Great Escape jump recreated

The Great Escape 2 from Wes Siler on Vimeo.
In the words of motorcycle stunt rider, Steve Colley, in attempting to recreate Bud Ekins’ (or Steve McQueen’s) famous motorcycle jump from the Great Escape: “What they lacked in equipment, they sure made up for with balls.

Wow!” (Colley could have tried it with a helmet, though).

The Times newspaper of the UK decided to recreate the jump using a similar machine to the Triumph apparently used in the film: in this case a Metisse Desert Racer.

It all appears to be in the name of resolving a controversy over whether the jump was attempted with a standard factory-built Triumph as Bud Ekins claimed.
But what’s there to prove, anyway? As one reader on Hell for Leather Magazine says, “If Bud said they got a Triumph Bonneville to run on salad dressing and walk on water I would be inclined to believe him.

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