![]() ![]() All of my friends were finishing school at the University of Nevada, and I looked forward to spending my summer with them. I wanted very much to be home for Mother's Day, and could just make it if I got on a bus the following morning. ![]() ![]() My last three days I had averaged over 100 miles per day, which meant I was racing the heat instead of enjoying the ride. For one thing, Texas was blisteringly hot. Just as Bob had chosen to measure his life by what motorcycle he owned or how it related to his "big jump", I had decided to listen to what I see as omens. Bob's pictures can be seen here:īob helped me box my bike and trailer for the bus ride home the next day. 1977 might as well have been Year 0 of the Bob calendar everything else was either "Before Competition" or "After Domination". When looking through photo albums, every single picture had a motorcycle in the scene, and many times the subject was riding the bike.īob didn't recall time so much in years as much as by the motorcycle he owned at the time, or else how it related to the 1977 jump competition. We watched grainy old videos of when Bob became the first man to jump over a helicopter with the rotors spinning. ![]() There were thousands of miniature motorcycle replicas, motorcycle posters covering ever inch of every wall, and in the bathroom the Hot and Cold taps had been replaced with piston heads, and the water spout was an exhaust pipe. In his front room his two stunt bikes sat behind velvet cord, and his purple motorcycle leathers with "Bob Duffey" emblazoned on them hung on the wall. He held the record for the fastest quarter mile ever ridden on a motorcycle: backwards. He won the 1977 CBS Sports Spectacular World Championship Motorcycle Jumping Competition by jumping his motorcycle over rows of cars to land on a target. It didn't let me down.īob's house is completely devoted to motorcycles. Bob Duffey, age 73, passed away on Sunday, July 28, 2013, after a valiant battle with cancer and Chronic Obstruction Pulmonary Disease. Bob and Ana asked me if I would like to join them for lunch, and we went back to their house, which I was curious about after riding in the van. Bob likes purple.Īfter fixing the flat, the temperatures were soaring. The exterior paint, the upholstery, the steering wheel cover, and even the bean bag chair in the back are purple. It is from the 1970s, has over 500,000 miles on it over three engines, and is COMPLETELY purple. After breakfast, we said goodbye to Ed and headed to the van.īob's van is something is like the Mystery Machine from Scooby Doo gone wild. Bob asked if I would like to load my rig into his van so that he could take me over so that I would not have to get directions to the place or use my hand pump. I had a slow leak in my rear tire as I ate breakfast that I didn't really want to fix with a hand pump only to go two miles to the bike shop. I joined them at their table and told them about the three flat tires I had had in the last 50 miles apparently Southern New Mexico is notorious for goatheads, which had indeed been causing all of my flats. He was there to have breakfast with two friends, Bob and Ana Duffey, who are also motorcycle tourists. An older gentleman named Ed asked me about my rig, and we talked for a while about motorcycle touring and land sailing (he was wearing a land sailing shirt). We're also on all the streaming platforms, IHeartRadio, Itunes, Spotify and others.After camping on the outskirts of Las Cruces, I rode ten miles into town at about 7:00 in the morning to grab breakfast. If you're interested in checking out Bob's interview, or any of our podcasts, check out our webpage: Rust is Gold Racing. The trip was well worth it and I'm very grateful that I've gotten to know Bob over the past few years. Bob has also appeared on an episode of American Pickers. I wasn't able to get a picture of his show leathers, but emplasoned on the side is "Fear No Evel." The competition between the two was fierce for who was the better stunt rider. He has an amazing collection of motorcycle memorabilia, photos, and memories. "Which is more realistic? Someone coming up to you and saying 'I remember that amazing jump you did on CBS!' or the stunt rider that makes an amazing attempt, but fails and nearly dies?" With thousands of successful jumps, numerous records, and being the first to jump a motorcycle over a helicopter, Bob Duffey is unfortunately not as well known as Evel Kinevel, which is a shame.īob suggests it's due to only having 2 crashes during his career. ![]()
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