Liverpool FC Forum

by **Dundalk** » Sat Dec 01, 2007 1:00 am

American motorcycle daredevil Evel Knievel has died aged 69.
The international icon of the 1970s gained fame for his jumps over buses, live sharks and Snake River Canyon in Idaho.

Knievel had been in failing health for years and had a liver transplant in 1999 after nearly dying of hepatitis C, likely contracted through a blood transfusion following one of his bone-shattering crashes.

In his heyday, the flamboyant showman toured the US in his red, white and blue leather jumpsuit, performing ever more daring stunts.

Knievel rode through fire walls, jumped over rattlesnakes and was towed at 200 mph behind race cars.
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He steadily increased the length of his jumps until, on New Year's Day 1968, he was nearly killed when he jumped 46 metres (151 feet) across the fountains in front of Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas.

He cleared the fountains, but the crash landing put him in the hospital in a coma for a month.

Just five months later he was back on his bike - and in 1974 he undertook his most famous stunt - an attempt to clear the Snake River Canyon in Idaho in a rocket-powered 'Skycycle'.

However, his parachute malfunctioned and opened after takeoff, while strong winds blew the cycle into the canyon, landing him close to the swirling river below.

A year later Knievel took his Harley Davidson to Wembley stadium, where he attempted to clear 13 buses.

After just clearing the final bus, the daredevil bounced upon landing and was thrown over his handlebars, breaking his pelvis.

The accident prompted Knievel to announce his retirement, but he was back in 1975 - and jumped 14 Greyhound buses at Kings Island in Ohio.

In 1976 the motorcyclist finally decided to call it a day after breaking both arms in a jump over a shark tank.

But he continued to cash in on his name by endorsing products and dabbling in TV and films.

RIP

by **NANNY RED** » Sat Dec 01, 2007 1:07 am

Please tell me that photo is not real ive just nearly threw up :censored:

me thats the most disgusting thing ive ever seen

by **red37** » Sat Dec 01, 2007 1:08 am

Sorry mate - that is TOO much.

R.I.P btw Evil.

by **Dundalk** » Sat Dec 01, 2007 1:20 am

Sorry lads I put a picture of Evil jumping on the bike what was there??

http://images.google.ie/images?....&tab=wi

The picture I put up was the one on the bottom row, last one on the right

This is a link to the picture..

(ive taken it off again dundalk)

red

by **red37** » Sat Dec 01, 2007 2:08 am

You mean this one?

Because its certainly not the one thats come out in your link mate..

by **Kharhaz** » Sat Dec 01, 2007 2:29 am

How can you take the other picture of evil off and yet manhatton can keep the the michael bolton one in his thread ! something is seriously wrong here !

by **red37** » Sat Dec 01, 2007 2:47 am

Kharhaz wrote:How can you take the other picture of evil off and yet manhatton can keep the the michael bolton one in his thread ! something is seriously wrong here !

Ah but it wasn't a picture of Evil that was showing up. :;):

by **Kharhaz** » Sat Dec 01, 2007 3:14 am

red37 wrote:
Kharhaz wrote:How can you take the other picture of evil off and yet manhatton can keep the the michael bolton one in his thread ! something is seriously wrong here !

Ah but it wasn't a picture of Evil that was showing up.

Ohhh then its probably best we didnt see it by the sounds of things.

On another note it was only a matter a time for him wasnt it.
RIP the one and only Evil Knieval.

by **bigmick** » Sat Dec 01, 2007 10:40 am

The amazing thing for me is not that he's died, it's that he lived that long. a couple of lads who lived down our street had them action mannish models of him when we were kids. There was a blue sort of revver upper thingie, upon which you wound the handle round in a blur of frenzied activity before he shot off on his model bike. As I recall he had this white outfit (both Evil himself and the plastic action man thingie) with blue edging in a starts and stripes pattern down the leg. Kind of Bay City Rollers meets mid-west America.

I have some vague recollection of him trying to jump over the Grand Canyon years ago. Maybe I dreamt it up though, because if he was going to go over the widest bit, he'd need a helicopter strapped to his erse not a Harley Davidson.

by **NiftyNeil** » Sat Dec 01, 2007 12:47 pm

bigmick wrote:The amazing thing for me is not that he's died, it's that he lived that long. a couple of lads who lived down our street had them action mannish models of him when we were kids. There was a blue sort of revver upper thingie, upon which you wound the handle round in a blur of frenzied activity before he shot off on his model bike. As I recall he had this white outfit (both Evil himself and the plastic action man thingie) with blue edging in a starts and stripes pattern down the leg. Kind of Bay City Rollers meets mid-west America.

I have some vague recollection of him trying to jump over the Grand Canyon years ago. Maybe I dreamt it up though, because if he was going to go over the widest bit, he'd need a helicopter strapped to his erse not a Harley Davidson.

I had one of those. I went Christmas shopping the other week in the Trafford Centre and they had them on sale in Debenhams, exactly the same as years ago.

by **zarababe** » Sat Dec 01, 2007 4:03 pm

RIP - my dad bought me a toy bike with him onoit that use to be propelled-up to do the jumps.. he was a character..

by **Lando_Griffin** » Sat Dec 01, 2007 4:14 pm

R.I.P.

Half his stunts will never be allowed again, now the nancies are in power.

by **destro** » Sat Dec 01, 2007 5:56 pm

What was on the picture ? The suspense is killing me

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