Motorcycle News for Positive People

We just lost a good one, E.J Potter, the Michigan Madman, is gone. We've written about his Chevy powered drag bikes several times on The Kneeslider and a few years ago reviewed his book, Michigan Madman, but yesterday, when I wrote about his Super Slot Car, I had no idea, that just two days before on April 30th, E.J. had passed away.

EJ was a wonderful example of the hands on "doer" spirit. When an idea entered his mind, it wasn't long before EJ entered his shop and set to work building it. He became a doer from necessity. He didn't have much money, but learned how to weld when he was young and found you could make do with very little if you knew how to repair things and keep them running, but he also learned you could make almost anything that could be imagined.

When the small block Chevy V8 began to get popular and all of the car magazines were writing about how small, light and powerful it was for a car, EJ naturally thought it would be a perfect way to get horrendous power in a motorcycle. As he says:

Ignorance is a powerful tool if applied at the right time, even usually surpassing knowledge. Lots of times a guy will jump into a project without knowing how far he is into something way over his head until it's almost too late to back off. This is a situation that I frequently wake up to in the middle of another adventure.

EJ Potter on Chevy drag bike number one

The first Chevy powered motorcycle EJ built was a wonder, the frame was heavily butchered modified Harley, square tube engine mounts, a Whizzer gas tank and a starter drive in the end of the crankshaft. A totally inadequate clutch was connected to a number 50 roller drive chain rated at 24 horsepower. Well, you have to start somewhere and it was a start.

They tried various combinations of parts and eventually got to the point where it would run down the street, something the local police warned him had better not happen again. Someone suggested they take it to the drag strip and after convincing the promoter, yes, they really did have a Chevy drag bike, they were off. Art Arfons was there that weekend with his Allison powered "Green Monster," which impressed everyone, but when EJ was supposed to run, he gave it some throttle and twisted the sprocket right off. As EJ looked at his bike in the pits a fellow came up and told him if he worked the bugs out, he might be able to make some money with it. EJ didn't realize it until his friends told him later, that fellow was Art Arfons, which improved EJ's mood and gave him some confidence. The promoter came over and told EJ if he came back, he would pay him $1 for every mph over 100 he could manage. Imagine, making money with his Chevy bike! Thus began EJ Potter's "accidental career" in drag racing.

EJ Potter during one of his signature smokey starts

One of the most memorable features of EJ's drag bikes was the launch. After trying all sorts of clutch setups and continually meeting with failure, they ditched the clutch altogether. Now, raising the rear wheel on the stand, they would fire up the engine, spin up the tire to about 100 mph and one of the crew would push him off the stand. EJ said, "Major leap of technology here." [read the full article…]

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EJ Potter, the Michigan Madman, built a few projects many folks aren't aware of. Best known for his Widow Maker Chevy V8 motorcycle drag racers and his Allison V12 tractors, I thought some of you might like to see his Super Slot Car since we were just discussing electric motorcycles using generators instead of batteries.

EJ Potter was the epitome of a doer, a fellow that built and tested his ideas instead of engaging in long and pointless conversations about whether or not they would work. His Super Slot Car was another great example.

As EJ tells it, in the mid 1960s, with all of the talk about air pollution and electric cars, he began thinking about building an electric drag racer. He knew that the starter motor from a big jet engine could produce over 200 horsepower, but batteries would never deliver the juice he would need. So off he went, gathering starter motors, generators, gearboxes and an Allison engine and he headed into his workshop.

He built a trailer with two big reels of electrical cable and some electric motors to reel the cable back up. In between the reels sat an Allison V12 powered electric generator which poured the juice to the cables. His 4 wheel drive electric race car had 2 pickups underneath which drew electricity from the cables which were laid down on the race track.

Allison V12 powered electric generator for EJ Potter's Super Slot Car with reels of cable to lay out on track

It took about 3 minutes to lay out one quarter mile of cable. The car would line up, he would close the switch and off it went, leaping forward and whining like some big electric shaver. He says it got up to about 120 mph.

EJ says the car wasn't successful because he couldn't find any car companies at the time willing to sponsor an electric car and magazines didn't publicize it because advertisers weren't keen on electric cars, at least, that's what he says.

However you look at it, the Super Slot Car was ahead of its time and it's a cool example of using electric motors but getting the electricity from something other than batteries. Maybe not practical off the track, but very neat, nevertheless.

UPDATE: While writing this, I had no idea, E.J. Potter has just passed away. Please see the following post for more details of EJ's life.

Photos credit: EJ Potter

21 readers have commented, what do YOU say?