Motorcycle drag racers would try
anything that made sense or not just to go a fraction of a second faster.
That’s why E.J. Potter here, borrowed technology and even
engines from the car world.
According to Bonhams’ description, Potter grew up in
central Michigan town of Ithaca. After competing on dirt tracks, he decided in
1960 to pursue his dream of putting a Chevy V8 engine into a motorcycle frame.
The first engine he used was a 283 cubic-inch
carbureted one from Chevrolet. The transmission was connected to the engine
only by a chain and sprockets. The frame was made out steel and used the engine
as a stress member.
Potter creating multiple
V8-powered such machines. This here is the Widowmaker 7 and uses a small-block
350 cubic inches V8 with Crane gear-driven roller cam and rockers. It also has
Brodix aluminum heads, 12.5:1 forged pistons and a 1960s Vertex Len
Hughes-built magneto along with a Kinsler-rebuilt Hilborn fuel injection.
The setup is supposed to deliver 500 hp and it
managed to break the record in 1973. The Guinness Book of World Records has
confirmed it as the world’s fastest motorcycle back in the day and it also held
three AHRA world records going 8.68 @ 172 mph.
Potter was the last to ride it in 1999, and it was
still going strong. Sadly, he died at 71 in 2012 in his hometown after battling
Alzheimer’s. If you’re interested enough to bid for it, the auction house
expects to sell it between US$ 65,000 to US$ 85,000.
