#EvelKnievel

The temperature gauge read 111, and ACDC’s “Highway to Hell” somehow fittingly came on the radio as we rolled into Caesars Palace, smack dab in the middle of the Las Vegas strip. Multiply that by three jumps, and we’ve got the Devil’s number, 666, except daredevil Travis Pastrana wasn’t going to let a little heat stand between him defying the odds and inking his name in the record books next to Evel Knievel’s, yet again. Okay, maybe our math is a little off, but there’s no denying the crazy timing and correlation between it all. The stage couldn’t have been set any more perfectly for such an epic night that would soon unfold.

Travis Pastrana is a psycho, seriously, but in the best way possible. He’s also one of the most genuinely nice human beings out there. Few other people in this world can seemingly bend the laws of physics to their will like he can and then bounce off the ground like a basketball (or sack of potatoes) only to get up and do it again when things don’t go as planned. He’s revolutionized the sport of freestyle motocross and all the other action sports he’s tried. From skydiving and base jumping, backflipping and front flipping motorcycles, to racing rally cars and demolishing anything in his path, all the while somehow managing not to die – there’s no end or limit to Travis’ abilities or creative ideas. He just landed this one trick – I don’t even think there’s a name for it yet, but it could easily be called the “what the fuuuh…” – and all the spinning and twisting while backflipping through the air, several stories above the ground is enough to puzzle even a Rubik’s Cube wizard.

A couple weeks ago, it was announced that Travis Pastrana would jump an Indian Scout FTR750 into the record books, not once, but in three separate leaps designed to pay homage to the late great Evel Knievel.  You can read all about the details here, but in short, Travis will attempt three of Evel’s most famed jumps aboard the FTR, including jumping the length of 52+ crushed cars, 16 Greyhound busses, and the famous Caesar’s Palace fountain jump that left Knievel with over 40 broken bones and in a month-long coma.

Indian isn’t just in the business of building motorcycles anymore; the American motorcycle manufacturer is also making history and rewriting the record books, and the Scout FTR750 is leading the way. In its inaugural 2017 American Flat Track season, the FTR750 won 14 of 18 races, accounted for 37 of the available 54 podium spots and won Indian and Jared Mees the Grand National Championship. This year, the FTR has also proven to be dominant, leading the championship so far with complete podium sweeps in the last two rounds. No other bike in its class has been able to touch it.

Today marks the start of the 2018 American Flat Track season in Daytona Beach with the famed DAYTONA TT. The off-season has been a busy one for anyone involved with the sport and this year is sure to provide some of the closest, most exciting, edge-of-your-seat racing ever seen. Harley-Davidson and Indian Motorcycles are obviously the two biggest heavyweights competing for not only race wins, but bragging rights too.

If you could pit any of the greatest motorcycle distance jumpers in history against one another, who goes down as the greatest of all time?  Cast your vote and feel free to let us know why in the comments below.

For those of us who grew up during the peak of Evel Knievel’s exploits, nothing could be cooler than being him – not even being Batman. Well, those nice folks at Mecum’s Las Vegas Motorcycle Auction will give you the chance to live your dream this Friday, Jan. 27th 2017 when Evel Knievel’s Stratocycle built by the great Bud Ekins goes on the auction block.

While concocting my What’s A Motorcycle Daredevil? editorial, it became apparent that not only do daredevils share a taste for jumping motorcycles, but also for the things they jump their motorcycles over. Taking a second look at these obstacles, from the mundane to the extraordinary, popular to obscure, I composed a list of the best and the most esoteric (worst?) objects daredevils choose to jump.

Not to disparage India’s Border Security Force (BSF) or the country’s national bird, but what is this peacockery? In news reports of Barack Obama attending India’s annual Republic Day parade, I repeatedly heard or read terminology such as “daredevil stunts,” and “dare-devilish manoeuvres.” These descriptions were in regards to the motorcycle performances during the parade by the Janbaz that can more appropriately be described as an elaborately dressed motorcycle drill team demonstration.

In the pantheon of American motorcycle badasses, sitting high amongst the crowd are Steve McQueen and Evel Knievel. In 2006, our very own Gabe Ets-Hokin and Pete Brissette set out to pay homage to the two legends, riding the marques that McQueen and Knievel are most associated with. So for this week’s Church feature we revisit the McQueen vs. Knievel Road Test, pitting the Triumph Scrambler against the Harley-Davidson Sportster. The test location was special as well: San Francisco, a city both men have a connection to, as the story goes on to explain. Read on to see the antics Gabe and Pete got themselves into in their quest to emulate two of America’s motorcycling icons.

Most days, there are more than 2000 ads for motorcycles on the San Francisco-area Craigslist and probably a similarly large number advertised near any major population center. The odds of any one of these ads attracting much attention are pretty small. But when a certain for-sale ad appeared on the Sacramento list, it was different – very different.

Without a doubt, we have Evel Knievel to thank for opening our minds to the limits we can push ourselves and our motorcycles. His numerous record attempts dazzled us, but he also broke every bone in his body in the process. However, he inspired many to follow in his footsteps — to push the limits of man and machine farther and farther. Just how far have we come? Now, thanks to this infographic from Fix.com, we get a glimpse of some of the more spectacular world records man has achieved by launching themselves and their bikes through the air. Take a look below, which one most impresses you? Tell us in the comments section below.