First attempted motorcycle parachute jump

The first motorcycle parachute jump was attempted in November 1926, when aviator Fred Osborne (USA) of Santa Monica, California, USA, drove a four-cylinder motorcycle off the 200-ft (61-m) Huntington Cliff, north of Los Angeles, California – simultaneously pulling the ripcord on the parachute strapped to his back.

Osborne was a member of a pioneering daredevil flying troupe known as "The 13 Black Cats" and on this occasion, he may well have used one of his nine lives – the height of the cliff and the 60 mph (96.6 km/h) at which his motorcycle left the top of the precipice were insufficient for the parachute to fully deploy.

Osborne suffered serious injuries, and probably only escaped death because his fall was partially broken by overhead telephone cables.

The bike was totally destroyed.