Today in motorcycle history, January 23, 1966

   It all begins with the simple twist of the throttle and a dream.  And a bottle of Private Reserve.

   Evel Knievel and His Motorcycle Daredevils debut at the National Date Festival in Indio, California.  Evel jumps two pick-up trucks parked back-to-back (an estimated 45 feet) riding on a Norton Atlas. 

   The show was a huge success. 

    Knievel received several offers to host the show by himself after their first performance.  He turns it down.  Their next performance is on February 10, 1966 in Barstow, California.  During the performance, Knievel attempts a new stunt where he would jump, spread eagle, over a speeding motorcycle.  Unfortunately, he jumped too late and the motorcycle hit him in the groin (high-pitched ouch), tossing him fifteen feet into the air.  After his release from the hospital, he returned to Barstow to finish the performance he had started almost a month earlier.

   Evel Knievel and His Motorcycle Daredevil's broke up after the Barstow performance because injuries prevented him from performing.  After recovering, Knievel started traveling from small town to small town as a solo act.  To get ahead of other motorcycle stunt people who were jumping animals or pools of water, Knievel started jumping cars.  He began adding more and more cars to his jumps when he would return to the same venue to get people to come out and see him again.  Knievel hadn’t had a serious injury since the Barstow performance, but on June 19, 1966 in Missoula, Montana, he attempted to jump twelve cars and a cargo van.  The distance he had for take-off didn’t allow him to get up enough speed.  His back wheel hit the top of the van while his front wheel hit the top of the landing ramp.  Knievel ended up with a severely broken arm and several broken ribs.  The crash and subsequent stay in the hospital were a publicity windfall.

   With each successful jump, the public wanted him to jump one more car.  On May 30, 1967, Knievel successfully cleared sixteen cars in Gardena, California.  Then he attempted the same jump on July 28, 1967, in Graham, Washington, where he had his next serious crash.  Landing his cycle on a panel truck that was the last vehicle, Knievel was thrown from his bike.  This time he suffered a serious, brain-rattling concussion.  Then after nearly a month, he recovered and returned to Graham on August 18 to finish the show.