Topic: Do it Evel!

[dhall57]

Showing my age here, but who else remembers watching this when it happened
Damn what a crash!! Can you say broken bones

Evel Knievel at Caesar's Palace
A publicity shot right before the jump on his Triumph and the distance of the jump.
Him in mid flight.
The landing, not good!

[honda_dog]

I remember all those jumps.... had the Evel motorcycle toy with Evel on it. Used to set-up jumps on our stairway, back porch, etc......

[ekpent]

He was a real Man doing those jumps on that heavy old school iron with about 6 inches of suspension .

[Duanob]

Imagine what he could of done with new school MX bikes?

[greenjeans]

He alwasy joked that he was the best at taking off...   It was his landings that needed work.

[martin99]

I remember it well. Watched a documentary a while back, at the time he wasn't in the best of health and didn't seem the most pleasant character you're likely to meet, though certainly one of the bravest.

[dusterdude]

Evel was my hero until i met sam,then that was all she wrote lol


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[Retro Rocket]

He was a real Man doing those jumps on that heavy old school iron with about 6 inches of suspension .

I beg to differ, I would say he was an attention seeking idiot that wasn't really a good rider at all....

[LesterPiglet]

I seen a programme with Richard Hammond (Top Gear) where he met Evel. Seemed a hard character to like.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1164986/

[martin99]

I seen a programme with Richard Hammond (Top Gear) where he met Evel. Seemed a hard character to like.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1164986/

Yep, that's the one I was referring to.

[BobbyR]

Evel was a true hero. He actually crashed 50% of the time. He was slated for a Liver transplant and he found out a 16 year old kid also needed one. He told them to give it to the kid since he lived enough. He got the next liver.  He may not have been the best at when he did, but he had the biggest balls. 

[fmctm1sw]

An American icon.  I heard him on the Jim Rome show years back talking about the Snake River jump.  "Do you know who the hell I am?"
   Jim Rome interview with Evel Knievel "Do you know who the hell I am?"

[dhall57]

The Triumph's, Harleys etc that he jumped in the 60's and 70's of course had been modified with the best equipment that was out there at the time. But by todays standards thats not saying much. Just imagine taking your 1969-1976 Honda CB750 and jumping off the end of a ramp at 90 or so and trying  to land it on another ramp 150 ft or more away. INSANE!!

[ekpent]

Even a wheelie on a road bike was kind of a big deal back then   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgwmIFci1S0

[DH]

Even a wheelie on a road bike was kind of a big deal back then   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgwmIFci1S0

Yup, it took talent to "crank it up" on some of the old bikes, at least on the old Hondas. Evel was fun to watch. He was the standard for us kids on or ct 70s
Nowadays most of the thrill is gone. The bikes are so much better balanced with much more h.p.
It's still cool to see if it's done right. Most of them nowadays are "too over the top" imo. More like a circus when it's a group thing on the hiways. But we all know that's another topic alltogether.

[Don R]

 A couple local DJ's somehow got his phone number and called him. Not a pleasant conversation and short.
 In '73 or 4 I crossed a raised section of pavement on my K2 cb500, the front tire made it but the back tire kept skipping on the edge. A tank slapper leading to a high side ensued when I went down all I could think about was getting away from the bike. I remembered Evel crashing and getting hit by the sliding bike. I put my feet on the seat and pushed it away while sliding. It was summer and no AC. I had a 360* road rash but nothing broken.  Rough sleeping in the heat and no side to lay on that wasn't scuffed.