Evel Kneivel

[firko]

The legendary Evel Kneivel died this morning aged 69. Although the antics of today's freestylers make Evels achievments seem a little ordinary, it has to be remembered that it was he that put motorcycle jumping onto every TV set and set the standards that a myriad of imitators looked to top. It also has to be remembered that while Evels imitators ivariably did their show on lightweight motocross tackle, Evel did it on an all American Harley Davidson. He was a legend. 
 

[Hoony]

Vale Evil Kneivel, i agree the man is a legend. to do what he did on XR 750 harleys is incredible, a very fearless man. he was also a great showman as well.

[All Things 414]

Golly! I remember his Snake Canyon river jump in his rocket-ship thing. We sat up all night and after numerous set-backs I think he sailed all of 40'! I had an E/K action figure but I think he died in a fight with The Six Million Dollar Man.......

[Doc]

Sad to hear of Evel's passing. Bit of a shock actually as I've been watching a lot of old footage of late and the movie Viva Kneivel just the other week..when I was a kid I had his stunt cycle that went up and over that 4 foot ditch and he was the only doll I ever played with (that I'll admit to!)..mind you it was always very serious play!! Not making fun of the man as he has my respect as a true legend. wow..I really am shocked as many others would be 

[vmxrider]

He was a legend, a real showman, who had mediocre skill by today's standard, but lots of guts. There will only ever be one Evel Kneivel. Kinda the Elvis of the motorcycle world. Every kid knew of or mimicked Evel. The world is a totally different place now, and it would take someone to jump over the moon to generate the same sort of publicity that he generated. Guess he was lucky to have lived till 69. Wonder what Robbie Kneivel is up to these days.

[mx250]

He was a legend. 
 

I would strongly disagree and beg to differ, but would not agrue the case in these circumstance.

Vale Evel Kneivel.

[Hoony]

I would strongly disagree and beg to differ, but would not agrue the case in these circumstance.

Vale Evel Kneivel.

Your kidding Right ?

[vandy010]

"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."

absolute bloody STRUTH!

all that on an old bike! take a good look at any pre 70 mx bike and think seriously about jumping it 151 feet. Nup! No way! let alone a Harley.
i've jumped a 100 footer on a modern bike an am happy to say i've done it but i won't be back for more and will gladly leave that to the more adventurous.

i knew of his name before i even knew he was a real person. when i found out he was actually real he was instantly someone i wanted to know more about.
RIP Evil.

[Lozza]

Sad the passing of ol Evil, while his bravado was unparalelled his business practices were less than ethical.Robbie is a blatant fraud he had large landing sections blacked out on down ramps, No Dale Buggins

[gator]

right on MX250 just ask his wife what a great guy he was

[Jed]

I'll bet he didn't practise jumping into a swimming pool full of foam blocks before he went in front of the crowd( or camera). He had bigger goolies than all of us combined.
 Do what he did, I dare you !!!

[ianscr250]

ok guys fess up


who actualy remembers the silly bugga making a jump without braking a pelvis or other assorted bones



sad hes gone but to the lif eof me i cant remember him making any decent jumps

[All Things 414]

So Ian.............YOU were doing bigger jumps than Evil at the time?? And I would have thought the fact that he did bust himself up so bad would have been more than an argument NOT to do that sort of thing? It probably made his competitors think twice about doing the same thing!! I'm a little confused by that last one........

[All Things 414]

Whilst we're on the subject of show-men of that era, has anyone seen the Video/DVD "Devil at your heels"? The story of Kenny Carter "The Mad Canadian"?
The Late Show on the ABC resurrected this gem in the 90's. A serious documentary (you may think otherwise), it's this guy whose been jumping heaps of shit cars over two or three other heaps of shit cars for a few years and then gets this brainstorm to jump a rocket-powered (rockets and rocket fuel must have been cheap in those days!) car, one mile, from Canada to The US. Over the coarse of about five years he tries everything in his powers to get out of it 'cause you can see he knows he's gunna kill himself! A heart warming and touching doco, you can't help but wanna strap Kenny in and light the fuse yourself!
I wont spoil the ending, but it's a SCREAM!!!

[YSS]

Did you know Australia has his own Evel Kneivel ? Remember  in 1985  when the Ballarat Rovers member Clary Jones (Clarry the clown )jumped the 40m cliff  into the murray river. Clarence has been racing sidecars for years and I think won a couple of aussie speedway titles. There many stories to tell about Clary , I and I think Firko may have them on file .