Great Escape 2 recreates famous jump

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great_escape_jump.jpgThe London Times somehow decided it should recreate the famous jump scene from The Great Escape. The ostensible point appears to be to prove Bud Ekins completed the jump on a stock Triumph, but since the paper used a Metisse Desert Racer instead of a vintage Triumph Tiger disguised as a BMW, we’re guessing they actually just wanted to spend a day tearing up a golf course on a motorcycle. We can’t blame them.
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Times Online (Thanks for the tip, Gary)

  • Matt

    I like that he pretends that he’s attempting something that he has reservations about (“…fingers crossed it goes OK. If it doesn’t, it’s all over.”) and then does it without helmet.

  • Dimitri

    lame bike and lame jump. I agree with Wes this whole steve mcqueen endorsement thing is so unneccessary. Imagine what you can buy for this kind of money. A proper Seely norton or Triumph for road and track use with all the trick bits available.

    http://www.shelbynyc.com/nycnorton/racer2008.htm

  • sam

    clearly they missed robbie madison jump the arc de triumph

  • Kerry

    Was the McQueen jump ever really in doubt? Bud described all that went into that jump in several interviews he gave over the years (most recent in classic bike right before his death) and confessed to making the jump several times in secret with McQueen (The Studio insurance wouldn’t cover McQueen if he did the jump so Bud had to do it) and having no problem whatsoever, even with the stock heavy triumphs.

    I applaud the London times for trying to fill a slow news day with moto related content but that doesn’t hide the fact that they completely made up the controversy and then didn’t even disprove it by using a bike so dissimilar to the triumph in question they might as well have done the jump with a CR250 Honda.

    I guess the final thing I can throw in here is it is Bud Ekins and Steve McQueen. Considering all the amazing things they did with triumph motorcycles in their lives are you really going to doubt they couldn’t pull the jump off (notwithstanding it is caught on film)? If Bud said they got a Triumph Bonneville to run on salad dressing and walk on water I would be inclined to believe him.