Evel Knievel

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Evel Knievel : biography

October 17, 1938 – November 30, 2007

Afterward Knievel retired from major performances and limited his appearances to smaller venues to help launch the career of his son, Robbie Knievel. His last stunt show, not including a jump, took place in March 1980 in Puerto Rico. However, Knievel would officially finish his career as a daredevil as a touring "companion" of his son, Robbie, limiting his performance to speaking only, rather than stunt riding.Stuart Barker, Life of Evel Knievel, St. Martin’s Press, 2008. His last appearance with Robbie (on tour) was in March 1981 in Hollywood, Florida.

The Last Gladiator

The Last Gladiator is an honorific title or nickname for Evel Knievel. The term Last Gladiator was coined and attributed to Knievel circa 1971. The term refers to the Roman gladiator, who entered an arena to fight numerous foes to which he may vanquish death with skill and bravery.

The term was made popular in the 1971 eponymous movie starring George Hamilton. In the movie, Hamilton (as Knievel) states, "I am the last gladiator in the new Rome. I go into the arena and I compete against destruction and I win. And next week, I go out there and I do it again."

Evel Knievel’s 1988 self-produced documentary was entitled, "Last of the Gladiators".

"Evel Knievel . . .may be the last great gladiator" is a quote from an article by David Lyle about Knievel that appeared in the January 1970 issue of Esquire Magazine.

Motorcycles

Knievel briefly used a Honda 250cc motorcycle, using it to jump a crate of rattlesnakes and two mountain lions, which was his first known jump. Knievel then used a Norton Motorcycle Company 750cc. He used the Norton for only one year during 1966. Between 1967 and 1968, Knievel jumped using the Triumph Bonneville T120 (with a 650cc engine). Knievel used the Triumph at the Caesars Palace crash on New Year’s Eve 1967. When Knievel returned to jumping after the crash, he used Triumph for the remainder of 1968.

Attempting his stunts on motorcycles without modern suspension was a primary factor in Knievel’s many disastrous landings. The terrific forces these machines passed on to his body is well-illustrated in the super slo mo of his Caesars’ landing.

Between December 1969 and April 1970, Knievel used the Laverda American Eagle 750cc motorcycle. On December 12, 1970, Knievel would switch to the Harley-Davidson XR-750, the motorcycle with which he is best known for jumping. Knievel would use the XR-750 in association with Harley-Davidson until 1977. However, after his 1977 conviction for the assault of Shelly Saltman, Harley-Davidson withdrew their sponsorship of Knievel.

On September 8, 1974, Knievel attempted to jump the Snake River Canyon on a rocket propelled motorcycle designed by former NASA engineer Robert Truax dubbed the Skycycle X-2. The State of Idaho registered the X-2 as an airplane rather than a motorcycle.

At the tail end of his career, while helping launch the career of his son, Robbie Knievel, Knievel returned to the Triumph T120. However, he only performed wheelies and did not jump after retiring the XR-750.

In 1997, Knievel signed with the California Motorcycle Company to release a limited Evel Knievel Motorcycle. However, the motorcycle was not built to jump, but was rather a V-twin cruiser motorcycle intended to compete with Harley-Davidson street bikes. Knievel promoted the motorcycle at his various public appearances. After the company closed in 2003, Knievel returned to riding modern street Harley-Davidson motorcycles at his public appearances.

Evel’s son, Robbie Knievel, sold limited-edition motorcycles from his company, Knievel Motorcycles Manufacturing Inc.http://knievelmotorcycles.com/ Although two of the motorcycles refer to Evel (the Legend Series Evel Commemorative and the Snake River Canyon motorcycle), Evel did not ride Robbie’s bikes.

Leather jumpsuits

Throughout his daredevil career, Knievel was known for his sensational leather jumpsuits that were compared to the jumpsuits worn by Elvis Presley. When Knievel began jumping, he used a black and yellow jumpsuit. When he switched to the Triumph motorcycle, his jumpsuit changed to a white suit with stripes down the legs and sleeves. In interviews, he said the reason for the switch was because he saw how Liberace had become not just a performer, but the epitome of what a showman should be, and Knievel sought to create his own variation of that showmanship in his own jumps.Legendary Motorcycles: The Stories and Bikes Made Famous by Elvis, Peter Fonda, Kenny Roberts and Other Motorcycling Greats. Basem Wasef, Jay Leno. MotorBooks International. 2007. ISBN 9780760330708 Two variations of the white suit appeared (one with three stars across the chest and one with the three stars on his right chest). The latter was worn at the Caesars Palace jump.Stuart Barker, Life of Evel Knievel, St. Martin’s Press, 2008.