‘Daredevils’ Exhibit and Wild Ones Rally

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Daredevils

The dust had not yet settled, and exhibits were still being set up when Harley-Davidson Museum exhibit curator David Kreidler offered me a look behind the scenes at “Daredevils: A Century of Spine-Tingling Spectacles.” “The exhibit covers about 100 years of daredevil history. We had an Evel Knievel exhibit 10 years ago. We started talking about him again and the other things in our archives that relate to stunt work,” Kreidler says.

Looking at old circus material, Kreidler realized things he’d been seeing motorcyclists do were being done in the 1800s on horseback. “I’m a historian, so I tend to get curious; ‘where did this come from?’ ‘Who started this?’” he says. “It predates Hollywood stunts, it predates BMX bikes, it even predates motors. It started with equestrian trick riders in ancient Rome doing this stuff to entertain people.”

He became interested in how those trick riders approached their careers. “You can look at Evel Knievel, who is famous for Harley-Davidson, and look at Buffalo Bill. The two really don’t have anything in common other than they were both bad businessmen,” Kreidler suggests. “Buffalo Bill wasn’t even a daredevil; he just put on a show. But if you look at how they presented themselves to the public, they dressed in fancy clothes and weaved these fictional stories about themselves to draw the customers. 

Buffalo Bill was the most famous American in the 1890s, and Knievel was the most famous American in the 1970s. It has been fun pairing these things up.” William “Buffalo Bill” Cody was like a rock star. His posters didn’t have to show anything other than an image of himself and the date he was coming to town. “It was like Beatlemania!” Kreidler says. Cody’s rare buckskin costume is included in the exhibit. “I spoke with a number of Knievel’s contemporaries who swear they were better riders than him. I can see their point, but it doesn’t matter. Knievel was the best at presenting himself, and everyone else was playing catch up.” Thanks to his charisma, star power and marketing skills, Knievel became a household name owing to frequent network television appearances.” Knievel’s Harley-Davidson XR-750, ridden during his famous 1975 Wembley Stadium jump, is featured in “Daredevils.”

The exhibit also covers a number of other acts. The centerpiece is The Globe of Death—a metal ball that multiple riders crisscross inside the ball, successfully avoiding the others. “There is a connective tissue between these acts,” Kreidler offers. “It is not always theoretical or philosophical; sometimes it is generational.” The Urias family’s Globe of Death was constructed in 1912 in São Paulo, Brazil. Four generations of that family thrilled audiences the world over with their gravity-defying performances within the globe before it was retired in 2009. They toured the world with their Globe of Death before joining the Ringling Brothers Circus. Aside from the daredevil aspect, it is difficult to think of an object that was built in 1912 that has remained in use for 97 years.

Other highlights of the “Daredevils” exhibit include a rocket-powered, custom-built motorcycle (aka The Space Cycle) that was designed to jump Niagara Falls and was outfitted with helicopter blades to aid in its flight; and a living room furniture piece that was employed by the creative—some might say mad—geniuses at Nitro Circus to attempt the world’s first “reclining sofa chair jump.”

Here Come the Wild Ones 

The 12th annual Wild Ones Rally, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. on Saturday, July 13, coincides with the anniversary of the Harley-Davidson Museum’s opening in 2008, says Bill Rodencal, the museum’s collections lead. “It is a throwback to a 1940s motorcycle club picnic,” he explains. “At that time, you had a lot of different motorcycle organizations in Milwaukee, and they would get together to socialize. They would have a cookout and play motorcycle field games.”

Throwback entertainment is on hand. “We’ve had the Globe of Death, the Wall of Death and the Wisconsin State Motorcycle Police Skills Challenge,” Rodencal says. “This year, to tie in with the exhibit, we have the Victor McLaglen Motor Corps doing their stunt show here.” As part of the Wild Ones Rally, the Knucklehead Reunion is a show organized by a club from up north with riders on pre-1975 motorcycles. Included in the Reunion, the Badger Heritage Chapter of the Antique Motorcycle Club of America runs field games of the era, such as riding a plank, whiffle ball, setting balls on cones while riding a hand-shift motorcycle and even having a motorcycle passenger trying to take a bite from a suspended, mustard-covered hot dog while riding. Riders wishing to enter the vintage field games or the bike show must sign up; all proceeds go to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. There will also be raffle tickets sold for prizes.

“We usually get 3,500 people at this family friendly event to see these rare old bikes,” Rodencal says, “Germany, Australia… people come from all over the world to see something you don’t get to see every day. We’ve had antique tractors, cars, dragsters and vintage teardrop campers. Everybody here is willing and able to talk about their bikes. You have to ride them in, so we get everything. We had a guy ride in on a 1911; I bring out our 1920 sidecar and give rides.”

Daredevils: A Century of Spine-Tingling Spectacles runs through Sept. 8 at the Harley-Davidson Museum, 400 W. Canal St. For more information, call 414-287-2789 or visit harley-davidson.com.