Originally published at: In 1976 lots of kids were inspired by Evel Knievel
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Yep. I was one of those kids. Even though kids today think they invented it, I could ride wheelies for blocks. I jumped my Schwinn Stingray over lawnmowers, other kids laying down, and even jumped the width of the alley ramp-to-ramp. The US was just coming out of Watergate, the OPEC oil embargo, etc. Evel Knievel represented a hero we could relate to as kids.
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It seemed like every other kid back then had an Evel Knievel lunchbox. Or maybe that’s just my memory playing tricks on me.
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Yeah, 1976 is the first year I have clear memories of. Evel was huge with all the kids at school. I got the awesome rev-up motorcyle toy and Evel doll for Chrismas, along with a noise maker you stuck on the end of your bike’s handlebar to make it sound like you were revving a motorcycle engine. Good times!
The thing I remember most about 1976 is the bicenetenniel and red white and blue EVERYWHERE. I wonder if we’ll see that again in just over two years for the quarter-millennium (if the USA still exists by then).
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As a child I was smart/chicken enough not to try dangerous stunts myself, but I did abuse my EK action figure & wind up motorcycle. Fun.
Even more fun was the vintage EK record I found in a thrift store in the 90’s, where he’s talking to the kids about the Snake River Canyon jump. I sampled a bunch of nonsense about how he’s going to “red-out” as opposed to “black-out” (because he’s going feet first instead of head first) and used it in a track.
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There was also 6 Million Dollar Man, Bionic Woman and Wonder Woman lunchboxes.
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I still have the scar on my knee.
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Ah yes, I remember it well. . .
My folks always bought those plastic Snoopy/Peanuts lunchboxes, which didn’t hold up well.
I also had one of those “classic” banana-seat 5-speed bikes (that was missing the shifter.) And the lone time I tried to do a stunt on it I landed crotch-first on the crossbar. My young introduction to a whole new world of pain. At least I didn’t knock any teeth out.
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Still a recent enough cultural phenomenon that The Simpsons based a famous episode around it in 1990.
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yep, i was one of those kids too. Our group of friends did similar things, but we didn’t get local news coverage for it! haha.
All hail the parents of GenXers – “you’re gonna WHAT? well, i’m not taking you to the hospital, but i’ll watch you attempt it.”
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Jumped bicycles on homemade ramps as well. But the most dangerous stunt we did as kids was pouring gasoline all over the dirt lane that led to my grandparents’ house, setting it ablaze, and driving my cousin’s go-cart through it.
Evel’s got a lot to answer for. 
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I loved that slow motion replay. We had a 3/4" U-Matic SP deck in our truck and if you set the jog shuttle just so, you could keep the tracking lines to a bare minimum and actually be able to see clearly…
It was all in the fingers and the wrist.
Also those outfits… my word… crank the 70’s vibe to 11.
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Teenage me n friends in 1976 built a wooden kart and drove it down a hill on the paved main road (45 speed limit) in the desert outside Tucson. Had to have spotters to make sure no one was driving towards us. Parents did not approve. Fortunately no casualties.
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How big does a fail have to be to inspire a 1h42m documentary?
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If only Terry had got a mullet, he’d have had less drag.
Any stunt you can hobble away from is an anecdote. Anything else is an obituary.
@Beanolini Rocket Cars are the real-deal when it comes to dumb stunts.
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Here is a gift for you !
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A few of my friends found out their parents were bluffing. I never had the nerve to call that bluff. 
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Boy, that was a different time, wasn’t it? No protective gear, mom’s watching, the news is watching, no one’s thinking about liability. 
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