Motorcycle stunt riding is a motorsport which involves stunts known as wheelies, stoppies, acrobatics, burnout, drifting, and jumping. Motorcycles are sometimes modified to do multiple tricks (handbreak, subcage, crashcage, stopper, etc.).

Stunters are a controversial subculture of motorcycling. Stunters perform motorcycle stunts on motor bikes, both on public roads and in private venues. Some stunters have organized commercial teams.

A wheelie on a motorized vehicle is a relatively common phenomenon. In drag racing they are considered a problem, robbing power that could be used to accelerate the vehicle faster, and many classes of drag racing use wheelie bars to prevent them.

However, those are for vehicles specifically built for drag racing, which rarely are street-legal, or unmodified from stock. In contrast, since at least the 1970s, some motorcycles straight from the showroom floor were able to be wheelied.

One of the original public stunts done on a motorcycle was riding the Globe of Death. In this stunt, one or more riders enter a steel banded sphere through a trap door and begin circling. The centripetal force of accelerating along the curve allows the rider to eventually circle on any plane inside the sphere, including sideways and upside-down. Though this is one of the original stunts, it is still commonly seen among circus acts.

In the late 1980s and continuing today, motorcycles, and especially sportbikes, have become lighter and more powerful, and have therefore become easier to wheelie. Other stunts have also become possible if not easy with the advancement of motorcycle technology. As Martin Child wrote in Bike, "With lighter, shorter, better-braked bikes on the market, the stoppie has never been so easy for so many." But at the same time, the cost of a motorcycle has remained relatively low compared to other street-legal vehicles with similar power-to-weight ratios.

In the 1990s some riders made performing stunts the primary focus of their riding. A wheelie or other stunt was not just something to do while riding, it became the main goal in this type of riding. Towards the mid 90s, modern stunt riding began to gain traction as riders would take these antics to the highway. A few groups of riders came about during this time, the most well known and popular being the Starboyz. They would regularly film each other performing high speed dangerous motorcycle stunts on the highway. They were also the first to release tapes commercially with the main content being highway stunts and various slow speed stunts. As the 90s came to an end, stunt riding had begun to grow bigger with more and more people coming into the new style of riding. It was extremely controversial with many news outlets reporting on it and local police in different areas realizing it may be a problem that will be difficult to address. By 1999, many groups and teams had formed and films were being made on motorcycle stunt riding. Riders began to pioneer new tricks and throw actual events. Among these events, was the stunt fest stunt competition. First introduced in the year 2000 and held at the Lakeland drag strip in Florida, it allowed competition and organized stunt riding to become more widespread.

Stunters often modify their motorcycles to better adapt them to the sport. Stunting equipment includes: