Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[JimH]

Daredevil Evel Knievel, who dodged death in spectacular motorcycle leaps and crashes in a life full of showmanship, died on Friday at age 69....

Knievel's greatest stunt turned out to be a failure when on September 8, 1974, he tried to ride a rocket-powered motorcycle across the Snake River Canyon in Idaho.  With a pay-per-view television audience watching, the parachute deployed when his Skycycle X-2 was only two-thirds across, sending the cycle into the canyon wall.  It landed partly in the river but Knievel walked away with minor injuries.

For a jump over 13 double-decker buses in London's Wembley Stadium in 1975, he was paid $1 million, a fortune at the time, according to Maxim.

Full article

[KingSparta]

I heard that on my way home from work

I always wondered what he was smoking when he said he was going to jump the grand canyon.

I tried to modify my bike I bought for $6 with a banana seat with small solid rockets (you can still buy them at toys R us).

I never did try the grand canyon jump with them.

[JimH]

I didn't get any farther than using clothes pins to fasten playing cards to the front fork on both sides, so they made a rat-a-tat-a-tat sound.  I thought I was very slick.

It might have been my finest moment.

[KingSparta]

My science teacher may have contributed to my delinquency.

Due to he worked on the first space shuttle prototype in the mid 60's, and we launched rockets as a school science project.

Note: I put a frog in my rockets nose cone to test the effects of gravity on a frog at about 2,000 feet.

[Griff]

using clothes pins to fasten playing cards to the front fork on both sides, so they made a rat-a-tat-a-tat sound

Boy, do you bring back memories.

Did you ever try the balloon trick?

[JimH]

We couldn't afford balloons.  What was it?

[Griff]

We couldn't afford balloons

 

Same as the cards.

You blew up the balloon to the right size, then took each end and tied it to the front fork and moved it into the spokes as you moved

the bike forward. Then you were all set.

Was louder and deeper then the cards, something like a Harley.