Passing of an Icon: Evel Knievel

[SockMonkey]

(Not sure if this should've gone in the RIP thread area as he didn't ride an FJR that I'm aware of...)

Link to the SI write-up: Daredevil Evel Knievel dead at 69

 

[Fred W]

(Not sure if this should've gone in the RIP thread area as he didn't ride an FJR that I'm aware of...)
Link to the SI write-up: Daredevil Evel Knievel dead at 69

I don't think I'm gonna miss him.

 

[RacinRay]

I was a child in the 70's and he was "Da Man" back then. I had the lunch box, I saw the movie, I even remember doing a book report on Evel. While his image was somewhat tarnished in the 80's I still remember him as a great daredevil with a big pair of stones.

Rest in peace.

 

[Toecutter]

:rip_1:

 

[Hit the Road Jack]

The original X-Game jumper, before there was such a thing. Look at what Travis Pastrana and his like are doing now.

 

[SockMonkey]

(Not sure if this should've gone in the RIP thread area as he didn't ride an FJR that I'm aware of...)
Link to the SI write-up: Daredevil Evel Knievel dead at 69

I don't think I'm gonna miss him.

Yeah, he was a bastard no doubt. But as a kid/teenager in the 70s, it sure was a kick to tune into ABC's Wide World of Sports and watch him jump something; trucks, the fountain at Ceasar's Palace, etc. (though I was always secretly hoping for an bone-crunching spill which seemed to happen with some regularity). And who can forget the Snake River Canyon debacle? Did that thing even qualify as a "motorcycle"??

Yep, I don't think the world will stop for 'ol Evel, but he did provide miles of entertainment in his day...

 

[kansas transit]

Say what ya want about the guy but, Not only did he have balls but he also did a pretty good job of marketing himself in a era that was not known for it. And this is taking nothing away from the x games guys and there high flying acts, but trying to pull some of the stunts that he did with an underpowered, overweight, no suspension to speak of HD. in a time long before computer generated (Know the outcome before you try it) software. Gotta give the man his props, even though I'm sure he probably had a good size ego. JMHO. Stan

 

[Fred W]

My point exactly. Too much marketing. Robbie is even worse.

 

[Fred W]

I was a child in the 70's and he was "Da Man" back then. I had the lunch box, I saw the movie, I even remember doing a book report on Evel. While his image was somewhat tarnished in the 80's I still remember him as a great daredevil with a big pair of stones.
Rest in peace.

I was a teen in the 70's also. Grad HS in '75. At the time I wished they had more coverage of Roger Decoster or Kenny Roberts (Sr). Or any of a bazillion other great racing pioneers. Somehow all the motorcycling attention went to the departed.

 

[Geezer]

I saw him live somewhere on Long Island, NY when he was fairly new. That was probably 1972 or 1973. He jumped over a car or something like that in an indoor venue. He crashed on landing but got up and took a bow. Not really my cup of tea.

 

[kansas transit]

I was a child in the 70's and he was "Da Man" back then. I had the lunch box, I saw the movie, I even remember doing a book report on Evel. While his image was somewhat tarnished in the 80's I still remember him as a great daredevil with a big pair of stones.
Rest in peace.

I was a teen in the 70's also. Grad HS in '75. At the time I wished they had more coverage of Roger Decoster or Kenny Roberts (Sr). Or any of a bazillion other great racing pioneers. Somehow all the motorcycling attention went to the departed.

Hey Fred 75, me too.

 

[twowheelnut]

Hope this last jump lands you in a better place, Evil. Thanks for the memories!

 

[charismaticmegafauna]

Love him or hate him, he was an icon. I saw him jump at the California state fair in Sacramento in '69(?). It was one of the biggest promotions I've ever witnessed. The radios blared loud promos for months before the event -- the actual jump was almost anticlimactic in retrospect -- grandstands were full, tho.

 

[airboss]

He was better at crashing than he was at jumping, but he sure carried a big set. RIP Evel.

 

[Joe2Lmaker]

Wow.

That brings back memories. Evel Knievel. The Seventies.

Time rolls on

 

[Silver Penguin]

He was better at crashing than he was at jumping, but he sure carried a big set. RIP Evel.

And that's what the crowds came to see. He was a showman, a performer and entertainer but not a motorcyclist. RIP Evel.

Jill

 

[ponyfool]

After that fiasco and subsequent settlement with Kayna West, I'm wondering if the rapper sent his mom's plastic surgeon after Evil?!?!?

 

[MrTwisty]

I saw him jump 19 cars in 1968 at Lions International Dragstrip in Los Angeles and I'll never forget it. He didn't do it on a dirt bike, like they do it today. No, he did it on an old Triumph street bike. Back then the bikes were not that great, dirt or street. Before the jump, he spent several minutes warming up by doing, and showing off by doing wheelies in every way possible back then. I don't think the bikes were powerful enough to wheelie while sitting on the gas tank, because if they were, I'm sure he would have done it.

Like him or not, he was one crazy son of a bitch, and I bet he was fun to party with.

 

[fjrchooser]

hits the netherlands... RIP Evil, I was with you on every one of them !

"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."

For the tall, thin daredevil, the limelight was always comfortable, the gab glib. To Knievel, there always were mountains to climb,