Life of Evel: Evel Knievel (29 page)

Injuries: None

Date: 23–25 February

Venue: Cleveland Convention Center, Cleveland, Ohio

Distance/obstacle: n/a

Bike: 750cc Harley-Davidson XR-750

Details: Successful

Injuries: None

Date: 2–4 March

Venue: Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, New York

Distance/obstacle: n/a

Bike: 750cc Harley-Davidson XR-750

Details: Successful

Injuries: None

Date: 16–18 March

Venue: Lakewood Fairgrounds Exhibit Hall, Atlanta, Georgia

Distance/obstacle: n/a

Bike: 750cc Harley-Davidson XR-750

Details: Successful

Injuries: None

Date: 23–25 March

Venue: Chicago International Amphitheater, Chicago, Illinois

Distance/obstacle: n/a

Bike: 750cc Harley-Davidson XR-750

Details: Successful

Injuries: None

Date: 30 March & 1 April

Venue: State Fairgrounds Coliseum, Detroit, Michigan

Distance/obstacle: n/a

Bike: 750cc Harley-Davidson XR-750

Details: Successful

Injuries: None

Date: 13–15 April

Venue: St Paul Civic Center, St Paul, Minnesota

Distance/obstacle: n/a

Bike: 750cc Harley-Davidson XR-750

Details: Successful

Injuries: None

Date: 27–29 April

Venue: Cincinnati Gardens, Cincinnati, Ohio

Distance/obstacle: n/a

Bike: 750cc Harley-Davidson XR-750

Details: Successful

Injuries: None

Date: 22–24 June

Venue: Great Lakes Dragway, Union Grove, Wisconsin

Distance/obstacle: n/a

Bike: 750cc Harley-Davidson XR-750

Details: Successful

Injuries: None

Date: 29 July

Venue: Lincoln Downs Race Track, Providence, Rhode Island

Distance/obstacle: n/a

Bike: 750cc Harley-Davidson XR-750

Details: Successful

Injuries: None

Date: 6–7 October

Venue: Wisconsin International Raceway, Kaukauna, Wisconsin

Distance/obstacle: 10 cars/3 trucks

Bike: 750cc Harley-Davidson XR-750

Details: Successfully cleared all obstacles in first performance but crashed during repeat show.

Injuries: Fractured bone in left hand, bruised back and kidneys.

Date: 20 October

Venue: JFK Stadium, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Distance/obstacle: 13 vehicles

Bike: 750cc Harley-Davidson XR-750

Details: Successful

Injuries: None

Date: 17 February

Venue: Green Valley Raceway, North Richland Hills, Texas

Distance/obstacle: 11 Mack trucks

Bike: 750cc Harley-Davidson XR-750

Details: Successful

Injuries: None

Date: 29 March

Venue: Oregon Memorial Coliseum, Portland, Oregon (indoor)

Distance/obstacle: 16 vehicles (9 cars and 7 vans)

Bike: 750cc Harley-Davidson XR-750

Details: Successfully equalled own indoor record.

Injuries: None

Date: 13 April

Venue: Fremont Raceway, Fremont, California

Distance/obstacle: Ten Mack trucks

Bike: 750cc Harley-Davidson XR-750

Details: Successful

Injuries: None

Date: 20 April

Venue: Orange County International Raceway, Irvine, California

Distance/obstacle: Ten Mack trucks

Bike: 750cc Harley-Davidson XR-750

Details: Successful

Injuries: None

Date: 28 April

Venue: Kansas City International Raceway, Kansas, Missouri

Distance/obstacle: Ten Mack trucks

Bike: 750cc Harley-Davidson XR-750

Details: Successful

Injuries: None

Date: 5 May

Venue: Tulsa International Speedway, Tulsa, Oklahoma

Distance/obstacle: Ten Mack trucks

Bike: 750cc Harley-Davidson XR-750

Details: Successful

Injuries: None

Date: 25–27 May

Venue: Dragway 42, West Salem, Ohio

Distance/obstacle: Ten Mack trucks

Bike: 750cc Harley-Davidson XR-750

Details: Successful

Injuries: None

Date: 20 August

Venue: Toronto Exhibition Stadium, Toronto, Ontario

Distance/obstacle: 105 feet over 13 Mack trucks

Bike: 750cc Harley-Davidson XR-750

Details: Successful

Injuries: None

Date: 8 September

Venue: Snake River Canyon, Twin Falls, Idaho

Distance/obstacle: Three-quarter-mile-wide canyon

Bike: X-2 Sky Cycle

Details: Parachute blew out on launch leaving Knievel to drift down into nearside canyon wall.

Injuries: Minor facial scrapes and cuts.

Date: 26 May

Venue: Wembley Stadium, London, England

Distance/obstacle: 120 feet over 13 single-decker buses

Bike: 750cc Harley-Davidson XR-750

Details: Landed badly on thirteenth bus and suffered heavy crash.

Injuries: Fractured pelvis, broken hand, concussion

Date: 25 October

Venue: Kings Island Family Entertainment Center, Kings Mills, Ohio

Distance/obstacle: 133 feet over 14 single-decker Greyhound buses

Bike: 750cc Harley-Davidson XR-750

Details: Furthest distance ever jumped without crash or injury. Injuries: None

Date: 11 October

Venue: Fitton Field, Worcester, Massachusetts

Distance/obstacle: 4 vans/7 vans/10 vans (75 feet)

Bike: 750cc Harley-Davidson XR-750

Details: Successfully made two leaps over 4 vans, three leaps over

7 vans and one leap over 10 vans.

Injuries: None

Date: 29–30 October

Venue: Kingdome, Seattle, Washington

Distance/obstacle: 7 Greyhound buses

Bike: 750cc Harley-Davidson XR-750

Details: Successful

Injuries: None

Date: 31 January

Venue: Chicago International Amphitheater, Chicago, Illinois

Distance/obstacle: 90 feet over a tank containing 13 live lemon sharks

Bike: 750cc Harley-Davidson XR-750

Details: Crashed in practice jump and injured television cameraman.

Injuries: Fractured collarbone and right arm and suffered heavy bruising.

Date: February

Venue: Australia

Distance/obstacle: n/a

Bike: 750cc Triumph T140 Bonneville

Details: Performed wheelies and hosted touring stunt-show ‘Evel

Knievel Thrill Spectacular’. Did not perform any jumps.

Injuries: None

Date: March

Venue: Puerto Rico

Distance/obstacle: n/a

Bike: 750cc Triumph T140 Bonneville

Details: Performed wheelies and hosted the touring show which focused on son Robbie’s jumping. Did not attempt any jumps.

Injuries: None

AUTHOR’S NOTE:

The distances recorded are those claimed by Knievel and/or those quoted in contemporary reports. Many are questionable and in some cases no reliable claims can be made.

**Indoor indicates the jump/s were performed at an indoor venue and were therefore usually of shorter distances.

* n/a denotes an absence of details in the available press material.

p. 13, ‘Everything that my grandparents got’:
The Last of the Gladiators: Evel Knievel,
Twin Tower Enterprises, 1986.

p. 13, ‘There were 500 prostitutes’:
A Touch of Evel,
BBC/The Learning Channel, 1998.

p. 13, ‘In ten years in these whorehouses’:
Evel Knievel’s Great Ride,
Tri-Crown Productions, 2003.

p. 15, ‘I had never seen anything like it’:
Evel Ways: A Daring Approach to Life,
GraF/X, 1999.

p. 18, ‘He was an individualist’:
The Last of the Gladiators: Evel Knievel,
Twin Tower Enterprises, 1986.

p. 19, ‘I could hardly wait to get out’:
A Touch of Evel,
BBC/The Learning Channel, 1998.

p. 24, ‘One time the police caught me and another boy’:
Penthouse,
1974.

p. 25, ‘He went around on the south side’:
The Last of the Gladiators: Evel Knievel,
Twin Tower Enterprises, 1986.

p. 26, ‘When he was a doorknocker’:
The Last of the Gladiators: Evel Knievel,
Twin Tower Enterprises, 1986.

p. 34, ‘It got to be kinda fun’:
The Last of the Gladiators: Evel Knievel,
Twin Tower Enterprises, 1986.

p. 35, ‘I learned to do wheelies’:
Motor Cycle News
(1 July 1998).

p. 35, ‘I was goin’ up and down mine hills’:
Evel Knievel’s Great Ride,
Tri-Crown Productions, 2003.

p. 43, ‘This guy started running around’:
Penthouse,
1974.

p. 55, ‘The Triumph was a much better’:
Motor Cycle News
(1 July 1998).

p. 55, ‘…a piece of crap’:
Top Gear
(March 1999).

p. 56, ‘He told me, “Step off 40 steps”’:
Icon
(April 1998).

p. 58, ‘The more I studied on it’:
Sports Illustrated
(2 September 1974).

p. 59, ‘I’m going to try and jump’:
Evel Knievel,
Grosset & Dunlap, 1974.

p. 64, ‘The one thing I remember’:
Sports Illustrated
(7 October 1996).

p. 69, ‘I was hurt real bad’:
POPsmear
(September/October 1998).

p. 70, ‘The film that was shot’:
The Last of the Gladiators: Evel

Knievel,
Twin Tower Enterprises, 1986.

p. 73, ‘America was down on its ass’:
Cycle World
(March 1998).

p. 79, ‘All my jumping risks were calculated’:
Evel Ways: A Daring Approach to Life,
GraF/X, 1999.

p. 80, ‘Football players fall down on Astroturf’:
The Last of the Gladiators: Evel Knievel,
Twin Tower Enterprises, 1986.

p. 81, ‘Just before the Caesar’s Palace jump’:
Evel Ways: A Daring Approach to Life,
GraF/X, 1999.

p. 85, ‘These guys are dogs’:
A Touch of Evel,
BBC/The Learning Channel, 1998.

p. 87, ‘Evel was a double-edged sword’:
Cycle World
(March 1998).

p. 87, ‘I saw this little bastard’:
A Touch of Evel,
BBC/The Learning Channel, 1998.

p. 88, ‘He made a derogatory remark’:
www.liveworld.com
(22 May 2000).

p. 94, ‘My bikes are Harley XR-750s’:
Evel Ways: A Daring Approach to Life,
GraF/X, 1999.

p. 99, ‘I’d never have another one’:
Top Gear
(March 1999).

p. 100, ‘I don’t need a licence to fly an airplane’:
Penthouse,
1974.

p. 100, ‘No, he just sits’:
Rolling Stone
(7 November 1974).

p. 100, ‘I knocked a wingtip tank off’:
Penthouse,
1974.

p. 101, ‘I saw him on TV one time’:
Evel Knievel’s Great Ride,
Tri-Crown Productions, 2003.

p. 105, ‘He was certainly the most courageous’:
A Touch of Evel,
BBC/The Learning Channel, 1998.

p. 107, ‘The motorcycle crowd back in those days’:
Icon
(April 1998).

p. 009, ‘Women wanted me for my fame’:
FHM,
October 1998.

p. 110, ‘I think if a guy’s married’:
Penthouse,
1974.

p. 110, ‘I was very promiscuous’:
Penthouse,
1974.

p. 111, ‘I treat women the way I always did’:
Playboy
(May 1978).

p. 111, ‘Women’s lib groups are a pain in the ass’:
FHM
(October 1998).

p. 112, ‘You know, women are the root’:
the-vu.com
(September 1998).

p. 112, ‘It got to be a real problem’:
the-vu.com
(September 1998).

p. 112, ‘Use the mathematics’:
Icon
(April 1998).

p. 112, ‘I used to be bitter and resentful’:
The Last of the Gladiators: Evel Knievel,
Twin Tower Enterprises, 1986.

p. 131, ‘Well, those two didn’t really fail’:
Rolling Stone
(7 November 1974).

p. 131, ‘You know what? I’m gonna try and spend a million dollars’:
Penthouse,
1974.

p. 136, ‘I tried to talk him into’:
Rolling Stone
(7 November 1974).

p. 136, ‘After I’d worked with him a while’:
Rolling Stone
(7 November 1974).

p. 137, ‘You sonofabitch’:
Rolling Stone
(7 November 1974).

p. 139, ‘The night before the canyon jump’:
The Last of the Gladiators: Evel Knievel,
Twin Tower Enterprises, 1986.

p. 148, ‘I hope that no one ever sees’:
The Last of the Gladiators: Evel Knievel,
Twin Tower Enterprises, 1986.

p. 151, ‘We were certain he was dead’:
Evel Ways: A Daring Approach to Life,
GraF/X, 1999.

p. 151, ‘I was so used to him surviving every jump’:
Evel Ways: A Daring Approach to Life,
GraF/X, 1999.

p. 152, ‘That idiot fired my parachute team’:
Icon
(April 1998).

p. 153, ‘If I had made it across that canyon’:
The Last of the Gladiators: Evel Knievel,
Twin Tower Enterprises, 1986.

p. 157, ‘won $5 from Cosgriff on the afternoon’:
Sports Illustrated
(2 September 1974).

p. 157, ‘I like to gamble’:
the-vu.com
, September 1998.

p. 158, ‘I’d never been to England’:
Classic Bike
(February 1999).

p. 160, ‘The English crowd and people were great’:
Classic Bike
(February 1999).

p. 161, ‘They were about to put on a show’:
A Touch of Evel,
BBC/The Learning Channel, 1998.

p. 161, ‘The first time he looked over’:
A Touch of Evel,
BBC/The Learning Channel, 1998.

p. 164, ‘I just didn’t have enough speed’:
Classic Bike
(February 1999).