The 1932 Harley-Davidson VL of Jimmy “Daredevil” Washburn

This interesting piece of motorcycle history was recently offered on eBay for the price of $125,500.  The price alone warranted a further look, so I did a little digging to find out more about Jimmy “Daredevil” Washburn.

Jimmy Washburn purchased the 1932 VL you see pictured here in the mid 1930’s.  It started out as merely a means of transportation, but before long, Jimmy decided to try his hand at racing.  I guess racing wasn’t exciting enough for Jimmy, so he switched from racing to motorcycle stunts.  He went on to form his own stunt team called the “Mystery Squadron.”  They toured all around the world and their act was called “Daredevils on Parade.”  The list of stunts performed included crashing through flaming walls, wooden barrel walls and glass walls, jumping over cars and people, and riding through a 20′ long flaming tunnel.  Jimmy’s most dangerous stunt involved jumping the motorcycle over his wife while he was blindfolded.  To perform this stunt, he basically lined the motorcycle up with the ramp, covered his eyes and hit the throttle.  The key was to make sure he didn’t shift his weight on the approach, so the motorcycle would stay straight.

The motorcycle itself appears to be mostly stock with the addition of a few extra “handles” which must have been used during various stunts.  After years of crashing through walls and jumping over cars, the bike seems to be in fairly good shape (it has been restored).  I just hope they checked the frame before putting it back together.  Those old bikes were tough, but it’s hard to imagine the frame could have stayed straight after all that abuse.

If your looking to invest in a piece of motorcycle history, this motorcycle is still available from Bator International.