The Daredevil’s Stuntman: The Motorcycle Collection of AMA Hall-of-Famer Gary Davis

AMA Hall-of-Famer Gary Davis has been called the “Daredevil’s Stuntman” for serving as Evel Knievel’s stunt double in the 1977 film “Viva Knievel!” But that’s just a small slice of this two-wheeled legend’s resume. 

Gary’s racing career started a bit differently from most. 

“I didn’t start racing young like everybody else. I was out there doing wheelies in the high school parking lot. When I got to college, I was still doing wheelies when someone brought up the idea of racing a bike he owned. A few beers later, I was convinced.”

By 1969, Gary had turned professional, racing against legends like Kenny Roberts and Gary Scott. In 1971, a promoter offered Gary — then a starving college student — a wad of cash to begin exhibition jumping. For the next few years, he made his bread jumping with a second rider, often in crisscross fashion.

In 1972, he bettered Evel Knievel’s 19-car mark to enter the Guinness World Records, clearing 21 cars.

After some 300 public jumps, Gary began transitioning to the Hollywood stunt world. One of his roles involved a CBS television pilot for a series starring Sam Elliott as Evel Knievel.

“They wanted me to jump 20 cars while they blew up the ramps. So I did it. And I thought, ‘This is a fun business. I think I’ll stick around.'”

At the time of Gary’s induction into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2018, he’d spent nearly 50 years performing, coordinating, and directing stunts in more than 280 films, 250 TV episodes, and 190 commercials.

Some of his most notable credits include Terminator 2, Roadhouse, Starsky & Hutch, Smokey and the Bandit 2, Lethal Weapon 2, Independence Day, X-Men: Days of Future Past, multiple Spiderman films…the list goes on and on.

Of course, being in Hollywood in those days brought him in close quarters with other two-wheeled legends.

“I used to hang out at Bud Ekins’ shop. I got a lot of work through him. Steve McQueen used to be around there a lot, too, and we would change tires and drink Coors.”

Gary even hired McQueen to perform a stunt for him — surely unbeknownst to McQueen’s manager and insurers, of course!

“One day I got a call from Steve. He wanted me to ride with him the next day. But I had a bike chase scene at Saddleback Park. I told him he should come and work with me instead. And he took me up on it… The day rate back then was $214, but I gave him an extra $300 as an adjustment for doing the stunt.”

In addition to doing stunts, Davis built most of his own stunt bikes. 

“For Sidewinder I in 1977, they wanted a futuristic motorcycle that was supposed to revolutionize motocross, I built a water-cooled Maico with disc brakes. Now, almost all motocross bikes have those features.”

Gary also helped AMA Motorcycle Hall of Famer Debbie Evans get involved in stunt riding — a career he’s particularly proud to have fostered. 

Today, Gary lives in Salado, Texas, between Austin and Waco on I-35. Gary says there isn’t much good vintage racing within striking distance, and it kills him to see his bikes sit around. So he’s planning a liquidation sale of his collection this spring. 

About 50 bikes will be going up for sale, many with race or film history. Also there are crates and crates of forks, carbs, pistons, stroker cranks, cables, K&N filters, seal kits, fenders, handlebars, carb kits, racks of tires and wheels, and much much more.

Gary’s hoping a museum or big collector will take an interest in the lot as a whole, but he’ll sell the bikes and parts piecemeal if need be. 

We told Gary we’d love to showcase what he has in the collection, as our readers will surely be interested in so many pieces of two-wheeled cinematic and racing history. Also, hopefully, we might bring the right set of eyes to the collection, or else build buzz for the sale. 

Enjoy this window into the motorcycle collection of a two-wheeled legend, and keep your eyes out and ears open for the sale — we’ll be sure to let you know when Gary opens the doors!

Gary Davis Motorcycle Collection Gallery