Museum honoring daredevil Evel Knievel opens in Kansas

KANSAS CITY, Missouri - A new Kansas museum is giving enthusiasts of late motorcycle daredevil Evel Knievel a jump on appreciating his death-defying, bone-breaking exploits.

The $5 million, 1,200 square meter homage to the hard-living man who became a global pop icon in the 1970s with rocket-powered and motorbike stunts has launched in Topeka.

As president of the two-story, nonprofit shrine attached to his Historic Harley-Davidson dealership, Mike Patterson said the Knievel memorabilia on loan from collectors includes some of the daredevil's motorcycles, leathers and helmets, and the man's restored 1974 tractor-trailer unit dubbed "Big Red".