"Wild Dave" Whiting

"Wild Dave" Whiting. He Flies Through The Air With The Greatest Of Ease.
Don't Miss The Daring Young Man On His Flying Machine !

Dave Whiting was very handy with a motorcycle. He could jump his machine over 17 parked cars and ride a quarter mile on the rear wheel at 60 mph while standing on the seat. Whiting's idea of a profitable evening is to mount his high powered motorcycle, zoom up a ramp to shoot into space and then, hopefully, land in a neat arc at the other end of the jump.

Born on May 20th, 1955 in Vancouver, Washington, Dave received his first motorcycle at age 8, and from that moment on, there was no stopping him. He grew up performing tricks on his bikes. His contact with the local authorities was consistent from racing the streets and doing wheelies. High school officials didn't hesitate about temporary suspension for performing what they called " unsafe motorcycle activities" in the school parking lot. At age sixteen, he amazed a crowd of his bike riding friends by jumping over six cars lined up in a field near his home.

Billed as " Wild Dave" Whiting, his first professional performance was a ten car jump near Seattle in 1974 at age eighteen. That started a fourteen year career of jumping anywhere from ten to seventeen cars throughout the western states and Canada.

Left: Moses Lake, Washington 1984. Right: 14 cars in Portland, Oregon.

While adding a touch of Evel Knievel in his shows, Dave likes to go a step farther by jumping long distances without using a landing ramp, just to be a little different.

During the 14 years of stunt jumping, only two ended in mishaps, both in his second professional year. The first mishap was near Seattle in 1976 while trying to clear 13 cars with a very short approach, Dave couldn't get the speed he needed and landed on the 11th car in line and crashed end over end. Luckily, he escaped without any major injuries or broken bones.

Left: A short runway spells disaster at Sky Valley Speedway near Seattle, Washington in 1976. Right: 13 car jump at Victoria, British Columbia in 1976.

The second mishap was his next scheduled jump that same summer in Victoria, British Columbia. Being over cautious from the last jump, Dave pinned the throttle and flew almost twice the distance of the 13 cars that were under him, and crashed on impact. This time he was able to walk away with just a few bruises.

Left: Salem, Oregon 1982. Middle: Getting ready for a jump. Right: Boise, Idaho 1979.

Dave spent the next twelve years successfully jumping at car races, county fairs and monster truck shows, always putting on a spectacular performance. After retiring in 1988 at the age of 33, Dave became an elder in " The Fathers House", a Christian church in Vancouver, and settled down with his wife Tena and their three sons, Chris, Derek, and Adam.

Dave still loved all phases of the sport of motorcycling, and was always a #1 fan of motorcycle jumping. "Once that love is in a mans blood, it's there to stay ." Dave passed away January 1, 2021 after battling an illness.

Left: Clearing the last of 14 cars in 1983 at Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Right: Lots of fans in Boise, Idaho in 1979.

Left: Robbie Knievel and Dave Whiting at Knievel Days 2006. Right: Dave with Bob Gill and Louis Re at Knievel Days.

Left: Dave and his wife Tena in 2001 with his buddy Dan in the background. Still loving the sport of motorcycling! Right: Dave doing a wheelie before a jump.