History E.J. Potter-"The Michigan Mad Man"

potters bike looked like a wild ride!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! thanks fer the video!

 

I met E.J. at Dave Cranes party a few years back,Very cool guy.He said the first time he saw a V/8 in a 57 chevy,he thought it looked like a harley motor.He bought on at the scrapyard and the rest is history.They started it on the stand,he would go w.o.t.and then the crew would push it off the stand!I seem to recall he got up to "The widowmaker 6" before he quit.When I talked to him he had just run a restored widowmaker at a nostalgia event.Dave

 

Nice. More beer out my nose. Just a thought, maybe the bike seat WAS his balls?

 

There was a piece on him in R&C (I think) awhile back. A great quote from the story was that he realized the front tire didn't HAVE to be in line with the back one in order to go fast. According to the story, the bikes were started on a stand, he wound 'em up, the stand was dropped and the rest, as they say, is history !

 

EJ is a nut but very cool.. Last time I saw him was prolly 30 years ago at the saline michigan fair with a tractor with an Allison in it and they required you to have a helmet so EJ had one.. It was a baseball helmet
Dave

 

I got to meet him at one of the super stock reunions, very cool guy. The bike had with him on that trip was one that was pushed off the stand at wide open throttle. Looked like a seriously wild ride.

 

In the fall of 1972, Detroit Dragway put on a Freak Show. At the show was the Wagonmaster owned by Tommy Ivo, The Mach IV Mustang, a Rocket car that was the wildest thing to watch and E.J. Potter. It was a great show and E.J. was the man. He made two passes that night that were successful and one that was not.
The first two were at about 180mph, but the last one the front of the bike came off( I do not know if the neck broke or the forks broke). He tripped the traps at 188mph and the bike followed him. That was the last time that I knew he rode the Widowmaker bike. The bike came back on the tow truck hook, they took E.J. to the hospital and the announcer said E.J. was okay,but was being checked out.
George

 

get several of your favorite drinks; a BUNCH of snacks; do a google for e j potter; be prepared to spend a lot of time in front of the screen.

you won't regret it.

 

I did a search for EJ Potter.. I found these quotes from people, thought you might get a kick out of it. I still want to see this (apparently '59 4dr sedan) Plymouth with an Allison in it.

 

EJ winters in Florida I'm told but still has a farm in Michigan. I got his book & video a few years back, I highly recommend them to everyone, the video has some real funny moments, it's great.

 

" I used to wonder how his balls didn't get in the way." Priceless!!

 

The phone number on the video I got from E.J. is 1-877 A MAD MAN
Got the book and video. Great Christmas item to ask for. I phone ordered, got to talk to the man his self. Great guy. The Video says he retired to Florida, and plays with Jet engines and other stuff. Two busted thumbs up.

 

Saw one of the bikes at "Speedy Bill's" Museum of American Speed last August.

 

E.J.'s first few bikes were called "Bloody Mary"!, My buddy Clyde has it and is restoring it now,.... E.J. has wintered in South America with a mutual friend for the last several years,..... If you want to buy his books and videos, Clyde is handeling it while E.J. out of town,.....

Clyde, (734) 658-1052

I know this is a crappy picture but you can see the drive cover with the original paint behind the spring,....


I did a post on this back in August.
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=284679&highlight=bloody+mary

 

Greg Fury out of Spokane Wa. rode this bike. Very similar to E.J.'s, recently found and put back together buy a local collector.
Greg is still alive and kicking and still has an updated version v-8 bike but this one has a snowmobile style clutch as apposed to being direct drive like his original one.

 

I have an E.J.Potter story from Lions drag strip in the early '60s. I got this third-hand, so I can't swear to its veracity, but:

Potter was pitted next to Skinner & Jobe, The Surfers. Bob Skinner noticed that Potter was sitting in the passenger seat of his truck, and had taken a half pint of whisky from his glove box, which he was sippin' on.

Skinner asked him if that was a good idea, given that he would soon be getting on his bike to do one of his exhibition runs.

Potter responded, "If you think I'm getting on that fuckin' thing sober, you're crazier than I am."

 

whether that's true or not it's the funniest thing i've heard recently.

 

That youtube vidio of E.J., Evel, and Arfons was in the mid 70's at dragway 42 in west salem Ohio. We were rite up on the fence next to the line when E.J. made a run,,, man that was cool. I believe Arfons crashed the monster that day too. It was one of those days you never forget, if you know what I mean. Oh ya, Evel made a big jump too.

 

In 1963 I was lined up at the Bunker Hill Indiana drag strip with my 63 Corvette and was waved back so E.J. could make an exhibition run. He smoked the rear tire all the way down the track. It took quite awhile to wait for the smoke to clear so I could make a run.

It was probably 1958 that my friend was racing his Power Pack 150 Chevy against Potter's Cushman. Almost to the end of the track my friend saw out of the corner of his eye a head and helmet appeared beside his door. The Cushman beat him at the end of the strip. As I remember, Potter sat on a hot water bottle as a pressureized fuel tank.

Ol Blue

 

I had this photo tiled as my desktop wallpaper. What a badass!