Evel Knievel RIP

[Buzz]

I was 12 in '74 at the height of HIS glory. He was such an inspiration. I jumped three garbage cans in the alley that year going up a wooden board on some stacked bricks, no helmet, no pads, on a green stingray with a cheetah slick. My neighbor John "Mercury" Morris jumped way more. He was crazy like Knievel. He ran away to a circus and became a bike stunt rider. Never heard from him since.

[Grant McLean]

No more broken bones...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_vn7SHncKs


Evel was at the vegas bikeshow a couple of years ago, he had a bmx deal
with some brand, they had some cool white, red and blue retro painted up
models. There didn't seem to be too many of the young kids around who
really thought much about this old guy, and wow, where they really missing
something. I wonder how many of them realize how 'extreme' he was back
then.


-g

[old_school]

I can still see my cousin barrel-assing down a hill, pulling up on a jump, and having the fork separate on his homemade chopper ... those were the days.
Evil Knievel inspired an entire generation of kids.

[SWorks4me]

Zanc, I am going to need a cross bike done up with an Evel motif...

[Blue Jays]

He was a hard-living man who certainly knew how to stare down fear. RIP.

[dirtdigger88]

I recently drug out my old Evel Knievel toys from the 70s to share with my son-

we raced them around the living room tonight in his honor :cool:

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l162/dirt_011/evil010.jpg

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l162/dirt_011/evil005.jpg

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l162/dirt_011/evil008.jpg

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l162/dirt_011/evil007.jpg

Jason

[Blue Jays]

dirtdigger88, that's some cool "throwback" history to a different era. :)

Back in the day Evel Knievel was an icon that was always newsworthy. Just like the band KISS back then...no matter where you went, you could always open a newspaper / magazine and read something about either of them staying in the headlines.

[chuckroast]

From just the other day....

[dirtdigger88]

dirtdigger88, that's some cool "throwback" history to a different era. :)

Just like the band KISS back then...no matter where you went, you could always open a newspaper / magazine and read something about either of them staying in the headlines.

would you think Im a total geek if I posted pix of my KISS figures too-

I have all 4 :rolleyes:

Jason

[Wayne77]

I recently drug out my old Evel Knievel toys from the 70s to share with my son-

we raced them around the living room tonight in his honor :cool:
Jason


I had the same stunt cycle as a kid too. Boy those were the days.. Lots of good karma your way for posting those pics and re-surfacing so many good memories of being a kid and Evel Knievel :beer:

[Blue Jays]

Nothing wrong with having Paul, Gene, Ace, & Peter carefully stored away!

:beer:

[Fixed]

i made a hand delivery to the cat one time he was in bad shape imho
cheers :beer:

[onekgguy]

i made a hand delivery to the cat one time he was in bad shape imho
cheers :beer:

What year would that have been? I agree...he looked a lot older than he was from the recent photos of him I've seen.

I found it interesting reading his bio tonight. He was quite the athlete. He played semipro hockey in the late '50s and was an accomplished skier. I went through a phase in the early '70s where I was fascinated with him and his plans for jumping the Grand Canyon.

Kevin g

[rounder]

The guy was fearless...jump over the fountain at caesers palace...no problem. Jump over the Grand Canyon...no problem. Live forever evel knievel.

[Fixed]

within the last two years he had an apartment in st pete just over the bridge from tampa, he got a rejection letter from the law firm i work for .he was so weak he couldn't hold the letter and had an ox. tank .
cheers

[saab2000]

There was an interview with him a few years ago where he talked about the motorcycles he used. They were basically stock. He was kind of dissing the outrageous things these guys do today because their equipment is so much better than what he had. Put in those terms I guess it makes sense.

Pretty outrageous stuff.

[steelrider]

He was awesome to watch. I remember being amazed as a kid. Pedal to the metal kind of guy.

[3chordwonder]

he got a rejection letter from the law firm i work for

- rejecting what? Sounds like a pretty sad drop to have had to make. I can imagine preferring to deliver letters of congratulation.

I remember Knievel as a larger than life character who even made it into Dutch kids magazines when I was growing up in the 70s. RIP indeed.

[Fixed]

when a law firm doesn't want to take a case they send out a reject let.
cheers

[ds97a]

Wow, those Evel Knievel toys bring back some serious memories! My brother and I had several of them, (chopper, trailbike, stock chopper) they were awesome. I remember when the Evel specials were on TV, my brother and I would be sure to be planted in front of the tube to watch it and then we would have the ramps set up in the back yard to try the stunt in the back yard!

Thanks for the memories, and Rest in Piece Mr. Knievel!

[rwsaunders]

Famous line from George Carlin mocking the standard airline announcement to get on a plane. "Evil Knievel can get on the plane...I'm getting in the plane."

[pjm]

Didn't he beat beat the hell out of someone with a baseball bat once? Oh yeah, he was a great guy!

[Buzz]

Heres a good article / blog on him from the NYT. Not surprisingly a very twisted life of highs and lows.

http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/11/30/viva-knievel-the-final-chapter/index.html

[Flat Out]

I recently drug out my old Evel Knievel toys from the 70s to share with my son-

we raced them around the living room tonight in his honor :cool:



I had the stunt bike, too. I also had the funny car and the chopper. Good stuff.

[barry1021]

The guy was fearless...jump over the fountain at caesers palace...no problem. Jump over the Grand Canyon...no problem. Live forever evel knievel.

Stupid is another. Waste of good testosterone. YMMV.

b21