Evel Knievel, the most well known American daredevil of all time, is best known for his ramp to ramp motorcycle jumps; but he was also the subject of two films. High school dropout Robert Craig Knievel left Butte, Montana with not much more than a petty criminal record and an insatiable hunger for fame and money. Stints at rodeo riding, ski-jumping and semi-pro hockey had failed to deliver the desired notoriety, but the man could ride a motorcycle. As Evel Knievel, jumping ramp to ramp in a leather jumpsuit, he became a genuine cultural phenomenon to a nation reeling from the 1970s morass of the Vietnam War, Watergate and the Oil Crisis.

A measure of his popularity was the production of two feature-length films – the first, Evel Knievel, a biopic starring George Hamilton in the title role; the second, Viva Knievel!, starred Knievel himself and featured this 1976 Harley-Davidson XL1000 Motorcycle. The bike is a 1976 Ironhead Sportster 1000 made to look like one of Knievel’s XR-750 jump bikes.

In the current owner’s care, the bike has undergone a recent cosmetic restoration, including being repainted by George Sedlak, the man who originally painted Knievel’s jump bikes and all of the motorcycles in the movie. Available at auction in January in Las Vegas.

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