OzVMX Forum
Clubroom => General Discussion => Topic started by: jimg1au on December 12, 2007, 11:45:08 pm
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i know as i saw a bio on foxtell.he was an interesting man.still making money from the failed rocket jump,by suing Kayne west for using it in one of his video clips the one with Pam Anderson in
cheers
Jim
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I assume everyone on this forum knows he died recently?
Evel is a modified version of "evil", which is a moniker he picked up in his young, wild days. He changed the spelling later on.
Tex
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AFAIK he met some character in jail called "Awful Knawful" and picked up on it.
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"When the night jailer came around to check the roll, he noted Robert Knievel in one cell and William Knofel in the other. Knofel was well known as "Awful Knofel" ("awful" rhyming with "Knofel") so Knievel began to be referred to as Evel Knievel ("Evel" rhyming with "Knievel"). He chose this misspelling because of his last name and because he didn't want to be considered 'evil.' "
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evel_Knievel
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I have a autograph from evel and earlier in the peice, well for years actually always though it was fake until i relised it actually was evel knievel the way he spelt it, thank christ i didnt throw it out....... i would be slitting my wrist now.
When i was a kid i had a Evel bike and ramp, i wish i knew where that little treasure went, i think its still with my abba poster under the bed, pity i left that house....... ummm what 30 yrs ago
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Who cares how he got his name ,The guy was over rated and only good for one thing and that was falling off motorbikes and breaking multiple bones. Anyone recall a young Aussie boy back in 1980 called Dale buggins? He was jumping motorbikes better than anyone on the planet at that time and kneivel was most upset about that.Unfortunatly buggins died young.
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Here's a bit on Dale Buggins http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fb5JP3aV_BU ,Darcy
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Who cares how he got his name ,The guy was over rated and only good for one thing and that was falling off motorbikes and breaking multiple bones. Anyone recall a young Aussie boy back in 1980 called Dale buggins? He was jumping motorbikes better than anyone on the planet at that time and kneivel was most upset about that.Unfortunatly buggins died young.
True , but being dead wont help your jumping, and evel never said he was a great jumper, he was a Showman.
that was alway his claim, and bad landing or not he did that made a show of it, a jumps a jump, but like wrestling, you wont drive to Las Vagas to see a 2 min jump its all the build up , and if he didnt crash and walk away it was a weak jump. IF you crash it looked like a long unmakable jump. read his biography, it was all part of the show.
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showman = razzle, dazzle, b.s. and bluff/ no talent .
Yep, you right; he was a showman.
Sorry, it doesn't appeal to me and never did. And still don't respect him.
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You can't say the guy didn't have balls, all be it sometimes in his ear-drums ::) I doubt anyone here would have a crack at Jumping Ceasers on something you should be cruising around the country on in your retirement........
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i agree that guy was the coolest dude , any body who can jump a fountian ,a row off buses anything on a harley flat tracker is mr entertainment way back WHEN [/color
EVEL I SALUTE YOU YOU CRAZY MOTHER forkER IF ANY OFF US HAD EVEN ONE BALL THE SIZE OFF HIS WE WOULD BE DANGEROUS
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I have a autograph from evel and earlier in the peice, well for years actually always though it was fake until i relised it actually was evel knievel the way he spelt it, thank christ i didnt throw it out....... i would be slitting my wrist now.
When i was a kid i had a Evel bike and ramp, i wish i knew where that little treasure went, i think its still with my abba poster under the bed, pity i left that house....... ummm what 30 yrs ago
[/
Freaky, I had the Evel jump bike, or course it ended up jumping off the house too ;D.
Also, just heard Dancing Queen the other day, and daughter says her new fav song, so have to burn a CD for her. Damn, we're like old or something. LOL
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Ask your mother, father, grandmother, grandfather wife or kids and betcha they know of or at least have heard of evil knievil, i agree not so much a good rider but as a showman and self promoter with big balls he was second to none, and for that he has to be considered a legend.
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For all the Evil fans Richard Hammond(Top Gear) has a 1 Hour show on next Wednesday 8.30 on SBS.Has all the good stacks by the looks
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Lock that one in Lozza !
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Did anyone watch the Evel show on SBS on Wednesday night?
Very disappointing to find out what sort of bloke he really was. :(
Obviously he was a real hero to Richard Hammond too............... before he met him................ ::)
edit: I didn't realise either how few stunts he actually successfully completed. :D
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Yeah I saw most of it.
The saying goes, "you should never meet your heroes - you'll only be disappointed".
He was certainly a Showman; bigger than life, self promoting, full of theatre - and definately gutsy.
His name is probably right up there with Elvis and the Beatles.
And I'm not comparing talent wise; just on the recognition of the name - few people won't have heard of him.
On the doco he came across as a bit too self serving and maybe even arrogant.
He's aware of his own legend and basks in it; maybe it takes some effort to remain humble when others fawn and step aside as you pass by?
But to jump those buses and the fountain and whatever else takes some guts.
To continue following repeated horrendous injuries...
I'll remain impressed with his 'shows' but as a person I doubt we'd travel in the same crowd.
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Very well put, Wombat.
I've gotta admit I was a little nervous about meeting Rick Sieman. I'd been reading his stuff for nearly 30 years, so I had ideas of what he'd be like. Luckily enough, I was spot on. A great bloke with a never-ending supply of stories. ;D
So that's at least one hero that wasn't a disappointment.
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hey he had a good go at the stunts. more than some would even atempt back then
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well he was an american who grew up in that period that belived the US was the certre of the universe, and that they single handedly won the war, as far as he knows he was the king of the universe /
Personalities are what they are interesting, thats what gives them a personality i guess.
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Hey cool I also watched Eviel as a kid & built ramps, lit burning newspaper & jumped it. Only problem is my bike was a girls bike (Hey I was second born & only the eldest got a new bike) the bike bent up so bad the steering head met the seat. Cool no more girls bike!, I stole my younger brothers bike & promply rode it straight into a ditch & bent the forks back to the pedals. No wonder dad hated me!
I read somewhere that Kneivel worked as a bike mechanic for Jim Pommeroy's father before he found his new calling.
Talk about old childhood heroes, what about Daniel Boone, did ya-all throw axes at stumps too?
Ah! heroes they don't build em like they used too. 8)
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nah but broke my arm when i made a parachute outa a bed sheet and jumped off the garage roof /
work allright in the test phase with a house brick tied to it oh well no joining jet jackson for me
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he heh Axes at tree's was the go not the stumps
Except that ended abruptly one day after the time dad almost wore it ,as it glanced off the gum tree and went off at a lightning fast 45 degree angle like a catch to the slips, straight for his head, as he was bending over picking up rubbish in the yard, thank christ that missed, theres a story to tell ya kids, if you ever lived to tell it. after that i only was allowed to saw the fire wood - by hand - grumble........... :'(
I was more a 'Cat weazle' and 'banna splits' kinda guy, evel rocked but he only seemed to come on tele every couple of months, where as catweazle could be seen most night, even 'Dr who' rocked ( tom baker ) and i was shit scared of "the Stig"
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You can't really compare Evel to anyone else. He jumped 500lb Harley Bloody Davidson's. Dale Buggins was good and so too many others and no disrespect to any but none of them jumped on an overweight underpowered ill-handling rubber footpegged cow cocky bars red white and blue farm implement!..Evel did!!..what I liked..not once did he make anything look easy! 8)
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Doc the only thing impressive on that docco was "Lady Flyer" on her TM 250 ;D
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You can't really compare Evel to anyone else. He jumped 500lb Harley Bloody Davidson's. Dale Buggins was good and so too many others and no disrespect to any but none of them jumped on an overweight underpowered ill-handling rubber footpegged cow cocky bars red white and blue farm implement!..Evel did!!..what I liked..not once did he make anything look easy! 8)
He jumped it but did he land it? Hate to 'rain on your parade' but sounds like further proof the guy was an idiot ::)
If you watch Maddo you can see his brains in the run up, the ramp, the calculations, the choice of bike and the landing ramp - it was as safe as possible - brain power 'not suck it and see' stupidity. And in flight you can see Maddo correct the attitude of the bike - skill, daring and brains.
This is what I saw at the time and nothing you guys have said has changed my opinion. In fact the more I know him the less I like him. His enduring ledgenery status says something about our society, hype, mass media, vested interests and the need for heros. Somewhere along the line the glare of the media has obsured a less than nice guy. I would respect more a working slob who brings up a family and calls playing the pokies sport.
Maddo I can look up to. Evel I care to forget.
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One good thing about the doco for me was the memories it revived of Christmas morning in WA about 1976?. Going into the street with my dad and setting up a ramp with a piece of wood and two bricks so I could try out my new Evel Knievel wind up bike.
My favourite Evel Knievel moment however, was actually in a doco called "The Devil at your Heels". For those who haven't seen it, it's one of the most funny (unintentionally!) things you'll ever see. To cut a long story short, a slightly dimwitted Canadian stuntman whose career is nearly at an end, decides to make one last shot at stardom by trying to jump a homemade rocket powered car across the river that borders the US and Canada at some point in the 80's.
There are a shiteload of hilarious moments through the show, but one of the highlights is when Evel turns up on behalf of ESPN to interview the twit attempting the stunt. Evel takes one look at the ramp that been built and where the dude is trying to jump too and says " No way would I be doing it, that's madness, You'd have to be crazy!"