 1200.
Four years in the planning, the rider put in hours of work and made hundreds of practice jumps in preparation for this attempt. He received support from Triumph and North One Television.
The motorcycle was modified by Martin and Triumph chief engineer Stuart Wood in the Hinckley factory. Two Scrambler 1200 XE motorcycles were built to recreate the movie scene, each customised with a modified suspension and painted in a green and gold colour scheme to resemble McQueen’s motorcycle. One bike was used for the jump and the other as a back-up in case something went wrong.
Moreover, road components were removed from the bike, the electronic system was simplified and besides the upgraded suspension, Guy Martin fitted some offroad tyres.
