In the 1930s, carnival stunt shows featured a daring and dangerous attraction where a live lion rode inside a sidecar - or on a motorcycle's handlebars - while circling the vertical wooden walls of the "Wall of Death”.  Showmen added lions and bears to the Wall off Death acts to boost ticket sales during the Great Depression.  The most famous performer was George “Tornado” Smith - a British stunt rider who raised a lion cub named Briton.  Briton initially rode on the handlebars of his Indian Scout motorcycle before graduating to the sidecar as he grew to an adult lion.  The act came to an end in 1933 when the animal escaped in Wildwood, New Jersey resulting in a civilian fatality.
The history of Tornado Smith with lots of videos here