EJ Potter RIP 2012

[w2amr]

They broke the mold after this guy.
http://thekneeslider.com/e-j-potter-the-michigan-madman-r-i-p/

[NQ6U]

Great article. The part about the overcharged air tanks getting loose made me laugh out loud but I particularly liked this quote:



Ignorance is a powerful tool if applied at the right time [...]


That's sig line material right there.

[KG4CGC]

Seems like I've heard the flying air tanks story somewhere too.. I've certainly seen it, depicted in cartoons since forever.

[w2amr]

Great article. The part about the overcharged air tanks getting loose made me laugh out loud. I particularly liked this quote:



That's sig line material right there.
One night back in the 70's, I was racing at Atco the same night he was there. Got a good look at the bike with the Hilborn injected smallblock Chevy. The Michigan Madman handle was pretty much on target.

[w2amr]

I found this, his last run.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUu9P3CKSMI
We’re still smarting from the news of the Michigan Madman’s passing. In his memory, here’s the best video you’ll ever see of EJ Potter atop his legendary V8 Chevy bike, known as the Widow Maker. This video was shot in the mid to late 1990s when EJ came out of retirement to ride his restored machine a couple times before it went into a museum. We’re pretty sure this is an excerpt from EJ’s self produced video that came out around 1999 or so.
You’ll see the bike run down into the deep 10s at nearly 150mph. We remember Potter saying that the speeds were down and the elapsed time was slower than he ran historically because, ironically, the traction compound applied to the track was working against him. Potter surmised that his roasting car tire on the back of the bike was turning that traction compound into a slick goopy grease. You’ll hear the engine bouncing off the rev limiter as he had to keep pedaling the machine because the motor was basically running away with nearly no load on it.
Potter ran down into the 8s at nearly 170 on his best runs in the early 1970s. This 10 second stuff was just a walk in the park for wily the old dude!

[WX7P]

It's Dennis approved!

[w2amr]

It's Dennis approved!
Ha!:mrgreen:

[kb2vxa]

"They broke the mold after this guy."

Yeah, but daddy glued the pieces together and there I was in my feckless youth doing pretty much the same things with electricity and chemical rocket propellants. With loud explosions and smoke by day, flashing lights and buzzing arcs by night watching my house was for neighbors more entertaining than television.

"Ignorance is a powerful tool if applied at the right time, even usually surpassing knowledge."
I not having any working knowledge any time is the right time.
"This is a situation that I frequently wake up to in the middle of another adventure."
This is a situation that I frequently wake up to at the conclusion of another misadventure is a way of life, mine.

Oh and BTW that nickname Michigan Madman struck just a LITTLE too close for comfort considering another sort of Motor City Madman...

[w2amr]

Potter was racing motorcycles in the late 60's early 70's . Prior to 75 nobody even knew who douchie boy was.

[kb2vxa]

If by "douchie boy" you mean Ted you're late by 11 years. He was lead guitar and vocals for the relatively unknown Amboy Dukes since their beginning in the Chicago area in 1964 and their hit album in 1968 Journey To The Center Of The Mind, the title song being number one with a bullet launched his career.

[w2amr]

Oh yeah, I remember that. I always thought it was done by one of those British bands, like Jerry and the Pacemakers or something.

[kb2vxa]

They did Ferry Cross The Mersey as opposed to the Buckinghams' Mercey Mercy Mercy not to be confused with Lindsay Buckingham of Fleetwood Mac which is NOT a computer.