griller 9 Posted December 1, 2007 Share Posted December 1, 2007 Quote: Legendary US daredevil Evel Knievel has died at the age of 69, his granddaughter has said. I was a big fan. Had one of the toys that really blasted off too. He might have been Evel, but he wasn't evil. Link to post Share on other sites
ketro177 0 Posted December 1, 2007 Share Posted December 1, 2007 I heard the news today too. Pretty sad. He was one of the biggest reasons why I started riding a motorcycle. Link to post Share on other sites
soubriquet 0 Posted December 1, 2007 Share Posted December 1, 2007 Dead at 69. He always was rubbish. My dad made it to 88, and mum is still going at 92. Link to post Share on other sites
boardbaka 3 Posted December 1, 2007 Share Posted December 1, 2007 you are a real cynic are`nt you soubriquet- if he was rubbish how come he was such an american icon - ? Link to post Share on other sites
soubriquet 0 Posted December 1, 2007 Share Posted December 1, 2007 I watched Mike Hailwood on a 350cc Honda beat Agostini on a 500cc MV live at Mallory Park. Evil knievel was always a total self-pubcising jerk. It must be wonderful to have no sense of perspective or history. America is the freeist and the bestist land on earth. Dead Caifornia Jerks don't persuade me Link to post Share on other sites
soubriquet 0 Posted December 1, 2007 Share Posted December 1, 2007 He is an American icon because he was a total jerk. Jerk is the intellectual neccessity for the leader of the free nations. Link to post Share on other sites
Mantas 3 Posted December 1, 2007 Share Posted December 1, 2007 Didn't he try and jump the Grand Canyon on a rocket powered motorbike or something? Link to post Share on other sites
samurai 0 Posted December 2, 2007 Share Posted December 2, 2007 Originally Posted By: soubriquet He is an American icon because he was a total jerk. Jerk is the intellectual neccessity for the leader of the free nations. dude... I've never once heard anyone say that Evel was a jerk. I don't doubt you, but I will say that his being a jerk had nothing to do with why he was an American idol. He was an American idol because of his balls, his aim in life and willingness to always push the envelope. Americans love boldness and seeing people stand up to their fears. where do you think this whole extreme sports generation came from? Surely Evel didn't single-handedly deliver it, but America markets the hell out of it because Americans love crazy shit. Hence- the X-Games. Drag racing, world speed records, hot-rods, harleys, half-pipes, all of it reeks American. I never even cared for his sport. Modern dirt jumpers are way sicker, imo. double-backflips on motor bikes?! WTF?! Are they jerks? probably. I don't care. I'm just in awe at the size of their balls and I sure as hell wish I had the balls to pull of the dreams that bounce in my head. Link to post Share on other sites
Mantas 3 Posted December 2, 2007 Share Posted December 2, 2007 I agree Samuri. He had balls alright. Maybe no brains but who cares. If I want to watch brainy dudes I'll watch the latest quiz show. Link to post Share on other sites
boardbaka 3 Posted December 2, 2007 Share Posted December 2, 2007 Originally Posted By: soubriquet I watched Mike Hailwood on a 350cc Honda beat Agostini on a 500cc MV live at Mallory Park. Evil knievel was always a total self-pubcising jerk. It must be wonderful to have no sense of perspective or history. America is the freeist and the bestist land on earth. Dead Caifornia Jerks don't persuade me and it must be equally as wonderful to have the seemingly inate ability to make sweeping generalisations about whatever blows your hair back -talk about kicking a man when he is down- I think it`s fair to say that he actually lived a fair bit more than you or I- and what does the fact that your parents outlived him have to do with the price of tea in china ? wtf so what ? - EK RIP Link to post Share on other sites
soubriquet 0 Posted December 2, 2007 Share Posted December 2, 2007 Jerk by name, jerk by nature. Failing to land a jump isn't my definition of success. The Grand Canyon thing was nothing to do with bikes and everything to do with marketing and self publicity. He never won anything except self applause. I thought he was a twerp when he was alive, and being dead doesn't change my opinion. Link to post Share on other sites
soubriquet 0 Posted December 2, 2007 Share Posted December 2, 2007 Watching Hailwood beat Agostini at Mallory Park Was great stuff. Watching my mate Malcolm kill himself riding a production Thruxton Bonnie at Mallory was not fun. What was worse was driving his car back home and telling his wife that her husband and father of his children was dead. Never did have much time for show ponies. Link to post Share on other sites
soubriquet 0 Posted December 2, 2007 Share Posted December 2, 2007 Malcolm was the archetypal clubman racer. Machine tool fitter and absentee father by week, Racer at weekend, and dead at 27. Malcolm's 3 litre Rover was a blast. We could pull a trailer at 100mph behind that, no worries. None of the Vincent club gave Knievel much time. It was possibly a class thing. We were workers and he was not. Driving the car home and telling his widow that Malcolm was dead was one of life's less pleasant things. Link to post Share on other sites
actually 0 Posted December 2, 2007 Share Posted December 2, 2007 actually, I had an EK doll + bike. It was great. Link to post Share on other sites
Go Native 70 Posted December 2, 2007 Share Posted December 2, 2007 Geez soubs the man was an amazing and very successful entertainer. You call him a show pony, well that's exactly what he was and he was damn good at it. He did stuff that was awe inspiring and became a household name worldwide because of it. What on earth is wrong with that? You been fighting with your ex or something again?? Link to post Share on other sites
Yuki's Passion 1 Posted December 2, 2007 Share Posted December 2, 2007 too bad. he had ballz and tried some stoopid stuff that I cant even dream of doing. I'm sure he'll be stomping the landings from now on eh? Link to post Share on other sites
Mantas 3 Posted December 2, 2007 Share Posted December 2, 2007 Evil Knievel. RIP How do you embed these things? Link to post Share on other sites
SnowJapan Moderator SnowJapan.Com#4 5 Posted December 2, 2007 SnowJapan Moderator Share Posted December 2, 2007 You put before and after the code of the video. In the case of the above, that code is: D7IUKyDkDig Link to post Share on other sites
soubriquet 0 Posted December 2, 2007 Share Posted December 2, 2007 Damn right he was a show pony. Wearing white leathers and getting rich didn't cut much ice in Coventry. Link to post Share on other sites
aomorigum 0 Posted December 2, 2007 Share Posted December 2, 2007 You've made your point about 5 times, so why not retire from this thread now? Link to post Share on other sites
Mantas 3 Posted December 2, 2007 Share Posted December 2, 2007 just testing thanks SJ. Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted December 2, 2007 Share Posted December 2, 2007 what about when he comes off his bike in the first vid??!! Thats brutal, he just folds up like a rag doll.....OUCH!!!! Link to post Share on other sites
69 5 Posted December 2, 2007 Share Posted December 2, 2007 This was one of my favourite toys when I was a kid Link to post Share on other sites
Mantas 3 Posted December 3, 2007 Share Posted December 3, 2007 Originally Posted By: samurai I never even cared for his sport. Modern dirt jumpers are way sicker, imo. double-backflips on motor bikes?! Evel was a real trail blazer in this regard. Not too many people were doing that shit in 1971. Check out the bikes he was doing the jumps on, not the lightweight super suspension types guys ride these days. I'll bet he never practiced his jumps in a foam pit either. Link to post Share on other sites
samurai 0 Posted December 3, 2007 Share Posted December 3, 2007 Originally Posted By: Mantas Originally Posted By: samurai I never even cared for his sport. Modern dirt jumpers are way sicker, imo. double-backflips on motor bikes?! Evel was a real trail blazer in this regard. Not too many people were doing that shit in 1971. Check out the bikes he was doing the jumps on, not the lightweight super suspension types guys ride these days. I'll bet he never practiced his jumps in a foam pit either. GIGANTIC TOUCHE! Absolutely, Mantas. Did you realize you never used the word JERK in your iconism? The guy chucked metal across vast distances on purpose. And- often he crashed. BUT-- (and that's the key here, folks) he always tried again. The guy would fly metal across some record distance and wreck. And then stand up next week and do it again... and stick it. That's why he's an American Idol: because he always sacked up and gave it a second go. And if he stuck it in the first place, then everybody was thankful that they wouldn't have to go through a mind-numbing tremble of anticipating a second crash. RIP E.K.! You chucked carcass... and you knew it was just a carcass. And, you didn't die from wreckig that carcass. As far as I'm concerned- that's as close as any human being can get. Link to post Share on other sites
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