Robbie Knievel

Infobox Person
name = Robbie "Kaptain" Knievel

---

caption = Doing a wheelie at Texas Motor Speedway in June 2008
birth_date = birth date and age|1962|5|7
birth_place = Butte, Montana
known_for = motorcycle jumping
occupation = daredevil
nationality = American
parents = Robert and Linda Knievel

Robert Edward "Kaptain" Knievel (born May 7, 1962 in Butte, Montana) is an American daredevil and son of the legendary daredevil Evel Knievel.

Early life

Robbie Knievel is the third of four children of the late famous stuntman Evel Knievel and his first wife Linda.Knievel began jumping his bicycle at age 4 and rode motorcycles at age 7. At age 8 he performed his first show with his father at Madison Square Garden. At age 12 he was on tour with his father where he would perform in the pre-jump shows. Robbie attended South Central Catholic Jr. High School in Butte, Montana between 1975-76, but never graduated. He wanted to lengthen his jumps, but his father disapproved. Robbie then went solo after his dad's disapproval. [ [http://www.amazon.com/dp/0966647106 Amazon.com: EVEL*WAYS, A Daring Approach to Life: Evel Knievel: Books ] ]

Bikes

Robbie Knievel's jumping career is markedly different from his father's, in that Robbie used high-performance Honda CR-500 motocross bikes that have been designed for jumping up until 2008. Evel Knievel used Harley-Davidson motorcycles which were significantly heavier and less agile, and which were really intended for track racing. Robbie will attempt a record jump at Wembley Stadium in London England spring 2009. In an effort to silence the critics, Robbie will use the same XR-750 Harley Davidson that his father used, only Robbie will attempt to clear a record-breaking 16 buses, not 13 (the current record jumping a XR-750 is 15 buses, held by Bubba Blackwell).

Records and jumps

Robbie has completed over 250 jumps, setting 20 world records. These include the Caesars Palace Fountain jump, the building to building jump and The Grand Canyon jump. The canyon jump was partially based on Robbie's father's radical and ill-fated attempt at jumping the Snake River Canyon in 1974 on a rocket "motorcycle" which was really much more rocket than motorcycle. In Robbie's jump he used a motorcycle and he jumped the canyon. However, while coming off the landing ramp at the high speed Robbie was going, the bike became uncontrollable and Robbie broke his leg in the resulting spectacular crash. While Robbie's jump was harrowing at a distance of 228 feet and a canyon depth of 2500 feet, it was quite a bit more thought out, less haphazard and far more ambitious than his father's attempt in 1974 of jumping almost a mile over a canyon in an ill-conceived, makeshift rocket. The Grand Canyon jump was one of Robbie Knievel's most exciting and famous successful jumps on May 20, 1999 [ [http://www.geocities.com/shioshya/knievel.html The Knievels - Motorcycle Jumping Grand Canyon 1968 1999 ] ] . He is considering a future attempt at jumping the Snake River Canyon on the Snake River near Twin Falls, Idaho, a feat his father had failed at in 1974. In 2003 Robbie had a spectacular jump at the Chinook Winds Casino where Robbie jumped 15 Diet Pepsi Trucks. [http://www.cyclebiker.com/media/1750/2003-Robbie-Knievel-Pepsi-Jump-at-Chinook-Winds-Casino-/] During the summer of 2005, Robbie had his own TV show on A&E called Knievel's Wild Ride. Robbie also was to co-star with Lee Majors in a US pilot series called "Hollywood Stunts" that featured greats like, Spanky Spangler, Matthew Phillips, George Nelson and Ron Nix. In 2006, Robbie opened a new business called Knievel's Custom Cycles, based in Lake Hopatcong, New Jersey. In late March 2006, Robbie Knievel jumped from one barge to another in Jacksonville, FL and in late July 2006, he made a triple tribute jump to his father Evel Knievel at Evel Knievel Days in Butte, Montana by jumping the Batmobile, four huge flame throwers and a 1959 era Harley-Davidson motorcycle. []

On March 18, 2007, Robbie jumped an assortment of military vehicles at the North Carolina Auto Expo in Raleigh, North Carolina. Soon afterwards, he appeared in a nationally broadcast commercial for Holiday Inn Express. On June 9, 2007, he appeared in Wilmington, Delaware and successfully jumped $4.8 billion in fake money representing the amount of interest paid to the customers of ING Direct. In August 2007, he was inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in Sturgis, South Dakota and made a jump at the world famous Buffalo Chip campground. Robbie successfully jumped over 24 Coca-Cola Zero truck cabs at The Kings Island Amusement Park outside Cincinnati, Ohio on May 24, 2008. [http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080425/ENT/304250109/1025/LIFE] 33 years after his father Evel Knievel carved daredevil history in 1975 for jumping over 14 Greyhound buses at Kings Island. Robbie Knievel, 46, landed a few feet short on his safety deck over the 23rd truck, Evel's record for buses was 14 while jumping on a Harley Davidson XR-750.

Knievel successfully jumped on June 7, 2008 at the Texas Motor Speedway in Ft. Worth, Texas. He cleared 21 Hummers on the front stretch of the speedway. He originally was going to jump 25 Hummers. However, there was a strong sustained headwind the evening of the jump. [ [http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/motorsports/tms/stories/060808dnspotmsknievel.40bd7a5.html, Robbie Knievel clears 21 Hummers] ]

Robbie jumped on July 3, 2008 at Six Flags St. Louis. He cleared 25 Dodge vehicles in front of a crowd of 1,000. The jump, originally scheduled to take place at 1:30pm, was pushed back to 2:00 due to brief rain.

His latest jump was at the LCO Casino near Hayward, Wisconsin on August 16, 2008. While performing pre-jump wheelies to get the crowd going, Robbie fell off the bike and slid into some hay bales, dislocating his shoulder. Despite his injury, he performed the jump clearing four small airplanes and a small helicopter.

In October 2008 Robbie and his South Carolina business partner Jeff Lowe will open "Kaptain Knievel's" Sports bar and Museum in Daytona Beach, Florida. The beach front bar will display significant items from the career of Robbie and his famous father.

References

External links

* [http://www.knievelcustomcycles.com Knievel Custom Cycles website]
* [http://www.robbieknievel.com Kaptain Robbie Knievel's official website]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCq7mFdzTnY 21 Hummer Jump at Texas Motor Speedway]