The Reason Robbie Knievel Didn’t Use A Harley-Davidson Like His Father

The Reason Robbie Knievel Didn’t Use A Harley-Davidson Like His Father
Robbie Knievel, son of the infamous 1970s daredevil Evel Knievel, passed away in a hospice on Friday following a battle with pancreatic cancer. Like his father, the younger Knievel built a career around performing dangerous stunts on a motorcycle — though there was one key difference between Robbie’s bike and the one his father became a legend on.
The junior Knievel got a pretty early start to his career, jumping motorcycles with his father from a young age. Like his father, he also had a popular action figure. Aged just 13, he saw his likeness captured in plastic with “Robbie, The Teen-Age Stuntman.”
According to Biography.com, the younger stuntman’s talents began to cause a rift between Robbie and his legendary father. He moved out at the age of 16 and began to focus on his own career. In total, Robbie Knievel completed over 350 jumps in his career, setting 20 world records in the process. Eventually, Robbie — who was also known as “Kaptain Knievel” — even surpassed his father in a way.
One of Evel Knievel’s most famous failed stunts was his attempt to jump the Caesars Palace fountains in Las Vegas. The 1967 stunt resulted in a crash which landed Knievel in a coma for several months. Robbie had more success, jumping a total of 150 feet during his April 1989 attempt, and landing successfully.
Robbie’s success isn’t all down to talent — he may have had a significant advantage over his dad in one department. While Evel performed most of his most famous jumps on a heavy Harley-Davidson XR-750 racing motorcycle, Robbie opted for a far lighter bike.