The Purple Helmets, the hilarious and highly skilled motorcycle stunt team, is to retire this summer, with its final show scheduled for August on the Isle of Man. Anyone who has attended a major open air motorcycle show in the UK in the last 25 years can’t have missed them.

Mounted on ageing Honda C90, dressed in identical dirty brown macs and with deadpan faces hidden behind shades, the Purple Helmets attempted to replicate White Helmet stunts such as the Pyramid, adding their own wackier versions, such as dustbin racing (imagine a Honda 90 towing a sawn-off bin at speed) or a naked man playing a piano in a sidecar. For something which started out as a few friends having fun, they’ve become a motorcycling icon, performing all over the world and even in front of royalty.

Sadly, the Helmets have decided to hang up their…um…helmets.

“We’ve been doing this for 27 years and have had a wonderful time,” Purple Helmet Derry Kissack told Motorcycle News. “We used to ride for a crate of beer and always stayed amateur because we said money would spoil it. And it never has. It’ll be quite emotional I think,” he added, referring to their final show, which takes place at Great Laxey Duck Races on the Isle of Man, 20th August.

“Catch ‘em while you can, we all need some fun after the last couple of years.” said BMF Chair Jim Freeman.

Written by Peter Henshaw

Top image courtesy of Purple Helmets