"I'll be so glad when that motorcycle winds up to 15,000 r.p.m. and I pop that clutch and go down that runway, and hit that ramp as hard as I can hit it and fly through the air and land with both hands on those handlebars just perfect, I'll be the happiest guy in the world."
     -Evel Knievel, June 2, 2002

He wants to jump faster than he's ever jumped before.

The redline scream of his massive V Twin, he says, will fire Evel and his cycle some 20 yards further than the infamous 1967 Ceasar's Palace crash that put him in a coma for 29 days.

"I missed Caesar's Palace but I didn't have enough speed," Evel makes sure to add.

So as fate would have it, the factory new, custom-chopped 2003-model Evel Knievel is going to give the bionic man a run for his money, and his daredevil instinct senses victory in a low arc struck with superhuman speed.

"Remember something about me. I never missed a take-off," says Evel, warming up the crowd. "My take-offs were all perfect. The landing, that's where the trouble began, boy."

The fans laugh and send up a cheer. But are they sure they know what they're signing up for? No one wants to see his childhood hero turned into a 64-year old crash test dummy and carted off to Boot Hill on a plank. On the other hand, can you imagine the meteor storm of inspiration that would light up the USA on the night that the regenerated Knievel conquers the challenge he's set for himself?

This much is clear. It's Death or Glory. Evel's Last Jump has to be nothing less than perfect to succeed.