My wife was a technician for Mr. Knievel's doctor. She said he was in serious and constant pain due to his many orthopedic injuries. He had more hardware in his body than a Home Depot but he still kept his spirit high. A true man's man. RIP.
As a young boy growing up in the 1970's this man was a superstar, hero, and role model to so many of that generation. I was fixated to the TV screen when I watched him attempt to jump the Snake River Canyon in 1974. I was only 6 years old but the memory is very vivid.
@ Pretty obvious that there was a mechanical failure only microseconds after ignition and totally beyond his capacity to push or pull a button that could jam that shroud on the drogue chute. You may not have watched the full reports of the jump where they show that the shroud was still caught on the structure of the ramp? Not sure why you attempted to demonstrate your lack of knowledge but hey, whatever turns you on.
Evel was a big deal when I was a kid. Every time he did a jump on tv, all of us kids would be talking about it for weeks. I of course had the toy, and that was super cool too. Thanks for sharing!
Excellent video ! I am 55 years old and he and Big Red were a big part of my childhood In those days we only had 3 channels of television and whenever he was on everyone watched and talked about it not to mention all of us. Would ride our bikes together attempting whatever crazy. Stunts we could dream up and together would build our ramps out of whatever we could scrounge up in peoples trash piles. Or whatever we. Could get our hands on He was a icon Of that time and inspired a entire generation on daredeviling !
on your Schwinn 20in, 5 speed with 8-ball shifter..when you crashed good chance of hurting your family jewels...did i forget the banana seat and sissy bar..
I was born a little too late for Evil. I grew up watching Brian Carson,crash cars, but if you were a kid jumping you're bike,doesn't matter what era. It was probably influenced by Evil Knievel.
I'm a 70's kid that loved Evel Knievel, so thank you for the video! It brings back fond memories of the simpler times of childhood, and the cool Evel toys I had. :-)
We visited in March. One of the best museums I've ever been to. I was a huge fan as a kid and a bit of an aficionado. We got to speak to the owner of the museum and the Harley dealership it is connected to, very gracious guy. It is worth a special trip. Even if you don't know much about Evel its a great snapshot of American pop culture. There will never be another Evel.
So I was able to meet Evel, my child hood hero, back in 2001 when he came to our TV station to do an interview on Good Morning Las Vegas. Out of all the celebrities I have met over the years, he is the only one I ever asked for an autograph. He was kind enough to give me his. I was able to tell him how he impacted my life and he was my hero! I had all the toys back in the 70's. In 1976, when I was 10, my dad took me to a car show in Denver and I got to see the Sky Cycle that you are showing in the musuem. Looks exactly the same. On our summer vacation in 1977 went to the Snake River jump site and my dad got as close possible to the dirt mound that was part of the launch pad in the field. He was an incredible man who was a true hero to millions of us. He embraced all the core American values. Hard work, grit and determination, all with great showmanship.
As a kid born in 1968 then as a 10 year old in 1978, evel was a genuine real life superhero to me. I was in piedmont hospital im Atlanta ga.around this time while evel made a jump attempt of like 14 school busses, failed attempt & broke his collar bone, and maybe a few ribs..Imagine my surprise when they rode level up to the pediatric ward in a wheelchair where he met all us kids in the playroom area and absolutely thrilled us all man he was just all badass & was answering all our questions, he was very caring and talked to us all one at a time about our various illness, just telling us not to give up, accept the pain as healing, etc. I've never forgotten my meeting of evel Knievel at the height of his career..He. Truly was the man, all the kids mothers were doting all over him.
I can’t tell you how many times I recreated Evel’s jumps as a child, using my bmx bike as a motorcycle, and my brothers and sister to replace the buses. Good times.
I heard the museum was incredible. Your video just confirmed it. I will be seeing Evil Knevils museum soon. I idolized this man as a youngster. Started jumping bicycles @ 12 or so till i started driving cars@16.🇺🇸🇺🇸👍
Was my childhood Hero.he was the greatest stuntman ever back then.It was fantastic to see Big Red restored and to know some of his bikes are in a museum so a little bit of a Hero will forever be seen.
I saw him jump 16 tractor trailer truck cabs at Beeline Dragway in Scottsdale, Arizona. I think it was late 1972 or early 1973. He had three XR750s, and a jet turbine trike, that he touted at the time to be the vehicle he would jump Snake River with. I was in the Air Force at the time, stationed outside Phoenix at Luke, AFB. Discharged in 1973, I returned to Shreveport, where I saw his Snake River jump on closed circuit TV at Shreveport's Municipal Auditorium. I even managed to get one of the advertising placards for the event that was in the window of a downtown cafe. Still have it, framed. One of my brothers was a Golden Knight parachutist in the Army, and the team visited Evel's house. My brother got to ride one of the XR750s. Cool stuff.
I had the pleasure of visiting that museum last summer with my 10 year old son. It was an awesome experience! SO many great things to see. I highly recommend this one!!
Evel Knievel is the reason I have a capped front tooth! I tried to jump the grand canyon (ditch in the village hall car park) myself in 1978 on my own jet cycle (my sisters bike). I failed, but I tried again at 28, broke the same bike but made the jump! This guy got a whole generation off their sofas and onto their bikes and as a result bought my dentist a new Saab. 😂😂😂 Great video thanks, and RIP a true hero.
Thanks for sharing this fun history lesson on Evel's career. The truck restoration was amazing and that Cadillac is sweet! Glad you included the merch too - forgot as a kid in the 70's how important it was to have a new cool lunchbox each year:)
I’m 50 years old, I remember playing with toy motor cycle that you crank up. The toy had real rubber tires and it was rather heavy toy. I must say that he was truly a living legend back in the day. With all the crazy laws that we have set in motion you will never see another guy perform stunts like he has.
I was 9 when Evel jumped the Snake River Canyon. I grew up in Spokane, Washington and watched the jump on TV with my friends. I had a bunch of those toys (Scramble Cycle, Van, Dirt Bike, a few different costumes) but the most unique thing I remember, and my crowning joy, was a plastic model kit maybe made by Revell? Anyway, I was a fairly consistent modeler as a kid and the model of Evel on a motorcycle at the peak of a ramp was one of my favorites. As so often was the case in the 70s, the manufacturer included bonus items in the package. In this case, a photo of Evel (5x7, if I remember correctly) that all my neighborhood buddies made me photo copy at the local Giant T store. Man, what memories! Thanks for posting!
Turned 5 years old in 1974 and on my bed when I woke, was a gift wrapped box containing the Evel Knieval motorcycle/doll wind up toy. I was ecstatic to say the least. What a way for a 5 year old to start his day back then! Of course me and the other neighborhood boys would try to replicate his stunts on our bicycles. We would actually have our friends lie down in front of our make shift ramps/never more than 3 or 4 at a time and jump over them. Thank God, we always made it over them. Evel truly was/is an American Hero.
Me too. Seeing all the Evel branded merchandise really recalls to mind just what an absolute MEGA STAR and true HERO he really was. Today our most well known people aren’t even sports stars, they’re billionaires. And we actually have no real knowledge of WTF they even do on a daily basis.
I was at the grand opening of the Evel Knievel Museum and it is truly one of the greatest places on Earth. If you're an Evel fan you will absolutely love it and if you're not you will become one..
Mike they had this collection at the Harley Davidson museum in Milwaukee about 5 years ago called True Evel that my brother & me went to after we toured the HD museum right across the road & it was cool looking at all the stuff he had & done . They even showed how much his first custom leather suit cost & had his first check for 1 million dollars on display plus some of the bikes leftover from some of the crashes . Definitely worth the 10.00 at the time to go see this & the rocket being I remember watching it on TV back then when I was 11 years old .
@@peteloomis8456 oops.. I fat fingered your post while reading it. Didn't intend to respond. But while I'm here I will say that was quite a collection you saw. Evel is a hero to many of us.
I wonder what he would think of this millennia's motorcross and X-riders? Robbie is probably retired now, but he definitely tried to follow in his father's footsteps. I loved his (Robbie's) Grand Canyon jump.
I really wish whoever has his jumps on film would have them put to video ... then onto you-tube. He is a legend I'd love to see again. Let him live again!
I live in Florida and am 59 years old, I grew up watching Evel and I have great memories of all his jumps. I can’t remember the exact year but I believe it was in the late 80’s or early 90’ s I was working on some roof top A/C units located close to Sunshine Drag Strip and watched one of Evels rigs being towed . It was unrestored and looked awesome in a way only time can achieve . I have wondered where it went and hoped someone would save this piece of history. I still have an action figure of Evel and his bike, some people never grow up. One of my best friends neighbor was a crazy dude we called Captain Ego , he used to do stunts at sunshine dragstrip andother places. Things like running a motorcycle thru flaming plywood walls and standing on a pole in the air and someone would shoot blow darts at him, not this fake shiz of today but real danger. Great times.
Thank you so much for making an informative and interesting video. As a product of the era, I loved Evel growing up. Sure, he was quite the rascal but to me he's always been an American icon and hero. The stunt cycle toy was one of the best toys ever created. Nearly indestructible, I truly enjoyed the jumps and flips the toy could accomplish meanwhile recreating the incredible stunts he performed on television.
There is a evel museum here I Niagara Falls. I will put it on my bucket list. I remember watching his jumps on wide world of sports. As a kid back In the 70s.
I was never much of a fan of Evel, but your sincere, unaffected appreciation this museum has got me wanting to visit it, actually. It's obvious that your travels bring you joy. I love how you simply express your pleasure and amazement at what you're showing us without launching off onto extensive commentary. It's just the right balance between, "Here's what I think," and just enjoying the ride. I gotta see that red Caddy pickup in person. Those were the days. You could spot a Chevy a mile away and never confuse it with a Ford. Nowadays our roads are jammed mostly with cookie-cutter cars. In the 50s and 60s , I used to make scrapbooks of pictures of cars that I cut out of magazines. I keep hoping that tail fins will make a comeback someday, but as my Dad used to tell me, "Don't count on it."
Loved the Snake River Canyon hustle. Brilliant bit of marketing. Said the parachute prematurely ejected. Okay, then do the jump again. Nope. LOL. That motorcycle toy was definitely the coolest part of his legacy.
Chris this is so cool! I loved my childhood, and Evel Knievel was a big part of it. I watched the canyon attempt on TV. What a world that was. It also amazes me how far he was able to jump such heavy bikes. Thanks!
Cool video! I didn't even know there was an Evel Knievel Museum it's really cool seeing that stuff. As a kid I was obsessed with Evel Knievel but because there was no internet so I really couldn't see much of him or his things, I was just lucky to see him on TV on a rare occasion
Thank you for putting up the video. Brings me back to my childhood we were always glued to the television whenever we heard the words Evel Knievel. I remember the first skycycle that was a test run that crashed in the bottom of the Snake River.
For sure. We always made sure we were in front of the TV to watch. Wide World of Sports was great. Where else could you see Sumo wrestling, downhill ski racing and an Evel Knievel jump in the same episode?
I met Evel at the Victory motorcycle dealer that used to be in Tampa, it was just me, a friend, Evel and a mechanic at the shop. It was after hours, the actual jump skycycle was on display there as was his ceasar's palace bike, helmet and leathers. Got to see Evel's legendary temper flair at the mechanic because he was very unhappy at soem work being done on his street bike. I did get his autograph and have a chance to talk to him for a bit. I was a star struck 40 something year old that melted back to the 14 year old kid that finally got to meet his childhood hero.
I’ve been through Topeka many times and had no idea it was there. As a kid of the 70s I have a lot of memories of him. Will have to stop in sometime. Thanks for sharing!
I’m 50 years old and I have my 1978 Ideal Hong Kong made Evel Knievel sky cycle toy from when I was a kid on my book shelf right now today. Wish I had more of my EK stuff from back then.
Great job on this video! I have been a huge fan of Evel Knievel for what feels like forever. I have a small collection of items gathered in his memory and kept the entertainment center. I've been through several mini bikes and motorcycles practicing the sport of motorcycle jumping as a teen. Paid the price, too! I've broken half the bones in my body, all my ribs twice, both clavicles, my left ankle in 5 places plus fractures to my pelvic including a broken pubis. Countless other injuries, those are the highlights. I wouldn't trade a minute of the experience, either. Well maybe the hospital time. RIP Mr. Knievel, you are still my hero and thank you @MobileInstinct for an awesome video! Excuse me while I find the advil and centrum
I saw a documentary of Evel. It was quite interesting and it was sad to see how he fell apart in the end. But in his prime he was an awesome man. He was far before my time, I would do anything to be born in a time to see him in action.
I was a member of a make shift Evel Knievel bike club in the 70's, we jumped our buddies laying down, 55 gal barrells, riding lawn mowers and eventually cars, man we tore up alot of schwinn stingrays
Wow! What a great video. I will never forget watching some of the jumps he made and the ones he didn't. I'm so glad they restored the truck and his tricked out Caddie. THANK YOU for posting this video.
AWESOME! Gene as such great stories, of being Evel's bodyguard. He is thankful for the fathering in a way Evel did for him. He comes up with new stories about his travels with him all the time! Gene Sullivan was headed to the big title in boxing. He even saw Joe Frazier at Evel Knievel's funeral (he did, will leave link in comment), because Joe expected to fight him also. A relative talked to George Foreman on a plane, and asked, what happened to Gene, I expected him to be my contender? Gene Sullivan. He was ready to sign a training contract with Rocky Marciano but he died right before he did in a plane crash. Then Gene ran off with Evel Knievel, but HE GOT SAVED at a Fellowship of Christian Athletes luncheon. LIKE REALLY, HE WALKED AWAY FROM A 10 MILLION DOLLAR stunt contract, that HE DID SIGN. ONE OF HIS BIGGEST REGRETS, was watching George train in FL. about a month before you got saved. He felt like the Lord wanted him to reach out to you and give you his testimony, but HE WIMPED OUT. (no one has ever known him as a wimp either! ) We watched George's movie tonight and really enjoyed it. Gene actually ended up finding out WHO his REAL father is the last couple of months. Here is a little bit about that and how in the 1920's he was offered to train as a boxer for a month for 350 thousand dollars back then. It's a fun story. Gene along with boxing, was a stunt man, could have been an NFL star himself, but ran off with Evel Knievel instead. He knew Prescott Sullivan a famous Sports Writer in his day, as seen in the movie THE ODD COUPLE with Walter Matthaue, was not his father. His WW2 Command Pilot mother in the Aviation Hall of Fame, kept the secret. UNTIL ANCESTRY exposed it. Gene's real father? The FAMOUS Ernie Nevers... has a movie about him George Clooney did called LEATHERHEADS. He invented the HOOK SHOT in basketball, Played Professional basketball and baseball, even Pitched to Babe Ruth. Was in the movies too, BUT, was one of the FIRST ever to be inducted into the NFL HALL OF FAME, and holds 3 records that have never been broken. Pop Warner called him the BEST COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYER EVER in the first half Century of the 1900's. So did Sports Illustrated. He is in 4 FOOTBALL HALL OF FAMES. His son Gene is in 4 museums, buried Evel Knievel, and the longest touring Motorcycle Jumper in History. Ernie was offered about 320k in today's economy to train to box for one month. Gene? He was ready to sign a contract with the famed ROCKY MARCIANO to turn him into the heavy weight champion of the world, before he died in a plane crash. Gene was heavyweight champ in the Navy and for the State of Ca. Joe Frasier even asked Gene who did Evel Knievel's funeral (you can find that on TH-cam) why he never showed up in the ring. So Ernie and Prescott were good friends. Even found a news paper article where they are arm wrestling. They were both good friends, and golfing buddies with John Wayne, Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, Joe DiMaggio, Ward Bond, among other famous people who hung out together. Been great fun getting to know about Ernie due to Ancestry. He died in 1974 but everyday, more things come up in the news, on ebay, he is still a sports hero talked about and written about if not every day, at least every week. There is much more to tell.... IT ALL MADE SENSE, when we found ERNIE NEVERS. Gene looks TOTALLY like his son, and had all the same ATHLETIC skill, that his bookworm Sportswriter father had none. Even how we found out with Gene famous sports documentary Emmy award winning son, is very fun. He came over one day and said, DAD will you spit in a tube for me? Knowing it would be highly unlikely he would. Soooo much more to tell but will end here.
Thank you for posting your excellent video of The Evel Knievel Museum! The Evel Knievel pinball machine brought back many a fine memory of playing one while I was in college.
When I was a kid growing up in England, I had a little EK motorcycle in a cradle thing, I’d wind it up & away Evel would go! It was a lot like the 2 shown in your video. Probably worth a fortune now!
I was a huge Evel fan as a kid!!! I watched every jump, on Wide World of Sports on saturdays. I had every toy, including "Big Red" rig and rocket. Wish I had them now. I was heartbroken whe he didn't make the Snake river canyon jump. Imagine what he could do with today's technology...
Yes he was our hero, when we were kids. I remember going and seeing him jump 16 cars when i was a kid, we watched all of his stunts, and had his toys. Jumping ramps..lol we thought we were him, great times. Rest in peace Evel for the stars don't burn as bright as they once did.🇺🇸
Evel Knievel was my childhood hero. I jumped my stripped down hand-me-down Schwinn bicycle over garbage cans and ditches trying to emulate my hero, Evel. I didn’t have a full face helmet like the Bell helmet Evel had so, I took a piece of cardboard wrote “Evel” on it (in cursive like his) and taped it to my helmet. I still own the original 1976 Evel Knievel Stunt Cycle and Scrambler Van from Hasbro. It’s still amazing what he accomplished on that big, heavy Harley. Today’s bikes are so much more lighter.
Pretty cool. I remember as a child watching him every time he was on TV. We got to see a lot of his stuff including the rocket at one of those Carl Casper custom auto shows in Louisville, KY back then. Still have a polaroid of it in an old photo album here. That same show had Adam West in his Batman costume. Great memories. I had the wind up stunt cycle as well and I had a mini bike at the time with a metallic blue helmet with the big white stars on it, lol.
I met the man that designed and built the skycycle. Bob Truax was a real life rocket scientist. He lived in my town and gave a talk at the community college I attended. In addition to the skycycle, he was developing a suborbital rocket in an early attempt to launch the first privately funded human space flight, way before Elon Musk & friends. He was constructing it with surplus Atlas rocket parts. Mr Truax told us that it was much easier to find volunteers to fly the thing than to find investors to fund it. In other words, more people will risk their lives that risk their money!
"Truax also designed the Skycycle X-2, which he unsuccessfully tested on April 15, 1972 and June 24, 1973, and which Evel Knievel unsuccessfully used at the Snake River Canyon in 1974." Two-bit rocket engineer.
When I was a kid Evel was the man! Thanks for this trip, now I feel like I need to go sometime. I never knew he used an American eagle Laverda 750 on one of his jumps, that's really cool they have that bike on display. American Eagle was a company created by a former U.S. Honda import manager who went on to form his own import company, bringing in bikes custom made (often just cosmetically) from Japan, italy and Britain. The Laverda 750 was an interesting one as they basically copied an already reliable bike engine, the Honda 305, and enlarged it to 750 cc's. I've gotten to know about a few, working on and riding, and laverda did enjoy some racing success with their 750 SF racebike. Evel must have been offered the bike to promote this new motorcycle company. Looking around there sadly isn't much info posted online about them.
My wife was a technician for Mr. Knievel's doctor. She said he was in serious and constant pain due to his many orthopedic injuries. He had more hardware in his body than a Home Depot but he still kept his spirit high. A true man's man. RIP.
Loved his Huge Chidleswick, Chipendale, Choppington Chopper.!! 0️⃣😜1️⃣
Including his custom diamond studded walking cane with a flask inside. He gave it to radio host Jim Rome I think.
As a young boy growing up in the 1970's this man was a superstar, hero, and role model to so many of that generation. I was fixated to the TV screen when I watched him attempt to jump the Snake River Canyon in 1974. I was only 6 years old but the memory is very vivid.
Eric Lozen Yep, totally!
@ Pretty obvious that there was a mechanical failure only microseconds after ignition and totally beyond his capacity to push or pull a button that could jam that shroud on the drogue chute. You may not have watched the full reports of the jump where they show that the shroud was still caught on the structure of the ramp?
Not sure why you attempted to demonstrate your lack of knowledge but hey, whatever turns you on.
Evel was a big deal when I was a kid. Every time he did a jump on tv, all of us kids would be talking about it for weeks. I of course had the toy, and that was super cool too.
Thanks for sharing!
I remember having the toy and spending AAAALLLLL day out with that magical item! Jumping everything possible!
I had the dragster and my friend had the bike
Same here.
Childhood heroes:
EK
Muhammad Ali
Mario Andretti
Reggie Jackson
I wanted the toy bike sooooo bad when I was a kid, but was too much money, never got it :(
I still have my Evel Knievel toys...I must come and see this museum ...!!!!!!!!!!!
Excellent video ! I am 55 years old and he and Big Red were a big part of my childhood In those days we only had 3 channels of television and whenever he was on everyone watched and talked about it not to mention all of us. Would ride our bikes together attempting whatever crazy. Stunts we could dream up and together would build our ramps out of whatever we could scrounge up in peoples trash piles. Or whatever we. Could get our hands on He was a icon Of that time and inspired a entire generation on daredeviling !
on your Schwinn 20in, 5 speed with 8-ball shifter..when you crashed good chance of hurting your family jewels...did i forget the banana seat and sissy bar..
I was born a little too late for Evil. I grew up watching Brian Carson,crash cars, but if you were a kid jumping you're bike,doesn't matter what era. It was probably influenced by Evil Knievel.
Me too I'm 53
Love me some EK. His patriotism and courage are unmatched even today. Rock On and RIP. King of 2 Wheels.
I'm a 70's kid that loved Evel Knievel, so thank you for the video! It brings back fond memories of the simpler times of childhood, and the cool Evel toys I had. :-)
We visited in March. One of the best museums I've ever been to. I was a huge fan as a kid and a bit of an aficionado. We got to speak to the owner of the museum and the Harley dealership it is connected to, very gracious guy. It is worth a special trip. Even if you don't know much about Evel its a great snapshot of American pop culture. There will never be another Evel.
So I was able to meet Evel, my child hood hero, back in 2001 when he came to our TV station to do an interview on Good Morning Las Vegas. Out of all the celebrities I have met over the years, he is the only one I ever asked for an autograph. He was kind enough to give me his. I was able to tell him how he impacted my life and he was my hero! I had all the toys back in the 70's. In 1976, when I was 10, my dad took me to a car show in Denver and I got to see the Sky Cycle that you are showing in the musuem. Looks exactly the same. On our summer vacation in 1977 went to the Snake River jump site and my dad got as close possible to the dirt mound that was part of the launch pad in the field. He was an incredible man who was a true hero to millions of us. He embraced all the core American values. Hard work, grit and determination, all with great showmanship.
His stunts were always so amazing. He brought a lot of excitement to kids with his guts and showmanship.
Evel Knievel is the reason I have a scar on my chin from jumping a ramp when I was a kid. This guy was awesome
Amazing Amazing man who lived an amazing life.. people forget how special this man was
Man I can remember all of his televised stuff growing up im so happy to see this preserved.
As a kid born in 1968 then as a 10 year old in 1978, evel was a genuine real life superhero to me. I was in piedmont hospital im Atlanta ga.around this time while evel made a jump attempt of like 14 school busses, failed attempt & broke his collar bone, and maybe a few ribs..Imagine my surprise when they rode level up to the pediatric ward in a wheelchair where he met all us kids in the playroom area and absolutely thrilled us all man he was just all badass & was answering all our questions, he was very caring and talked to us all one at a time about our various illness, just telling us not to give up, accept the pain as healing, etc. I've never forgotten my meeting of evel Knievel at the height of his career..He. Truly was the man, all the kids mothers were doting all over him.
Fantastic Details Robin!!!! So very cool.
My childhood hero!
Thank you so much for sharing.
I can’t tell you how many times I recreated Evel’s jumps as a child, using my bmx bike as a motorcycle, and my brothers and sister to replace the buses. Good times.
Same here Charles and even had to recreate a bad landing 👍
,,,,,Yup!,,,,,,"Just stand there!,,,,Trust Me!,,,,Nothing'll Happen!",,,,LoL!!
I heard the museum was incredible. Your video just confirmed it. I will be seeing Evil Knevils museum soon. I idolized this man as a youngster. Started jumping bicycles @ 12 or so till i started driving cars@16.🇺🇸🇺🇸👍
Thanks for this! One of my childhood heroes. I knocked out 2 teeth in 1975 trying to do what Evel did.
Was my childhood Hero.he was the greatest stuntman ever back then.It was fantastic to see Big Red restored and to know some of his bikes are in a museum so a little bit of a Hero will forever be seen.
I saw him jump 16 tractor trailer truck cabs at Beeline Dragway in Scottsdale, Arizona. I think it was late 1972 or early 1973. He had three XR750s, and a jet turbine trike, that he touted at the time to be the vehicle he would jump Snake River with. I was in the Air Force at the time, stationed outside Phoenix at Luke, AFB. Discharged in 1973, I returned to Shreveport, where I saw his Snake River jump on closed circuit TV at Shreveport's Municipal Auditorium. I even managed to get one of the advertising placards for the event that was in the window of a downtown cafe. Still have it, framed. One of my brothers was a Golden Knight parachutist in the Army, and the team visited Evel's house. My brother got to ride one of the XR750s. Cool stuff.
I had the pleasure of visiting that museum last summer with my 10 year old son. It was an awesome experience! SO many great things to see. I highly recommend this one!!
Evel Knievel is the reason I have a capped front tooth! I tried to jump the grand canyon (ditch in the village hall car park) myself in 1978 on my own jet cycle (my sisters bike). I failed, but I tried again at 28, broke the same bike but made the jump! This guy got a whole generation off their sofas and onto their bikes and as a result bought my dentist a new Saab. 😂😂😂 Great video thanks, and RIP a true hero.
Thanks for sharing this fun history lesson on Evel's career. The truck restoration was amazing and that Cadillac is sweet! Glad you included the merch too - forgot as a kid in the 70's how important it was to have a new cool lunchbox each year:)
I’m 50 years old, I remember playing with toy motor cycle that you crank up. The toy had real rubber tires and it was rather heavy toy. I must say that he was truly a living legend back in the day. With all the crazy laws that we have set in motion you will never see another guy perform stunts like he has.
God bless Evel and his family.Thank you for all the great memories, and I'll see you on the other side.God bless America 🇺🇸
I was 9 when Evel jumped the Snake River Canyon. I grew up in Spokane, Washington and watched the jump on TV with my friends. I had a bunch of those toys (Scramble Cycle, Van, Dirt Bike, a few different costumes) but the most unique thing I remember, and my crowning joy, was a plastic model kit maybe made by Revell? Anyway, I was a fairly consistent modeler as a kid and the model of Evel on a motorcycle at the peak of a ramp was one of my favorites. As so often was the case in the 70s, the manufacturer included bonus items in the package. In this case, a photo of Evel (5x7, if I remember correctly) that all my neighborhood buddies made me photo copy at the local Giant T store. Man, what memories! Thanks for posting!
Turned 5 years old in 1974 and on my bed when I woke, was a gift wrapped box containing the Evel Knieval motorcycle/doll wind up toy. I was ecstatic to say the least. What a way for a 5 year old to start his day back then! Of course me and the other neighborhood boys would try to replicate his stunts on our bicycles. We would actually have our friends lie down in front of our make shift ramps/never more than 3 or 4 at a time and jump over them. Thank God, we always made it over them. Evel truly was/is an American Hero.
The Evel Knievel's stunt cycle toy was and will always be the greatest toy of all time. It actually worked better than advertised.
Nice tour, thanks for sharing.
I'm of that era... we used to dream, of being Evel.
Incredible video. I’m a bit torn when things are restored but when they keep the original parts, that makes my heart happy.
My childhood hero 🤘🤘🤘
Thank you so much for sharing 👍❤
Saw Evil jump 14 buses at Beeline drag way back in 1972 in Az. Thanks man for the flash back!
Thank you. I grew up in the 70's and idolized Evel.
Me too.
Seeing all the Evel branded merchandise really recalls to mind just what an absolute MEGA STAR and true HERO he really was. Today our most well known people aren’t even sports stars, they’re billionaires. And we actually have no real knowledge of WTF they even do on a daily basis.
I know a contributor to that museum! I'm glad the public gets to see it rather than sit in a storage space.
lots of very cool artifacts, and history there.
Your one amazing young man who is so genuine. You never beg for subscribers you just present good quality content. Kudos my brother!
Born in the 60s and raised in 70s Evil and Elvis cooler than cool.
Elvis was a fraud
But Evel was the man
Same... where I went wrong was never thinking to have a "landing ramp".
I’m Hispanic but I watched Evel and listened to Elvis so I consider myself a white mexican
I was at the grand opening of the Evel Knievel Museum and it is truly one of the greatest places on Earth. If you're an Evel fan you will absolutely love it and if you're not you will become one..
I have just added the museum to my bucket list.
So awesome. I never knew they had a museum about him
Mike Wolf ( American Pickers) had mentioned this place on an episode, very cool.
Mike they had this collection at the Harley Davidson museum in Milwaukee about 5 years ago called True Evel that my brother & me went to after we toured the HD museum right across the road & it was cool looking at all the stuff he had & done . They even showed how much his first custom leather suit cost & had his first check for 1 million dollars on display plus some of the bikes leftover from some of the crashes . Definitely worth the 10.00 at the time to go see this & the rocket being I remember watching it on TV back then when I was 11 years old .
@@peteloomis8456 m
@@peteloomis8456 oops.. I fat fingered your post while reading it. Didn't intend to respond. But while I'm here I will say that was quite a collection you saw. Evel is a hero to many of us.
Thanks for posting. I was one of those kids, jumping ramps on my banana seat bicycle back in the '70's. 👍😁
I met Him. And his son Robbie back in the early 80's.. Really cool.
I wonder what he would think of this millennia's motorcross and X-riders? Robbie is probably retired now, but he definitely tried to follow in his father's footsteps. I loved his (Robbie's) Grand Canyon jump.
I really wish whoever has his jumps on film would have them put to video ... then onto you-tube. He is a legend I'd love to see again. Let him live again!
Try Evel Knievel Enterprise and Color Me Lucky...
I live in Florida and am 59 years old, I grew up watching Evel and I have great memories of all his jumps. I can’t remember the exact year but I believe it was in the late 80’s or early 90’ s I was working on some roof top A/C units located close to Sunshine Drag Strip and watched one of Evels rigs being towed . It was unrestored and looked awesome in a way only time can achieve . I have wondered where it went and hoped someone would save this piece of history. I still have an action figure of Evel and his bike, some people never grow up. One of my best friends neighbor was a crazy dude we called Captain Ego , he used to do stunts at sunshine dragstrip andother places. Things like running a motorcycle thru flaming plywood walls and standing on a pole in the air and someone would shoot blow darts at him, not this fake shiz of today but real danger. Great times.
Thank you so much for making an informative and interesting video.
As a product of the era, I loved Evel growing up. Sure, he was quite the rascal but to me he's always been an American icon and hero.
The stunt cycle toy was one of the best toys ever created. Nearly indestructible, I truly enjoyed the jumps and flips the toy could accomplish meanwhile recreating the incredible stunts he performed on television.
There is a evel museum here I Niagara Falls. I will put it on my bucket list. I remember watching his jumps on wide world of sports.
As a kid back In the 70s.
I was never much of a fan of Evel, but your sincere, unaffected appreciation this museum has got me wanting to visit it, actually. It's obvious that your travels bring you joy. I love how you simply express your pleasure and amazement at what you're showing us without launching off onto extensive commentary. It's just the right balance between, "Here's what I think," and just enjoying the ride.
I gotta see that red Caddy pickup in person. Those were the days. You could spot a Chevy a mile away and never confuse it with a Ford. Nowadays our roads are jammed mostly with cookie-cutter cars. In the 50s and 60s , I used to make scrapbooks of pictures of cars that I cut out of magazines. I keep hoping that tail fins will make a comeback someday, but as my Dad used to tell me, "Don't count on it."
Loved the Snake River Canyon hustle. Brilliant bit of marketing.
Said the parachute prematurely ejected. Okay, then do the jump again. Nope. LOL.
That motorcycle toy was definitely the coolest part of his legacy.
Chris this is so cool! I loved my childhood, and Evel Knievel was a big part of it. I watched the canyon attempt on TV. What a world that was. It also amazes me how far he was able to jump such heavy bikes. Thanks!
Cool video! I didn't even know there was an Evel Knievel Museum it's really cool seeing that stuff. As a kid I was obsessed with Evel Knievel but because there was no internet so I really couldn't see much of him or his things, I was just lucky to see him on TV on a rare occasion
Holy hell thers a Museum!!!! My hero and a few concussions trying to pull off stunts like he did on a bicycle
David Mccully yep, without him, BMX wouldn't even exist.
In Kansas. I plan to stop in future.
Thank you for putting up the video. Brings me back to my childhood we were always glued to the television whenever we heard the words Evel Knievel. I remember the first skycycle that was a test run that crashed in the bottom of the Snake River.
I grew up on Evel Knievel, thanks for the wonderful memories
I still remember my Evel Knievel such box. Neat to see all this again. Thanks
I had the bike. Everyone wanted to ride it! It was badass.
There was nothing better than when ABC Wide World of Sports aired one of Evel Knievel's jumps.
I always looked forwards to watching his jumps on ABC... ✌
For sure. We always made sure we were in front of the TV to watch. Wide World of Sports was great. Where else could you see Sumo wrestling, downhill ski racing and an Evel Knievel jump in the same episode?
Great video thanks for posting I used to watch every one of his jumps on TV in the UK a real legend.
Travel channel please give this man Chris his own TV show. Such an awesome job
My grandfather and I never missed a televised stunt by Evel!
I met Evel at the Victory motorcycle dealer that used to be in Tampa, it was just me, a friend, Evel and a mechanic at the shop. It was after hours, the actual jump skycycle was on display there as was his ceasar's palace bike, helmet and leathers. Got to see Evel's legendary temper flair at the mechanic because he was very unhappy at soem work being done on his street bike. I did get his autograph and have a chance to talk to him for a bit. I was a star struck 40 something year old that melted back to the 14 year old kid that finally got to meet his childhood hero.
He was certainly a legend thankyou for showing this awesome museum Chris
I’ve been through Topeka many times and had no idea it was there. As a kid of the 70s I have a lot of memories of him. Will have to stop in sometime. Thanks for sharing!
My childhood hero. Thank God someone restored and preserved this man s legacy too the American spirit and sheer BALLS!
I’m 50 years old and I have my 1978 Ideal Hong Kong made Evel Knievel sky cycle toy from when I was a kid on my book shelf right now today. Wish I had more of my EK stuff from back then.
Awesome video. Brought back a ton of memories!
Great job on this video!
I have been a huge fan of Evel Knievel for what feels like forever. I have a small collection of items gathered in his memory and kept the entertainment center.
I've been through several mini bikes and motorcycles practicing the sport of motorcycle jumping as a teen. Paid the price, too! I've broken half the bones in my body, all my ribs twice, both clavicles, my left ankle in 5 places plus fractures to my pelvic including a broken pubis. Countless other injuries, those are the highlights. I wouldn't trade a minute of the experience, either. Well maybe the hospital time.
RIP Mr. Knievel, you are still my hero and thank you @MobileInstinct for an awesome video! Excuse me while I find the advil and centrum
He was a legend! And he partied like one! Thanks for all the memories!
I saw a documentary of Evel. It was quite interesting and it was sad to see how he fell apart in the end. But in his prime he was an awesome man. He was far before my time, I would do anything to be born in a time to see him in action.
I was a member of a make shift Evel Knievel bike club in the 70's, we jumped our buddies laying down, 55 gal barrells, riding lawn mowers and eventually cars, man we tore up alot of schwinn stingrays
Nice information and presentation.
One of my childhood hero’s..... so cool . Thanks for sharing w us
Wow! What a great video. I will never forget watching some of the jumps he made and the ones he didn't. I'm so glad they restored the truck and his tricked out Caddie. THANK YOU for posting this video.
AWESOME! Gene as such great stories, of being Evel's bodyguard. He is thankful for the fathering in a way Evel did for him. He comes up with new stories about his travels with him all the time! Gene Sullivan was headed to the big title in boxing. He even saw Joe Frazier at Evel Knievel's funeral (he did, will leave link in comment), because Joe expected to fight him also. A relative talked to George Foreman on a plane, and asked, what happened to Gene, I expected him to be my contender? Gene Sullivan. He was ready to sign a training contract with Rocky Marciano but he died right before he did in a plane crash. Then Gene ran off with Evel Knievel, but HE GOT SAVED at a Fellowship of Christian Athletes luncheon. LIKE REALLY, HE WALKED AWAY FROM A 10 MILLION DOLLAR stunt contract, that HE DID SIGN. ONE OF HIS BIGGEST REGRETS, was watching George train in FL. about a month before you got saved. He felt like the Lord wanted him to reach out to you and give you his testimony, but HE WIMPED OUT. (no one has ever known him as a wimp either! ) We watched George's movie tonight and really enjoyed it. Gene actually ended up finding out WHO his REAL father is the last couple of months. Here is a little bit about that and how in the 1920's he was offered to train as a boxer for a month for 350 thousand dollars back then. It's a fun story. Gene along with boxing, was a stunt man, could have been an NFL star himself, but ran off with Evel Knievel instead. He knew Prescott Sullivan a famous Sports Writer in his day, as seen in the movie THE ODD COUPLE with Walter Matthaue, was not his father. His WW2 Command Pilot mother in the Aviation Hall of Fame, kept the secret. UNTIL ANCESTRY exposed it. Gene's real father? The FAMOUS Ernie Nevers... has a movie about him George Clooney did called LEATHERHEADS. He invented the HOOK SHOT in basketball, Played Professional basketball and baseball, even Pitched to Babe Ruth. Was in the movies too, BUT, was one of the FIRST ever to be inducted into the NFL HALL OF FAME, and holds 3 records that have never been broken. Pop Warner called him the BEST COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYER EVER in the first half Century of the 1900's. So did Sports Illustrated. He is in 4 FOOTBALL HALL OF FAMES. His son Gene is in 4 museums, buried Evel Knievel, and the longest touring Motorcycle Jumper in History. Ernie was offered about 320k in today's economy to train to box for one month. Gene? He was ready to sign a contract with the famed ROCKY MARCIANO to turn him into the heavy weight champion of the world, before he died in a plane crash. Gene was heavyweight champ in the Navy and for the State of Ca. Joe Frasier even asked Gene who did Evel Knievel's funeral (you can find that on TH-cam) why he never showed up in the ring. So Ernie and Prescott were good friends. Even found a news paper article where they are arm wrestling. They were both good friends, and golfing buddies with John Wayne, Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, Joe DiMaggio, Ward Bond, among other famous people who hung out together. Been great fun getting to know about Ernie due to Ancestry. He died in 1974 but everyday, more things come up in the news, on ebay, he is still a sports hero talked about and written about if not every day, at least every week. There is much more to tell.... IT ALL MADE SENSE, when we found ERNIE NEVERS. Gene looks TOTALLY like his son, and had all the same ATHLETIC skill, that his bookworm Sportswriter father had none. Even how we found out with Gene famous sports documentary Emmy award winning son, is very fun. He came over one day and said, DAD will you spit in a tube for me? Knowing it would be highly unlikely he would. Soooo much more to tell but will end here.
I’ll never forget being in the playground as a kid and seeing one of the bigger kids ride by on the Knievel bicycle....
Thank you for posting your excellent video of The Evel Knievel Museum! The Evel Knievel pinball machine brought back many a fine memory of playing one while I was in college.
Same here and I spent many a quarter playing the pin ball game too!@Gus VanHorn
I KNOW where EVEL's 1968 VW BUS is that he LIVED IN AND WORKED OUT OF FOR 2 YEARS!
Still sitting behind a house in Washington
Can you tell me, I'd love to see it
Fantastic footage. Remember when he first started. Thank you I really enjoyed this.
He was our hero growing up in the 70s lol . Everyone wanted to be him
This man was a legend.I wish I was old enough to enjoy that era.I was just a toddler by time he hit fame lol
Fantastic video buddy thanks so much for filming in publishing
Evel Knievel is the reason why I learned to ride a motorcycle. I do off road dirt bike riding . I did not do stunts but learned to ride.
When I was a kid growing up in England, I had a little EK motorcycle in a cradle thing, I’d wind it up & away Evel would go! It was a lot like the 2 shown in your video. Probably worth a fortune now!
That would be really neat to see. I grew up hearing on the news about each one of his jumps.
The thumbnail is so good 👍!
I was a huge Evel fan as a kid!!! I watched every jump, on Wide World of Sports on saturdays. I had every toy, including "Big Red" rig and rocket. Wish I had them now. I was heartbroken whe he didn't make the Snake river canyon jump. Imagine what he could do with today's technology...
That was really cool to watch, thank you for sharing it with us
Yes he was our hero, when we were kids. I remember going and seeing him jump 16 cars when i was a kid, we watched all of his stunts, and had his toys. Jumping ramps..lol we thought we were him, great times. Rest in peace Evel for the stars don't burn as bright as they once did.🇺🇸
Awesome Thanks for posting. Have to get there someday. Evel was part of my childhood
Awesome video!!
Thank you for the tour
Awesome
video. Was a huge fan of his in the day.
Thank you so much for this video. Your videos are the best !! Very unusual places ! Keep rocking !
Pretty cool I watched him jump many many times. Thanks for sharing
Evel Knievel was my childhood hero. I jumped my stripped down hand-me-down Schwinn bicycle over garbage cans and ditches trying to emulate my hero, Evel. I didn’t have a full face helmet like the Bell helmet Evel had so, I took a piece of cardboard wrote “Evel” on it (in cursive like his) and taped it to my helmet. I still own the original 1976 Evel Knievel Stunt Cycle and Scrambler Van from Hasbro. It’s still amazing what he accomplished on that big, heavy Harley. Today’s bikes are so much more lighter.
Pretty cool. I remember as a child watching him every time he was on TV. We got to see a lot of his stuff including the rocket at one of those Carl Casper custom auto shows in Louisville, KY back then. Still have a polaroid of it in an old photo album here. That same show had Adam West in his Batman costume. Great memories. I had the wind up stunt cycle as well and I had a mini bike at the time with a metallic blue helmet with the big white stars on it, lol.
I met the man that designed and built the skycycle. Bob Truax was a real life rocket scientist. He lived in my town and gave a talk at the community college I attended. In addition to the skycycle, he was developing a suborbital rocket in an early attempt to launch the first privately funded human space flight, way before Elon Musk & friends. He was constructing it with surplus Atlas rocket parts. Mr Truax told us that it was much easier to find volunteers to fly the thing than to find investors to fund it. In other words, more people will risk their lives that risk their money!
"Truax also designed the Skycycle X-2, which he unsuccessfully tested on April 15, 1972 and June 24, 1973, and which Evel Knievel unsuccessfully used at the Snake River Canyon in 1974."
Two-bit rocket engineer.
I really enjoy your videos and the content you present. Nice job! 👍🏼
Thanks Steve!
When I was a kid Evel was the man! Thanks for this trip, now I feel like I need to go sometime. I never knew he used an American eagle Laverda 750 on one of his jumps, that's really cool they have that bike on display. American Eagle was a company created by a former U.S. Honda import manager who went on to form his own import company, bringing in bikes custom made (often just cosmetically) from Japan, italy and Britain. The Laverda 750 was an interesting one as they basically copied an already reliable bike engine, the Honda 305, and enlarged it to 750 cc's. I've gotten to know about a few, working on and riding, and laverda did enjoy some racing success with their 750 SF racebike. Evel must have been offered the bike to promote this new motorcycle company. Looking around there sadly isn't much info posted online about them.
Loved watching Evil Knievel
This video is amazing!! I have been a huge fan, since the early 70's. !!!!
I'll be driving through Topeka next week. Definitely going to stop at the museum. Thanks for sharing!
New to your channel, but I gotta say it just keeps getting better with every video I watch. So professional. Thank you
Very cool! Thanks for this.