The Wall of Death: America's Original Motorcycle Stunt Show

Quick answer: The Wall of Death is a carnival motordrome act born from American board track racing. The first carnival drome appeared at Coney Island in 1911, riders were circling fully vertical walls by 1915, and more than 100 motordromes toured the country in the 1930s. A handful of troupes still perform the act today.

What exactly is a Wall of Death?

Picture a giant wooden barrel, typically 20 to 36 feet across, with spectators leaning over the rim. A rider enters the bottom, builds speed on the banked base, and climbs onto the vertical wall, held there by friction and the physics of circular motion. The bike runs perpendicular to the floor, close enough for the crowd to feel the wind. It is one of the oldest continuously performed motorcycle stunts on earth, and it has always been a professional show act performed inside a purpose-built structure.

Where did the Wall of Death come from?

The act grew directly out of American board track racing in the early 1900s, when motorcycles raced on steeply banked wooden ovals called motordromes. Promoters realized the spectacle could be shrunk, roofed, and taken on the road. The first carnival motordrome appeared at Coney Island, New York in 1911. By 1915 the first fully vertical walls were in use, and the name Wall of Death stuck, with an early vertical drome operating in Buffalo, New York.

The golden age came in the 1930s, when more than 100 motordromes traveled with carnivals and sat in amusement parks across the United States. Riders added lions in sidecars, trick riding, and multiple bikes on the wall at once. It was dangerous, loud, and enormously popular, a Depression-era spectacle you could smell as much as see.

Why the Indian Scout?

Ask any surviving wall rider and one machine comes up: the Indian Scout. First generation Scouts, and the 101 Scout built from 1928 to 1931, combined a low center of gravity, tractable V-twin power, and a chassis that could take year after year of wall work. Major shows like Tampa's Royal American Shows ran Scouts from that era, and restored examples still perform on walls today, closing in on a century of continuous service.

Who were the riders?

Motordrome riders were carnival professionals, and from early on the act included women. Gladys Soutter is regarded as the first woman wall rider in England, and in the American scene, Samantha Morgan became one of the most celebrated modern wall riders, later inducted into the Sturgis Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2006. The act has always run in families and troupes, with skills passed down rider to rider, because there is no other school for it.

Does anyone still tour a Wall of Death?

• American Motor Drome Company: a US-based troupe that has kept the classic carnival drome touring, long associated with riders like Jay Lightnin and the late Samantha Morgan.

• Ken Fox Troupe: a famous UK family operation running vintage machines on a traveling wall.

• Demon Drome and Messhams Wall of Death: UK-based walls that appear at vintage festivals and motorcycle events.

Walls still show up at major American motorcycle rallies, so if you are at a big rally week and hear open pipes echoing out of a wooden drum, go look. Watching from the rim is the whole point of the act, and admission is usually cheap.

How fast and how dangerous is it?

Wall riders typically circulate fast enough to generate several times their body weight in apparent force, and in 2016 Guy Martin set a measured world record of just over 78 mph on a specially built 37 meter wall for British television. In a standard carnival drome the speeds are far lower, but the margins are tiny and the consequences are real. This is a professional act built on years of apprenticeship inside a controlled structure. It has no street equivalent, and street imitations of show riding are illegal in most places.

Frequently asked questions

When was the first Wall of Death?

The first carnival motordrome appeared at Coney Island in 1911, with fully vertical walls following around 1915.

Why do the riders not fall?

Friction between the tires and the boards, sustained by enough speed, holds the bike on the wall. Ride too slowly and the grip runs out, which is why the climb and descent are the most delicate moments of the act.

What bikes are used today?

Vintage Indian Scouts remain the signature machine, often alongside small vintage singles and go-karts used for variety acts. The old bikes are preferred for their low seat height, smooth power, and simple mechanics.

Did women really ride the wall?

From the early days. Women headlined dromes across the decades, and Samantha Morgan's 2006 Sturgis Motorcycle Hall of Fame induction recognized one of the modern era's best.

Can you learn to ride a Wall of Death?

Only by joining a troupe. The surviving operations train their own riders on their own walls, usually over years. There is no public course, and that apprenticeship model is a big part of why the act has survived safely.

Is the Wall of Death the same as the Globe of Death?

No. The globe is a spherical steel cage act that grew out of the same carnival tradition, usually with multiple riders crossing paths inside. The wall is the older, wooden, open-topped original.

Sources

• Wall of death, Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wall_of_death

• Daredevils of the Wall of Death, Antique Archaeology: https://antiquearchaeology.com/blogs/two-lanes-blog/daredevils-of-the-wall-of-death

• Wall of Death Daredevils of Coney Island, CycleFish: https://www.cyclefish.com/blogs/20343/1404

• The Wall of Death, Todd Bates Photography: https://www.toddbatesphoto.com/the-wall-of-death/

Last updated: August 10, 2026. Part of the MGR Wheelies and Burnouts series on stunt riding as a sport. Also read what the pros actually ride and the stunt riding gear guide.