Jean-Pierre Goy: 'Bond' biker wary of RI roads

The 500-meter roadway at Surabaya's Kenjeran circuit looked like a venue for acrobatic performances one recent weekend when Jean-Pierre Goy demonstrated his skill on a modified Yamaha Scorpio motorcycle.

He began at full throttle. Skillfully, the Frenchman performed a wheelie, raising the front wheel of the motorcycle while riding along in a forward direction.

Seeing the action, spectators crowding the event broke into thunderous applause.

With the front wheel still raised, the rider, more intimately called Goy, made a U-turn, increased his speed and suddenly stopped the motorbike.

Now he was doing a "stoppie", raising the rear wheel of the motorbike. The spectators were mesmerized by this and then gave him a standing ovation.

Goy, however, continued to play on the emotions of his spectators. Once in a while he came close to the stand while saying, "Was that good, or what?"

"Goooood," came the reply in unison. All of a sudden, he stopped his motorbike right behind a woman spectator and took her for a ride. Despite her apparent fear, the white T-shirted woman complied when Goy asked her to board the back of his motorbike.

Then Goy performed another "stoppie" and wheelie with the woman riding pillion and hugging him closely. Again the spectators clicked their tongues in admiration.

Jean-Pierre Goy, who was born in Chavianoz, France, has been inseparable from his motorbike since he first rode it in 1978. "I sold my favorite horse and purchased a trials motorcycle for 800 euros (about US$970). Then I discovered the superiority of the machine on a stony road behind my dad's factory," he told The Jakarta Post.

Thanks to his creativity, Goy used wooden planks for his motocross exercises. His father, seeing Goy's motorbike-riding talent, got him to hone his balancing skill by walking on a cable.

After six months of training, Goy decided to take part in a motocross championship in his area. "I was a motocross racer for close to six years, apart from also being a freestyle motor showman," he said.

Then, an Italian film director spotted Goy's riding talent and asked him to be a stuntman in several films. Goy took up the offer. "I didn't really like being a stuntman, particularly the celebrity part. I much prefer being a motor showman," he said. However, despite his reluctance, his expertise on a motorbike caught the attention of action film directors. In April 1996 he took part in Tomorrow Never Dies, a James Bond film.

"They were looking for a rider who could stop precisely a few centimeters from a selected object. Dozens of stuntmen were put to the test, but eventually they chose me because I could do exactly what they wanted," he said.

"Shooting took place at several locations in the UK and also in Bangkok. "A scene lasting six minutes on film took four-and-a-half months to make," he said, with a chuckle.

Goy said his involvement in the Bond film proved to be an unforgettable experience. He was particularly impressed by Pierce Brosnan, the actor who played the Bond role, because, as he put it, Brosnan was really modest.

"At a media event in Bangkok, Brosnan suddenly asked me to come to the room. He introduced me to the press and said I was the stuntman in Tomorrow Never Dies. Well, I was really impressed by that gesture," said Goy, who admits, though, to being a fan of Sean Connery.

Although he is an expert at riding a motorcycle, Goy said he was reluctant to ride along Indonesian roads because they were simply too unsafe for motorcyclists.

"In Europe, there is a strip made of special rubber that separates the car and motorcycle lanes. So, if a rider falls off he will not be severely wounded," he said.

In Indonesia, that is still unheard of. Besides, the roads are usually pitted and also the lanes for cars and for motorbikes are not separated.

"In Lampung I saw a housewife seriously wounded when her motorbike fell after going over a hole. I saw a similar thing in Makassar so I'm reluctant to ride my bike on the roads here," he stressed.

On crash helmets, Goy regretted that many bikers wore helmets that protected only part of the head.

"In France, there is a standard specification. Usually a helmet is given a special registration number and the inscription "NF" (Norm France).

"Remember, the head is the most important part of the body," he added.