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From Evel Knievel to Today: The Great American Stunt Riders

  • Writer: jamesjordan
    jamesjordan
  • 2 days ago
  • 4 min read

Quick answer: American stunt jumping runs from Evel Knievel's Caesars Palace crash on December 31, 1967, through his son Robbie's successful fountain jump in 1989, to Travis Pastrana recreating three Knievel jumps live in Las Vegas on July 8, 2018. Every jump in that lineage happened as a sanctioned, professionally rigged event.

Who was Evel Knievel?

Robert Craig Knievel was born October 17, 1938 in Butte, Montana, and turned motorcycle jumping into American mass entertainment. In a career that ran through 1977 he became famous less for landing jumps than for surviving the ones he missed, wrapped in a stars-and-stripes jumpsuit that made the whole act feel like a national holiday. He died November 30, 2007 in Clearwater, Florida.

What happened at Caesars Palace?

On December 31, 1967, Knievel attempted to clear the fountains at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, a jump of roughly 144 feet. He came down short, and the crash broke him badly: a crushed pelvis and femur, fractures to his hip, wrist, and ankles, and a concussion. The footage made him a superstar. It is the most famous failed jump in motorsports history, and it set the template for every televised daredevil event since.

Did he really try to jump the Snake River Canyon?

Yes. On September 8, 1974, near Twin Falls, Idaho, Knievel strapped into the steam-powered Skycycle X-2, a rocket rather than a motorcycle, and launched at the far rim of the Snake River Canyon. The drogue parachute deployed early, the craft drifted back into the canyon, and he survived with minor injuries. The launch ramp earthwork is still visible outside Twin Falls.

What were his biggest motorcycle jumps?

  • Wembley Stadium, May 26, 1975: attempted 13 buses in London, crashed, and broke his pelvis in front of a packed stadium.

  • Kings Island, October 25, 1975: cleared 14 Greyhound buses, about 133 feet, his longest successful jump. The mark stood among his records for over two decades.

  • The Harley-Davidson XR-750 era: from late 1970 until Harley-Davidson withdrew sponsorship in 1977, his jumps were made on the XR-750, the same platform that dominated American flat track.

Guinness World Records credited Knievel with the most broken bones in a lifetime, a figure often quoted as more than 400 fractures, though Knievel himself and his family gave much lower counts. The honest version: nobody kept a clean tally, and the number grew with the legend. What is documented is a career of catastrophic injuries survived in public.

What did Robbie Knievel add to the story?

Robbie Knievel, Evel's son, turned the family act into a modern career with more than 300 jumps of his own. His signature moment came in April 1989, when he successfully cleared the Caesars Palace fountains on a lighter motocross-style bike, completing the jump that nearly killed his father. Robbie died in January 2023 at age 60.

Who carries the torch today?

Travis Pastrana, the motocross and rally champion behind Nitro Circus, staged the most direct tribute. On July 8, 2018, in the live televised Evel Live event in Las Vegas, he recreated three Knievel jumps in one night: a row of crushed cars, a line of Greyhound buses, and finally the Caesars Palace fountains, riding a modern Indian Scout FTR750 in a Knievel-style suit. The event was engineered, permitted, and professionally rigged, which is exactly the point. The lineage of American stunt jumping lives on closed courses with safety crews, not on public streets, where stunt riding is illegal in most places.

Frequently asked questions

Did Evel Knievel ever jump the Grand Canyon?

No. He talked about it for years, but the government never permitted it. The 1974 rocket attempt was over the Snake River Canyon in Idaho, on private land.

How many bones did Evel Knievel break?

Guinness listed him for the most bones broken in a lifetime, commonly cited as over 400 fractures. His own claims ranged from 35 to 50. Treat any precise number with suspicion; the injuries were real, the count is folklore.

What motorcycle did Evel Knievel jump?

Most famously the Harley-Davidson XR-750, from December 1970 through 1977. Earlier jumps used other machines, including Triumphs, and the Caesars Palace jump predates his XR-750 era.

Who finally jumped the Caesars Palace fountains successfully?

Robbie Knievel in April 1989, and Travis Pastrana again on July 8, 2018 during Evel Live.

Was the Snake River jump a failure of nerve or engineering?

Engineering. The parachute system deployed during launch. Knievel rode the machine all the way down and walked away, which by the standards of 1974 rocketry counts as a success of survival.

Where can I see this history in person?

Jump sites like the Caesars Palace fountains and the Snake River launch ramp outside Twin Falls are still visible, and Knievel memorabilia circulates through motorcycle museums and traveling exhibits. Butte, Montana, his hometown, has celebrated an annual Evel Knievel-themed event week in recent years.

Sources

Last updated: August 12, 2026. Part of the MGR Wheelies and Burnouts series. Read what modern stunt pros ride, the stunt gear guide, and the Wall of Death story.

 
 
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