Just ran across this picture that's probably relevant to this discussion:
That bike is powered by a V8 engine making about 500 horses. Belonged to a friend of mine named Gary Werner and was a museum piece (I believe Don Garlits is the most recent owner) for a while until it was dug out for an exhibition run Gary did on it.
He was very experienced as a rider, was about 6'3" or so and 265 lbs, knew this bike extremely well since he'd run it many times and owned it for a long time.
I was thinking it was this bike that killed him a year and a half ago, but I found the email from his widow and stand corrected.
Gary was a remarkable person who was very devoutly religious and was committed deeply to "spreading the word", but I had no idea of his faith until after he died. He never tried to "convert" me and IMO that speaks better for his faith than if he had.
His widow is an equally remarkable person.
Here's what she wrote:
The motorcycle shop proprietor in Harrisonville was blowing smoke at you. The only people who were with Gary when he died were E.J. Potter, Dan Bowker and Paul Wagner. And he was not on the Widowmaker, either.
Gary had spent two years building a new bike from the ground up, because he didn't consider the Widowmaker safe, with its older technology. This new bike was bigger, longer, and much more powerful than the Widowmaker ever was. He named it Freedom, in reference to the freedom of the New Birth ("Ye must be born again). He had planned on using the bike to do drag strip evangelism and hand out his tract (on the GodspeedRacing.org site) to interested people.
He took the new bike to FL because Wagner was going to be there for Bike Week, and he was the one who could certify Gary as qualified to be licensed by NHRA to run the Freedom in sanctioned events. The highway patrol told him he could do practice runs on this new street that wasn't being used yet, in an industrial park. The street was new, long, dead-ended, and a perfect private drag strip. Gary did everything he needed to do to demonstrate his competency, and was making further runs in order to make adjustments and dial everything in to so it would run at peak efficiency. Everything on the bike was running well, and he was going to make one last run, then pack up & go home. Gary had been sharing his faith with E.J. and his girlfriend Donna for several years, and that week Donna became a Christian. The last thing Gary did was give E.J. a study bible to give to Donna, so she would be able to receive sound bible teaching, then he made his last run.
He started just right of the center line, and steered it to the right, apparently to get to the center of the right lane. The bike continued to veer to the right, though, until he was riding in the gutter. Since he couldn't get out of the gutter, he started to slow down to end the run. When he got down to about 30-40 mph a culvert that was sticking up from the curb caught his leg and pulled him off of the bike. The Freedom continued down the street, and Gary hit a tree. He died instantly of multiple blunt chest trauma.
I went to FL because I had to know exactly what happened. Dan and E.J. walked be up and down that street, explaining what happened where, and the police had it all lined out & labelled. Then I met with the physician, who explained the extent of his injuries. I then was able to find a mortuary that would allow me to see him, just as he was, to see for myself where the bruises were, etc. That was not easy, but it wasn't as hard as I expected. It went well, I was able to examine his injuries, and also I was able to hug him, and say good bye. It gave me closure, and God has been carrying me through all this, giving me His strength and wisdom.
I have pictures of Gary with the new bike on the street where he died. If you would like to see them, stop by sometime & I'll be glad to show you.
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