Rare, Dangerous Sport You've Never Heard of | Tales From the Bottle

An ancient classic revived in the modern age to be more dangerous than ever.

"Motorcycle chariot racing is a motor sport that combines motorcycle racing and chariot racing.
The sport was extant in the 1920s and 1930s, having been inspired by the 1925 film Ben-Hur. It went largely (although not entirely) extinct after that, although exhibition rigs are still made and driven.
The sport was developed in Australia in the 1920s and quickly spread to Europe and America. Motorcycle chariot races were, for instance, probably held at the old Charlotte, North Carolina motor speedway (the old speedway at 35°5′52.8″N 80°52′52.51″W, not the modern Charlotte Motor Speedway).
A typical early vehicle configuration was a rider on a motorcycle, pulling a chariot and charioteer who were essentially ornamental. A 1922 short piece in Popular Mechanics describes this configuration. This soon developed into a configuration with two riderless motorcycles steered by a single charioteer using reins. Steering was sometimes done with reins attached to the throttles (the charioteer steered by controlling the relative speed of the two motorcycles), and sometimes with rigid extensions attached to the handlebars. Modern rigs may have foot pedals for speed control, the reins used for steering the front wheels."

More on Wikipedia:

[redram]

Before being made into a film, Ben Hur was a wildly popular stage play in the USA. Some productions even figured out how to have the chariot race in an indoor theater… with live horses. They built a giant treadmill and let these animals go for it full tilt

[nobodynoone]

As a guy with too many motorcycles and a welder, I can see exaclty how this happens.

[ThomasTheThermonuclearBomb]

Imagine racing chariots normally in a the Roman Empire, then out comes a chariot with iron horses that constantly emit smoke and are much louder than your average horse. I’d pray to Jupiter to strike down that monstrosity

[haven_lady]

Admit it. This looks fun to watch.

Better than watching most sports!

[Shatterverse]

I think you just discovered the inspiration for Pod Racing. That actually looks fucking awesome. You know at least one of those madlads got to the afterlife and ran into someone who died like 2000 years ago and the scornful Roman was being all scornful and shit and the racer's like, "Naw mate; motorcycle chariot crash."

[PALM]

I went to motorcycle chariot races at some fairgrounds when I was a kid.
They had 1-2-3-4 bike set-ups.
The singles were ok.
The doubles…better.
The triples…even better yet!
But the 4 bike set ups!!!
Mayhem ensued! Bones were broke bodies twisted and bike parts rained down not unlike a rainstorm!
It was a blast!

[Oblivisci........]

Sometimes I feel like Qxir is a revolutionary comedic genius. Other times I feel like he's just a drunken Irishman that somehow gained access to the internet. Either way, I feel we are all graced to be in his presence despite the pungent whiskey smell.

[chillout]

It’s cool to see how over thousands of years entertainment has remained the same.
Make thing go vroom, make person go ow

[wormworm]

As a horse person I appreciate that someone finally acknowledged how stupid horses are. One time a horse I rode got stuck in a creek during a flood. People rescued it with a whole ass crane and the next day it got stuck in the exact same spot, because horses are just toddlers in a ridiculously muscular meat mech suit.

[PianoBoyLiam]

Love the great consistent content you put out Qxir!

[natesturm]

Drawings as we go farther into the future are just getting more class. Outright art at it's finest.

[mordecai]

as an equestrian athlete your analysis of horses is absolutely offensive and insulting and also 100% accurate

[TheMixCurator]

The best thing about the Colosseums was on very rare occasions was they'd literally flood the arena to make a simulated naval battle, or naumachia for the spectators.
Naumachiae are thought to date back to the third century BC, and appear to have taken place only four or five times in history. The first naumachia on record, in 46 BC, was in honor Julius Caesar’s quadruple triumph, which ended wars in Gaul, Egypt, against Pharnaces of Pontus, and against King Juba of Numidia. For Caesar’s naumachia, ships representing the Tyrian and Egyptian fleets were set afloat in a basin constructed near the river Tiber. The boats were staffed with 4, 000 oarsmen and 2, 000 fighting men.
Augustus threw a naumachia in 2 BCE involving a basin broad enough to hold 30 ships representing Persian and Athenian fleets. A bit later, in 52 AD, Claudius demanded his own naumachia, this one on a lake and involving 19, 000 soldiers and 100 ships meant to represent rivals Rhodes and Cecily. According to Tacitus, the prisoners at this showcase refused to fight, forcing Claudius to send down his imperial guard to instigate some blood shedding.
Must have been a fun afternoon for all (well, except the poor bastards that died during these simulated battles).

[wardawg]

To be honest, motorcycle chariots sound absolutely fucking dope

[devonlord]

This only further proves my point that the Mad Max films are actually just documentaries about Australia.

[Gojiro]

I love that this entire premise can be summed up as "How do we make Chariot racing more exciting? by making the horses capable of exploding"

[RisingRevengeance]

*me:* I wonder why men don't live as long as women
*also me:* I should try motorcycle chariots at least once

[dacrispy]

By far my favorite story teller on YouTube, you’re amazing man.

[FranktheDachshund]

How can I have lived 60 years as a motorcyclist and have never even dreamed this existed?

[jtyty]

Yes dude! I saw a clip of this sport on Daily Dose of Internet and I couldn’t find a good video on motorcycle chariot racing. So glad you covered this topic! Love the channel!