Motorcycle Daredevil Goes Evel Knievel At Sturgis Rally
RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) — On his first speed run Thursday night, a prelude to his world record attempt to jump a 1972 Harley-Davidson XR750 over 22 cars at the Buffalo Chip Campground, motorcycle daredevil Doug Danger had little doubt he was about to die.
But with more than 5,000 spectators roaring their approval of the red, white and blue-suited stuntman, Danger knew he couldn’t back out, even though he was convinced his cycle, used by his idol, Evel Knievel, wasn’t getting up to speed.
Before the jump, his bravado disguised his fear.
“You hang onto your beers and I’ll hold onto the handlebars, and we’ll take a ride into history,” Danger told his throng of leather-clad admirers.
The 53-year-old Massachusetts resident had been planning the jump for a decade. He knew Knievel never made it, and the only other daredevil to attempt the feat on the vintage Harley had ended up in a coma for weeks.
In light of the poor first speed run, Danger did the only thing he could do: He extended the distance leading up to his takeoff ramp. Starting an extra 100 yards back, where tent and RV campers were drinking beers and getting bolstered for late-night rock-and-roll concerts, Danger turned the throttle to the stops.
On this partly cloudy 80-degree evening, with a light westerly breeze, he roared up the ramp, soared into an azure sky and landed the heavy Harley at least another car length past the point of setting a new world record.
But even midair, Danger said the outcome was never preordained.
“I thought I was sideways and was going to get bucked off,” he said with a sigh of relief minutes after his successful jump. As it was, he said, the jerk of the handlebars on landing injured his left wrist and thumb.
What about that pre-jump fatalism?
“That first speed run scared the crap out of me because I didn’t get anywhere near the 80 miles per hour I needed to clear the cars,” Danger said, nursing an ice cold beer. “I looked down and saw 74 mph, and I knew that wasn’t going to be enough.”
Hence the added 100 yards.
Rod Woodruff, owner of the Buffalo Chip and sponsor of the jump, said, “I really thought he was going to crash, but I’m so glad he didn’t. We’ve really gotten to like Doug around here.
“The only thing better would be to bring Evel back from the dead to do it himself,” Woodruff added.
Danger’s wife, Marie Senecal, was clearly relieved that her husband had made the jump of a lifetime.
“I was proud of Doug long before he took to the air,” she said.
Out of his wife’s earshot, Danger said he was going to savor the night, his new world record, and a few brews before considering what challenges await him. But he didn’t dismiss ever jumping a motorcycle again.
“I’m going to Disneyland,” he said, sporting his signature showman’s grin. “Another jumper beat Evel Knievel’s tractor-trailer record and his bus jumping record. If the money was right, I’d like to bring those back to the Knievel name where they belong. And we won’t bring up that Snake River Canyon jump quite yet,” he said, very cagily bringing it up to build suspense.
