Injuries: None
Date: 25–26 September
Venue: Kansas State Fair, Hutchinson, Kansas
Distance/obstacle: 10 Kenworth trucks
Bike: 750cc Harley-Davidson XR-750
Details: Successful
Injuries: None
Date: 21 October
Venue: Oregon Memorial Coliseum, Portland, Oregon (indoor)
Distance/obstacle: 12 cars and 2 vans
Bike: 750cc Harley-Davidson XR-750
Details: Set new indoor record but suffered heavy landing.
Injuries: Broken left hand
1972
Date: 23 January
Venue: Tucson Dragway, Tucson, Arizona
Distance/obstacle: 12 cars and 3 vans
Bike: 750cc Harley-Davidson XR-750
Details: Successful despite rough landing.
Injuries: None
Date: 11–13 February
Venue: Chicago International Amphitheater, Chicago, Illinois
Distance/obstacle: n/a
Bike: 750cc Harley-Davidson XR-750
Details: Successful
Injuries: None
Date: 2–3 March
Venue: Cow Palace, San Francisco, California
Distance/obstacle: 12 cars/15 cars
Bike: 750cc Harley-Davidson XR-750
Details: Successfully cleared 12 cars on first night but crashed heavily while landing on second night.
Injuries: Broken ankle, heavily bruised hand and ribs.
Date: 24–26 March
Venue: State Fairgrounds Coliseum, Detroit, Michigan
Distance/obstacle: 13 cars
Bike: 750cc Harley-Davidson XR-750
Details: Successfully cleared 13 cars but crashed into a wall after landing.
Injuries: Broken collarbone
Date: 8–9 April
Venue: Emerson Ranch, Plymouth, California
Distance/obstacle: 100 live rattlesnakes and 2 vans
Bike: 750cc Harley-Davidson XR-750
Details: Successful
Injuries: None
Date: 11 June
Venue: Lakewood Speedway, Atlanta, Georgia
Distance/obstacle: 13 Cadillacs
Bike: 750cc Harley-Davidson XR-750
Details: Overshot practice jump over 4 trucks and crashed, ruling out scheduled Cadillac jump.
Injuries: Hurt both hands and suffered compression fracture in back.
Date: 17–18 June
Venue: Oklahoma State Fairgrounds, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Distance/obstacle: 3 cars on day one, then 5 cars and 2 vans thereafter.
Bike: 750cc Harley-Davidson XR-750
Details: Successful
Injuries: Still wearing a back brace for compressed vertebra.
Date: 24–25 June
Venue: St Louis International Raceway, East St Louis, Illinois
Distance/obstacle: 10 cars
Bike: 750cc Harley-Davidson XR-750
Details: Successful
Injuries: None (still wearing back brace)
Date: 16 July
Venue: Minnesota Dragway, Coon Rapids, Minnesota
Distance/obstacle: n/a
Bike: 750cc Harley-Davidson XR-750
Details: n/a
Injuries: n/a
Date: 30 July
Venue: Continental Divide Raceways, Castle Rock, Colorado
Distance/obstacle: 7 trucks and 4 cars
Bike: 750cc Harley-Davidson XR-750
Details: Successful
Injuries: None
Date: 1–2 September
Venue: Evergreen Speedway, Monroe, Washington
Distance/obstacle: 22 cars
Bike: 750cc Harley-Davidson XR-750
Details: Cleared 21 cars but came down on safety ramp above twenty-second car. Remains the highest number of cars he ever jumped.
Injuries: None
1973
Date: 5–7 January
Venue: Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada
Distance/obstacle: Several jumps leading up to 13 vans.
Bike: 750cc Harley-Davidson XR-750
Details: Successful
Injuries: None
Date: 19–21 January
Venue: Dallas Convention Center, Dallas, Texas
Distance/obstacle: n/a
Bike: 750cc Harley-Davidson XR-750
Details: n/a
Injuries: n/a
Date: 18 February
Venue: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
Distance/obstacle: 50 cars (piled)
Bike: 750cc Harley-Davidson XR-750
Details: Successfully cleared the cars which were piled two-to-three high making the numbers deceptive and, in distance terms, equivalent to jumps he had completed before.
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
1974
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.
1975
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
1976
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
1977
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.
1979
Date: February
Venue: Australia
Distance/obstacle: n/a
Bike: 750cc Triumph T140 Bonneville
Details: Performed wheelies and hosted touring stunt-show ‘Evel
Injuries: None
1980
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.
References
CHAPTER 1
13, ‘Everything that my grandparents got’: The Last of the Gladiators: Evel Knievel, Twin Tower Enterprises, 1986.
13, ‘There were 500 prostitutes’: A Touch of Evel, BBC/The Learning Channel, 1998.
13, ‘In ten years in these whorehouses’: Evel Knievel’s Great Ride, Tri-Crown Productions, 2003.
15, ‘I had never seen anything like it’: Evel Ways: A Daring Approach to Life, GraF/X, 1999.
18, ‘He was an individualist’: The Last of the Gladiators: Evel Knievel, Twin Tower Enterprises, 1986.
19, ‘I could hardly wait to get out’: A Touch of Evel, BBC/The Learning Channel, 1998.
24, ‘One time the police caught me and another boy’: Penthouse, 1974.
25, ‘He went around on the south side’: The Last of the Gladiators: Evel Knievel, Twin Tower Enterprises, 1986.
26, ‘When he was a doorknocker’: The Last of the Gladiators: Evel Knievel, Twin Tower Enterprises, 1986.
CHAPTER 2
34, ‘It got to be kinda fun’: The Last of the Gladiators: Evel Knievel, Twin Tower Enterprises, 1986.
35, ‘I learned to do wheelies’: Motor Cycle News (1 July 1998).
35, ‘I was goin’ up and down mine hills’: Evel Knievel’s Great Ride, Tri-Crown Productions, 2003.
43, ‘This guy started running around’: Penthouse, 1974.
CHAPTER 3
55, ‘The Triumph was a much better’: Motor Cycle News (1 July 1998).
55, ‘…a piece of crap’: Top Gear (March 1999).
56, ‘He told me, “Step off 40 steps”’: Icon (April 1998).
58, ‘The more I studied on it’: Sports Illustrated (2 September 1974).
59, ‘I’m going to try and jump’: Evel Knievel, Grosset & Dunlap, 1974.
64, ‘The one thing I remember’: Sports Illustrated (7 October 1996).
CHAPTER 4
69, ‘I was hurt real bad’: POPsmear (September/October 1998).
70, ‘The film that was shot’: The Last of the Gladiators: Evel
Knievel, Twin Tower Enterprises, 1986.
73, ‘America was down on its ass’: Cycle World (March 1998).
79, ‘All my jumping risks were calculated’: Evel Ways: A Daring Approach to Life, GraF/X, 1999.
80, ‘Football players fall down on Astroturf’: The Last of the Gladiators: Evel Knievel, Twin Tower Enterprises, 1986.
81, ‘Just before the Caesar’s Palace jump’: Evel Ways: A Daring Approach to Life, GraF/X, 1999.
85, ‘These guys are dogs’: A Touch of Evel, BBC/The Learning Channel, 1998.
87, ‘Evel was a double-edged sword’: Cycle World (March 1998).
87, ‘I saw this little bastard’: A Touch of Evel, BBC/The Learning Channel, 1998.
88, ‘He made a derogatory remark’: www.liveworld.com (22 May 2000).
CHAPTER 5
94, ‘My bikes are Harley XR-750s’: Evel Ways: A Daring Approach to Life, GraF/X, 1999.
99, ‘I’d never have another one’: Top Gear (March 1999).
100, ‘I don’t need a licence to fly an airplane’: Penthouse, 1974.
100, ‘No, he just sits’: Rolling Stone (7 November 1974).
100, ‘I knocked a wingtip tank off’: Penthouse, 1974.
101, ‘I saw him on TV one time’: Evel Knievel’s Great Ride, Tri-Crown Productions, 2003.
105, ‘He was certainly the most courageous’: A Touch of Evel, BBC/The Learning Channel, 1998.
107, ‘The motorcycle crowd back in those days’: Icon (April 1998).
CHAPTER 6
009, ‘Women wanted me for my fame’: FHM, October 1998.
110, ‘I think if a guy’s married’: Penthouse, 1974.
110, ‘I was very promiscuous’: Penthouse, 1974.
111, ‘I treat women the way I always did’: Playboy (May 1978).
111, ‘Women’s lib groups are a pain in the ass’: FHM (October 1998).
112, ‘You know, women are the root’: the-vu.com (September 1998).
112, ‘It got to be a real problem’: the-vu.com (September 1998).
112, ‘Use the mathematics’: Icon (April 1998).
112, ‘I used to be bitter and resentful’: The Last of the Gladiators: Evel Knievel, Twin Tower Enterprises, 1986.
CHAPTER 7
131, ‘Well, those two didn’t really fail’: Rolling Stone (7 November 1974).
131, ‘You know what? I’m gonna try and spend a million dollars’: Penthouse, 1974.
136, ‘I tried to talk him into’: Rolling Stone (7 November 1974).
136, ‘After I’d worked with him a while’: Rolling Stone (7 November 1974).
137, ‘You sonofabitch’: Rolling Stone (7 November 1974).
139, ‘The night before the canyon jump’: The Last of the Gladiators: Evel Knievel, Twin Tower Enterprises, 1986.
CHAPTER 8
148, ‘I hope that no one ever sees’: The Last of the Gladiators: Evel Knievel, Twin Tower Enterprises, 1986.
151, ‘We were certain he was dead’: Evel Ways: A Daring Approach to Life, GraF/X, 1999.
151, ‘I was so used to him surviving every jump’: Evel Ways: A Daring Approach to Life, GraF/X, 1999.
152, ‘That idiot fired my parachute team’: Icon (April 1998).
153, ‘If I had made it across that canyon’: The Last of the Gladiators: Evel Knievel, Twin Tower Enterprises, 1986.
CHAPTER 9
157, ‘won $5 from Cosgriff on the afternoon’: Sports Illustrated (2 September 1974).
157, ‘I like to gamble’: the-vu.com, September 1998.
158, ‘I’d never been to England’: Classic Bike (February 1999).