Evil knievel - Dead
Posted: Sat Dec 01, 2007 1:00 amAmerican 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
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.
Advertisement
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
me thats the most disgusting thing ive ever seen
