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  #31  
Old 12-03-2011, 09:57 PM
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Earl Earl is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jerry Irvine
Despite his pecadillos and imperfections, he was a successful stunt man on the one metric that matters to stunt men. Media mind share.

The skycycle stunt did have a partial failure due to a mechanical error beyond the scope of the pilot.

I say partial failure because again, under the only metric of importance to a stunt man, it resulted in unprecedented media exposure and mind share. So much so, the majority of the population still knows about it and thinks about it.

You may poo poo a candy company sponsoring Knievel, but note this well. That was Nabisco, one of the largest food companies on the planet.

The $25k suitcase was possibly the best investment they ever made. That was pocket change for them!

Jerry


I think you are spot on with every point Jerry. He was a master showman for his day. And he DID get a ton of media coverage back then....there wasn't anyone else even in the same league at the time. Was some it cheesy? Sure; some of it was designed to be.

And yes, that $25K was nothing money when it comes to marketing expenditures in those categories. Best money they probably ever spent...and probably would have been happy to double or triple it on the spot if need be. That jump that year was one of the biggest media events of that year, probably only second to Nixon's resignation the month before. The country was looking for a diversion from the crap of Watergate. Enter Evel to do just that, win or loose.

Earl
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  #32  
Old 12-04-2011, 08:15 AM
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Must have worked.....I got an Evel Knievel stunt cycle for Christmas somewhere around that time.
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  #33  
Old 12-04-2011, 09:20 AM
bob jablonski bob jablonski is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tbzep
Must have worked.....I got an Evel Knievel stunt cycle for Christmas somewhere around that time.

Those were repordued in the mid 90's. I got my kid one.
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  #34  
Old 12-09-2011, 10:10 AM
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Tau Zero Tau Zero is offline
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Thumbs up X-2 Skycycle Blog

Today I found an old blog by Scott Truax with a few interesting pictures:

http://x2skycycle.blogspot.com/


Cheers,
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  #35  
Old 12-09-2011, 01:15 PM
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Jerry Irvine Jerry Irvine is offline
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Centuri Guy, see message 17 in this thread.

There does seem to be a lot of ongoing interest in this vehicle.
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  #36  
Old 06-11-2012, 11:57 AM
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ghrocketman ghrocketman is offline
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Anything new on this folks ?
Is Robbie still intending on following in his fathers footsteps of one MORONIC stunt after another ?
I would like to see a full attempt of the Snake River Canyon Jump, with absolutely NO additional safety features over the attempt in the 70's.
No backup chutes, no airbags, and no other mamby-pamby junk.
The safety features of the original were more than plenty. Don't pay for any stinkin' insurance or any other jackwagon useless permits either. Just GO DO IT.
Make it possible to deploy the chute ONLY AFTER the rocket motor has expended ALL fuel.
That way that "crock of crapola" pakk-o'-lies that the chute prematurely deployed can be avoided. Evel bailed on the original. Anything else is baloney.

Actually it would be a much better stunt for Robbie if he "pilots" a rocket-powered version of the original Evel Knievel Chevy STEP-VAN (bread truck/SWAT team van) off a ramp into that canyon. Now THAT would be an impressive feat. Even if a failure, a STEP VAN smashing into a mangled smouldering heap at the bottom of a canyon would be entertainment "A Plenty" !
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  #37  
Old 06-11-2012, 12:06 PM
dyaugo dyaugo is offline
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I always considered Evel Knievel a true stuntman compared to a lot of these guys today. You see these guys jump 100 yards on a motor cycle that has 2-3 feet of suspension...ok a great jump indeed, but try the fountains at Ceasar's on a Harley or Triumph? Now lets see how good you are? Evel made himself an icon at time when no one else out there was doing it. Talk about niche marketing. He set up his own ramps and also built them. The guy was awesome!!

His son Robbie has made some very successful jumps. I'm sure there are a lot of folks out there that would like to see him clear the Snake River.
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  #38  
Old 06-11-2012, 12:28 PM
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ghrocketman ghrocketman is offline
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Jumping with a Hardly-Movingson or a Triumph does not show a real stunt, it shows a serious lack of intelligence for undertaking something just plain stupid. Use the correct tool for the job or at least one that gives the greatest chances of success. Anything less is just foolhardy horseplay. The nicest legitimate way to describe Evel would be "loudmouthed foolhardy never-grew-up kid". The only reason he never used a POS Farmall tractor off a jump ramp was he could not figure out a way to get up enough speed.
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When in doubt, WHACK the GAS and DITCH the brake !!!

Yes, there is such a thing as NORMAL
, if you have to ask what is "NORMAL" , you probably aren't !

Failure may not be an OPTION, but it is ALWAYS a POSSIBILITY.
ALL systems are GO for MAYHEM, CHAOS, and HAVOC !
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  #39  
Old 06-11-2012, 12:30 PM
dyaugo dyaugo is offline
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Back then I'm sure there weren't many options.

Opinions vary.
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  #40  
Old 06-11-2012, 12:42 PM
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ghrocketman ghrocketman is offline
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I can almost picture that BOZO trying to jump some Vegas fountain (such as into the Bellagio fountain pond) on a Farmall or John Deere Tractor though. A COMBINE would be even funnier. The crash alone would be worth the price of the flight to Vegas.
Travis Pastrana has it over this lunkhead and always has. He undertakes stunts with a high liklihood of success using equipment that is logical for the task. Evel did neither.

Evel always appeared to have the attitude of "the loudmouth neighborhood bully in DESPERATE need of an A$$-kikkin" but never learned when he got it kikked, and it got kikked often.
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When in doubt, WHACK the GAS and DITCH the brake !!!

Yes, there is such a thing as NORMAL
, if you have to ask what is "NORMAL" , you probably aren't !

Failure may not be an OPTION, but it is ALWAYS a POSSIBILITY.
ALL systems are GO for MAYHEM, CHAOS, and HAVOC !
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