Lukey Luke retires from stunt riding
One of Australia’s best-known motorcycle stunt riders, ‘Lukey Luke’ Follacchio has retired, with his final performance for fans at the Australian round of the World Superbike Championship last November.
The Melburnian has been performing mad tricks on two wheels (and often one wheel!) for almost two decades, but in recent years, the growth of his business ventures that include Benzina Garage, a motorcycle workshop in Preston, and the soon-to-open Benzina Stables vehicle storage facility have required much more of his time and attention.
“It’s been an amazing journey and there are so many people to thank,” Lukey Luke said in a statement released ahead of his final stunt show, held at Phillip Island on 18-20 November.
“If young me could see what I’ve been able to do, where I have been able to perform, and the friends and fans I would make along the way - well, like me, he’d be pretty stoked!
“My family have been there every step of the way from my early days to now and without them I would never have been able to make this strange sport my career.
“It’s impossible to adequately express my gratitude to all of my sponsors along the way. I’ve always tried to give more than I have received and never taken their generosity and support for granted.”
Over the years, Lukey Luke has allied with the likes of KTM, MV Agusta, BMW and Triumph, but the latter connection has been the strongest. Australia’s Triumph distributors, PS Importers, have an association with the stunt riding supremo going back more than ten years and have sponsored him for the past six. As such, they’ve now signed him up as a brand ambassador.
“It’s nice to be able to continue to have involvement within the industry via PSI – a company that has always felt like family to me, having worked with them for so many years via my long era with Triumph Motorcycles,” Luke added.
In this new role, Lukey Luke will use his big social media following to promote PS Importers’ brands that include Vespa, Moto Guzzi and Aprilia, as well as Triumph.
