O/T Evel Knievel RIP

[bbbom]

I figured some of you old timers would be interested in this. I watched Evel do one of his infamous jumps over cars at a local place back when I was about 7 years old. RIP Evel.

Motorcycle daredevil Knievel dies at 69
KHQ-TV
CLEARWATER, Fla. - Evel Knievel, the hard-living motorcycle daredevil whose exploits made him an international icon in the 1970s, died Friday. He was 69.

Knievel death was confirmed by his 21-year-old granddaughter, Krysten Knievel. He had been in failing health for years, suffering from diabetes and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, an incurable condition that scarred his lungs. He had undergone a liver transplant in 1999 after nearly dying of hepatitis C, likely contracted through a blood transfusion after one of his bone-shattering spills.

His death came just two days after it was announced that he and rapper Kanye West had settled a federal lawsuit over the use of Knievel's trademarked image in a popular West music video.

Immortalized in the Washington's Smithsonian Institution as "America's Legendary Daredevil," Knievel was best known for a failed 1974 attempt to jump an Idaho canyon on a rocket-powered cycle and a spectacular crash at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas. He suffered nearly 40 broken bones before he retired in 1980.

For the tall, thin daredevil, the limelight was always comfortable, the gab glib. Always, he welcomed the challenge whether in sports, at work or play. To Knievel, there always were mountains to climb, feats to conquer.

"No king or prince has lived a better life," he said in a May 2006 interview with The Associated Press. "You're looking at a guy who's really done it all. And there are things I wish I had done better, not only for me but for the ones I loved."

He garbed himself in red, white and blue and had a knack for outrageous yarns: "Made $60 million, spent 61. ...Lost $250,000 at blackjack once. ... Had $3 million in the bank, though."

Although he dropped off the pop culture radar in the '80s, Knievel always had fans and enjoyed a resurgence in popularity in recent years. In later years he still made a good living selling his autographs and endorsing products. Thousands came to Butte, Mont., every year as his legend was celebrated during the "Evel Knievel Days" festival.

"They started out watching me bust my ass, and I became part of their lives," Knievel said. "People wanted to associate with a winner, not a loser. They wanted to associate with someone who kept trying to be a winner."

He began his daredevil career in 1965 when he formed a troupe called Evel Knievel's Motorcycle Daredevils, a touring show in which he performed stunts such as riding through fire walls, jumping over live rattlesnakes and mountain lions and being towed at 200 mph behind dragster race cars.

In 1966 he began touring alone, barnstorming the Western states and doing everything from driving the trucks, erecting the ramps and promoting the shows. In the beginning he charged $500 for a jump over two cars parked between ramps.

He steadily increased the length of the jumps until, on New Year's Day 1968, he was nearly killed when he jumped 151 feet across the fountains in front of Caesar's Palace. He cleared the fountains but the crash landing put him in the hospital in a coma for a month.

Hi son, Robbie, successfully completed the same jump in April 1989.

In the years after the Caesar's crash, the fee for Evel's performances increased to $1 million for his jump over 13 buses at Wembley Stadium in London - the crash landing broke his pelvis - to more than $6 million for the Sept. 8, 1974, attempt to clear the Snake River Canyon in Idaho in a rocket-powered "Skycycle." The money came from ticket sales, paid sponsors and ABC's "Wide World of Sports."

The parachute malfunctioned and deployed after takeoff. Strong winds blew the cycle into the canyon, landing him close to the swirling river below.

On Oct. 25, 1975, he jumped 14 Greyhound buses at Kings Island in Ohio.

Knievel decided to retire after a jump in the winter of 1976 in which he was again seriously injured. He suffered a concussion and broke both arms in an attempt to jump a tank full of live sharks in the Chicago Amphitheater. He continued to do smaller exhibitions around the country with his son, Robbie.

Many of his records have been broken by daredevil motorcyclist Bubba Blackwell.

Knievel also dabbled in movies and TV, starring as himself in "Viva Knievel" and with Lindsey Wagner in an episode of the 1980s TV series "Bionic Woman." George Hamilton and Sam Elliott each played Knievel in movies about his life.

Evel Knievel toys accounted for more than $300 million in sales for Ideal and other companies in the 1970s and '80s.

Born Robert Craig Knievel in the copper mining town of Butte on Oct. 17, 1938, Knievel was raised by his grandparents. He traced his career choice back to the time he saw Joey Chitwood's Auto Daredevil Show at age 8.

Outstanding in track and field, ski jumping and ice hockey at Butte High School, he went on to win the Northern Rocky Mountain Ski Association Class A Men's ski jumping championship in 1957 and played with the Charlotte Clippers of the Eastern Hockey League in 1959.

He also formed the Butte Bombers semiprofessional hockey team, acting as owner, manager, coach and player.

Knievel also worked in the Montana copper mines, served in the U.S. Army, ran his own hunting guide service, sold insurance and ran Honda motorcycle dealerships. As a motorcycle dealer, he drummed up business by offering $100 off the price of a motorcycle to customers who could beat him at arm wrestling.

At various times and in different interviews, Knievel claimed to have been a swindler, a card thief, a safe cracker, a holdup man.

Robbie Knievel followed in his father's footsteps as a daredevil, jumping a moving locomotive in a 200-foot, ramp-to-ramp motorcycle stunt on live television in 2000. He also jumped a 200-foot-wide chasm of the Grand Canyon.

Knievel married hometown girlfriend, Linda Joan Bork, in 1959. They separated in the early 1990s. They had four children, Kelly, Robbie, Tracey and Alicia.

Knievel lived with his longtime partner, Krystal Kennedy-Knievel, splitting his time between their Clearwater condo and his Butte hometown. They married in 1999 and divorced a few years later but remained together. Knievel had 10 grandchildren and a great-grandchild.

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22046860/

[KimberleyRN]

RIP...

I remember watching his stunts with amazement!

[Chipman]

The man had a pair of grapefruits..I still wince when I think about that one jump over the fountain. Salute

[ntrllftr]

I still have the old 8mm tape from when I saw him jump school buses at Dragway42. I think it was like 1978 or so, thats when people didn't get in trouble for streaking... Oh the glory days.

[bodyhard]

Didn't he tried to jump the Gran Canyon with a rocket or some **** like that?

[amoreno]

I remember watching the Snake River canyon jump on TV. They kept delaying the jump and the coverage went on for what seemed like forever before he finally made the attempt. Like almost every kid back then I had the wind up Evel Knievel motor cycle. I actually had an Evel Knievel Halloween costume one year ... maybe when I was 5 or 6 years old. That guy blew my mind

R.I.P.

[John Prophet]

when u think about the low tech bikes he had in those days its pretty incredible. Also he BARELY missed that jump at Ceasers palace but he paid heavily.

I remember seeing him jump a tank of sharks on TV when i was about 12


crazy dudes http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...arch&plindex=4

Gary Wells got hurt bad at caesers also. Robbie Knevel made the jump but even at that u see how sketchy the landing setup was, lol.

Today due to technology etc a dude can casually backflip it

[Jimislash]

Originally Posted by amoreno

I remember watching the Snake River canyon jump on TV. They kept delaying the jump and the coverage went on for what seemed like forever before he finally made the attempt. Like almost every kid back then I had the wind up Evel Knievel motor cycle. I actually had an Evel Knievel Halloween costume one year ... maybe when I was 5 or 6 years old. That guy blew my mind

R.I.P.

I had the wind up cycle and the action figure (can't call Evel a doll). He was one of my heroes as a kid. RIP Evel.

[ntrllftr]

Originally Posted by Jimislash

I had the wind up cycle and the action figure (can't call Evel a doll). He was one of my heroes as a kid. RIP Evel.

I still have it with the ramp and the 18 wheeler that you jump it with.

[crazycelt]

Originally Posted by ntrllftr

I still have the old 8mm tape from when I saw him jump school buses at Dragway42. I think it was like 1978 or so, thats when people didn't get in trouble for streaking... Oh the glory days.

Dragway 42? I haven't heard that name in years...... Thanks for the memories!
R.I.P. Evel K.

[blabber]

Yeah, I remember a lot of us kids with our Stingray bikes attempting dumb stunts using plywood ramps, hollering "EVEL KNIEVEL!!", then usually crash-landing in a heap on our driveways. The neighborhood moms hated that guy!

R.I.P.

[biggaz]

[QUOTE=John Prophet;101740011]when u think about the low tech bikes he had in those days its pretty incredible. Also he BARELY missed that jump at Ceasers palace but he paid heavily./QUOTE]

John, bikes are bikes. E,k rode a HD on every jump. I think it it was a 850 for some reason, probably wrong, but when you think he started seriously in 66, yr I was born, he was a pioneer with balls of steel.

Sad to hear about his passing away. RIP Evel.

[Bando]

Sad, the guy was like the bionic man, broke all those bones and still came back for more. Loved the windup motorcycle, that thing would fly, they don't make toys like that (that fast) anymore.

I tried to jump a dumpster on my bike as a kid and got a concussion, Mom was not a big fan of Evil.

[biggaz]

Originally Posted by John Prophet

when u think about the low tech bikes he had in those days its pretty incredible. Also he BARELY missed that jump at Ceasers palace but he paid heavily.

I remember seeing him jump a tank of sharks on TV when i was about 12


crazy dudes http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...arch&plindex=4

Gary Wells got hurt bad at caesers also. Robbie Knevel made the jump but even at that u see how sketchy the landing setup was, lol.

Today due to technology etc a dude can casually backflip it

Originally Posted by Bando

Sad, the guy was like the bionic man, broke all those bones and still came back for more. Loved the windup motorcycle, that thing would fly, they don't make toys like that (that fast) anymore.

I tried to jump a dumpster on my bike as a kid and got a concussion, Mom was not a big fan of Evil.

LOL
Would that have been a "chopper" or a "tomahawk" sp? Different countries, same kids, same heroes.

[Hibiscus09]

I remember watching him. May he rest in peace.

[TANK25]

He was one of my heroes when I was a kid.My dad brought me a Evel Knievel crank up motorcycle.

[MEStrange]

He was the man when I was a kid. I remember trying to jump a canyon with my 3 speed bike. I survived, the bike ended up bent in a 90 degree angle. I Limped home, bleeding, dragging the bike. I forget how many stitches I ended up having on that jump.

I also poured gas on one of my Evil action figures and ran him through a puddle of fire. My mother saw that and I was grounded for a week.

R.I.P.

[biggaz]

Originally Posted by MEStrange

He was the man when I was a kid. I remember trying to jump a canyon with my 3 speed bike. I survived, the bike ended up bent in a 90 degree angle. I Limped home, bleeding, dragging the bike. I forget how many stitches I ended up having on that jump.

I also poured gas on one of my Evil action figures and ran him through a puddle of fire. My mother saw that and I was grounded for a week.

R.I.P.

ROFLMAO

[buffyd]

Rest In Peace Mr. Knievel.

P.S. that crank-up motorcycle was soooo much fun. My cousins and I used to build ramps and have it crash into the Christmas tree!

[TANK25]

Originally Posted by buffyd

Rest In Peace Mr. Knievel.

P.S. that crank-up motorcycle was soooo much fun. My cousins and I used to build ramps and have it crash into the Christmas tree!

LMAO!!!We use to build ramps and jump ours too!!!!

[NotTooLate]

I was just talking about him last night. I was wondering why he hadn't tried to jump Niagara falls. I though he was already dead!

[Baldsnake]

I knew there would be a thread on his passing which has brought me on board today.

Wow. What a guy. I worked for Mack Trucks Los Angeles when he was hired by Mack and backed by Mack for promotions. He became pals with our service manager who worked on his Macks used in his city to city caravan. I was invited to lunch with him prior to the Snake River promotion and told him that I loved his red Cadillac El Dorado pick up truck with EVEL on the lisc. plate. He tossed me the keys and asked me which car in the lot was mine and we would trade for the day. I visited ALL of my friends over the following 24 hours.

A year or so later I was heading back to L.A. from Philly and was bumped into First Class. Bam....I was next to Evel. Thin, cragy, unruly hair, shinny Elvis like black outfit with sparklies, and a walking stick with a solid gold hand grip. What a guy. Genuine 100% Grade A man.

You are missed and will not be replaced.

[back2it]

The only man to ever be held together with more nuts and bolts than his motorcycles.
This guy will live forever in our memories. RIP

[TANK25]

Originally Posted by Baldsnake

I knew there would be a thread on his passing which has brought me on board today.

Wow. What a guy. I worked for Mack Trucks Los Angeles when he was hired by Mack and backed by Mack for promotions. He became pals with our service manager who worked on his Macks used in his city to city caravan. I was invited to lunch with him prior to the Snake River promotion and told him that I loved his red Cadillac El Dorado pick up truck with EVEL on the lisc. plate. He tossed me the keys and asked me which car in the lot was mine and we would trade for the day. I visited ALL of my friends over the following 24 hours.

A year or so later I was heading back to L.A. from Philly and was bumped into First Class. Bam....I was next to Evel. Thin, cragy, unruly hair, shinny Elvis like black outfit with sparklies, and a walking stick with a solid gold hand grip. What a guy. Genuine 100% Grade A man.

You are missed and will not be replaced.

Cool story!!!!!

[wild1poet2]

[QUOTE=biggaz;101754911]

Originally Posted by John Prophet

when u think about the low tech bikes he had in those days its pretty incredible. Also he BARELY missed that jump at Ceasers palace but he paid heavily./QUOTE]

John, bikes are bikes. E,k rode a HD on every jump. I think it it was a 850 for some reason, probably wrong, but when you think he started seriously in 66, yr I was born, he was a pioneer with balls of steel.

Sad to hear about his passing away. RIP Evel.

actually Knievel started out on a Triumph Bonneville when he was in Montana. Later he signed a deal with Harley and he used a modified XR750. The XR was a flat track racing dirt bike. And like John points out the bikes in those days were very heavy, and had little suspension travel compared to the lightweight long travel suspension machines they are using today. Which is why they are getting so much air and sticking landings. Knievel really captured the American spirit with his courage to challenge death and his ability to get back up after horrific injuries. He just never quit.

[TANK25]

[QUOTE=wild1poet2;101908681]

Originally Posted by biggaz

actually Knievel started out on a Triumph Bonneville when he was in Montana. Later he signed a deal with Harley and he used a modified XR750. The XR was a flat track racing dirt bike. And like John points out the bikes in those days were very heavy, and had little suspension travel compared to the lightweight long travel suspension machines they are using today. Which is why they are getting so much air and sticking landings. Knievel really captured the American spirit with his courage to challenge death and his ability to get back up after horrific injuries. He just never quit.

I remember my whole family would sit around the tv,when one of his jumps were on!!!

[NotTooLate]

Originally Posted by Baldsnake

I knew there would be a thread on his passing which has brought me on board today.

Wow. What a guy. I worked for Mack Trucks Los Angeles when he was hired by Mack and backed by Mack for promotions. He became pals with our service manager who worked on his Macks used in his city to city caravan. I was invited to lunch with him prior to the Snake River promotion and told him that I loved his red Cadillac El Dorado pick up truck with EVEL on the lisc. plate. He tossed me the keys and asked me which car in the lot was mine and we would trade for the day. I visited ALL of my friends over the following 24 hours.

A year or so later I was heading back to L.A. from Philly and was bumped into First Class. Bam....I was next to Evel. Thin, cragy, unruly hair, shinny Elvis like black outfit with sparklies, and a walking stick with a solid gold hand grip. What a guy. Genuine 100% Grade A man.

You are missed and will not be replaced.

VERY cool story! What a nice guy to let you use his truck all day. I will remember this story forever, thanks for sharing.

[bodyhard]

[TANK25]

Originally Posted by bodyhard

LOL,that`s my toy,good find BH!!!

[bbbom]

Originally Posted by wild1poet2

And like John points out the bikes in those days were very heavy, and had little suspension travel compared to the lightweight long travel suspension machines they are using today. Which is why they are getting so much air and sticking landings.

One of my uncles raced Canadian Motocross back in the 60's and he said he had to put new handlebars on the bike after each moto because they would be bent down from the pounding he put on them and he was never a big guy 5'7" and maybe 150 lbs with all his gear on. Heavy with no suspension travel is an understatement. The improvements made to bikes in handling and ease of riding is amazing in just the last few years.

The things Evel accomplished on those old bikes were definitely amazing.