Project photos - Evel Knievel Stunt Cycle restoration

[Myoldtoys]

I have had my brother's Evel Knievel stunt cycle for years. The cycle body had many parts broken off and the chrome engines were long gone. The good news was that the handlebars were not broken and it still ran well. I have been looking for a donor stunt cycle for about 20 years. I have bought and sold a few, but never found just what I was looking for until December. Everything was intact but the bars were broken and the bike didn't run. It was the perfect donor! I got a set of replacement rivets on eBay. The decals are handmade from red and blue Oracal 651 vinyl. They are very close in color to the originals (closer than the ones sold on eBay). I used an original set of decals as a template. If anyone is interested in stickers, let me know. Does not take much time to make a set. It turned out awesome! The bad news is I am literally running out of toy projects. Here are the restoration pictures...

[Confessional]

Fun project / nice work!… is that some kind of rivet jig you made?

[EmergencyIan]

Looks great! You really did some nice work.

- Ian

[Myoldtoys]

Fun project / nice work!… is that some kind of rivet jig you made?

Thanks. It is a jig of sorts for drilling out the old rivets. It supported the cycle and the rivets rested on the screws. The idea was that I wouldn't be putting pressure down on any 47 year old plastic. I could not use it for installing the new rivets. It wasn't strong enough.

[Myoldtoys]

The other part of the project was the figure. He came with the broken bike, and his suit was very dirty. I removed the "V" by cutting all the clear thread. Washed the suit. Then hand stitched the V back on. Actually did that on 2 figures in 1 week. That was not much fun but worth it!

[TrekStar]

You did a fantastic job on this, great work and thanks for sharing.

[ScottA]

That's pretty slick.

[rykerw1701]

I have parts of two sets of EK from my childhood, even with the box and I never seem to make restoring one of them a priority. But this provides a little inspiration.

[Myoldtoys]

I have parts of two sets of EK from my childhood, even with the box and I never seem to make restoring one of them a priority. But this provides a little inspiration.

Well if you are thinking of doing it at some point, I recommend buying a set of rivets on eBay for it now. The only seller I've seen there changed his ad to say he is selling the last of his inventory. And I have not found any other sources online for these. They are around $10 for the three rivets you would need.

I could also send you a set of my stickers for free. I hope that is some added inspiration.

[PNGwynne]

This is fantastic, thank you very much for sharing. It's a great toy and I like project/restoration threads like this.

[Wee67]

Great job bringing back one of the greatest toys of all time.

[Werewolf]

That's awesome!

[RonnyG]

Great job! You can now put it proudly on display and no one would know the difference! I restored a broken GI Joe once and it's a good feeling restoring something to it's former glory!

[PNGwynne]

That's so true, Ronny. I look at my restored, hybrid Bulletman and it makes me smile.

[Confessional]

We see much broke down Evel action; it's really great to see these restored. Your jig is brilliant too.