HURTLING through the air at high speed may not be everyone's idea of fun but for Nik Soar it has been a life-long dream.Suffolk-born Nik is soon to be fulfilling his ultimate ambition when he attempts a world record jump over the Grand Harbour in Malta later this year.

By Victoria Knowles

victoria.knowles@eveningstar.co.uk

HURTLING through mid-air at high speed on a motorbike may not be everyone's idea of fun but for Nik Soar it has been a life-long dream.

Suffolk-born Nik is soon to be fulfilling his ultimate ambition when he attempts a world record jump over the Grand Harbour in Malta later this year.

Not content with this amazing feat of daring he will then tackle the 200ft jump which left his hero, Eddie Kidd, brain damaged and paralysed.

On August 11, 1996, Eddie attempted a jump at a Hell's Angels rally in Long Marston, Warwickshire. The landing went terribly wrong after he plunged down a 40 ft drop.

Eddie will be supporting Nik, who is currently based in Malta, when he jumps the harbour in May and then later attempts the jump which left him in a coma.

"My only concern is that when jumping on land over objects such as vehicles I can build up enough distance.

"With the Harbour jump it will be set-up once and I can't work up to it so it will be a one-off deal.

"There will also be the added pressure of the world and his dog watching me," said Nik.

He admits he was not really into motorbikes until he saw Evel Knievel on the television and then he knew exactly what he wanted to do.

While his friends played football he would jump anything that stayed still long enough.

He parents forbade him from riding so he put his dreams to the back of his mind for a while and he later went to London to study photography.

It was while watching a travelling stunt show which finally made him realise that stunt riding was for him.

The show visited Ipswich when Nik knocked on the owner's caravan door and explained what he wanted to do.

Nik said: "The owner kept me waiting all afternoon and I was about to give up.

Then, right out of the blue the owner said, 'the bike's over there, you're on in ten minutes.'

"When I entered the arena the worst thing happened and I accelerated too fast and fell off. I thought to myself, 'this is it, you have waited all your life for this and someone is giving you a chance.'

"From then on I made about hundred jumps a week and was a part of the show.

"My bike was even carried in the same Mercedes van which used to carry Eddie Kidd's bike, with the old logo stickers still on the side"

Friends of the 36-year-old say there is nothing else in the world he would want to do.

With a television documentary in the pipeline and Coca Cola on board as a sponsor it seems Nik has finally realised his dream and is following in the footsteps of his childhood heroes.