Best Wishes and a Speedy Recovery

[isiahstites]

Just wanted to send some well wishes for a speedy recovery to the family and the rider that had a get off of his bike today at El Mirage.

Scott

[Bville701]

I too would like to wish a speedy recovery.

[jimmy six]

too who?....what happened??

[McRat]

 

Get well soon.  That crash looked brutal.  The bike hit the soft spot, started to fishtail, then spit the rider off and started to flip through the air.  Other than being told that the rider was doing OK when the helicopter picked him up, I have no other info.  

Sidebar, what appeared to be that same helo, was parked along side the 138 near the 15 interchange with the engine cowl open and somebody working on the engine at roughly 2:00 pm.

[willieworld]

hello everyone    the rider of the bike is richard bozzie ( rider of the green harley bagger )  brother of dave bozzie (rider of the green twin engine harley )--dave built the motor in the bike that i did in the build diaries ---old time lake racer bike---they flew him to palm springs trauma center---i talked to dave late last night--- dave said he had a cracked vertebra and a blood vessel in his head that was leaking ---they wernt sure what they were going to do yet --richard is a very tough guy and i expect that he will be ok---i will post any news here as i hear it ---thanks for your concerns---willie buchta

[Stan Back]

Probably not the same 'copter -- it was parked there at 5:30 Sunday morning, too.

[Glen]

Willie, thanks for the update. We wish him a speedy recovery.

[Seldom Seen Slim]

Man-o-man, keep an eye on him for us, would you please, Willie?  Nancy and I send our best wishes and hopes for him -- and for everyone that's connected with the incident.

By the way, what "soft spot"?  On the course -- or off to the side someplace?

[willieworld]

i run a ridged frame harley and ran early the course was great for me but the high horse power guys tore up the course pretty early ---the west end (starting area ) was great but the farther east you go the worse the lake bed gets --i heard lots of cars and bikes just spinning there tires --i dont think the lake will get any better this year --i just dont think there was enough rain over the winter-------it was nice to put some new faces to some of the names on land racing --         willie buchta

[McRat]

Great talking with you Willie.   

The "soft spot" as I called it is much like May.  Starting about 1/2 track, the surface gets loose, then slowly firms up towards the finish from what I can tell.  While I didn't get any wheelspin at all, I was a low run # and apparently never made any "serious" power due to a malfunction.

But when I was kicking my truck in the pits, I watched the racing and saw the same thing as May.  When I hit half track in May, the truck fishtailed the rest the way down the track, and we saw numerous bikes and cars doing the same thing.  But there were also lots of them going through with no problem also.

[jimmy six]

thanks Willie.............

[willieworld]

sheri took lots of pics and will be posting them on the gear grinders website this week --the address is   www. thegeargrinders.com    there is some there for the may meet also --everyone gg or not is welcome to look --thanks        willie buchta

if anyone has pics they want posted --send them to sheri and she will post them--her e-mail address is on the home page

[John Noonan]

Get well soon.  That crash looked brutal.  The bike hit the soft spot, started to fishtail, then spit the rider off and started to flip through the air.  Other than being told that the rider was doing OK when the helicopter picked him up, I have no other info.  

Sidebar, what appeared to be that same helo, was parked along side the 138 near the 15 interchange with the engine cowl open and somebody working on the engine at roughly 2:00 pm.

Thanks for your information.

I agree that the course was in crappy condition with too little moisture over the last several months, we most likely will have as Willie said a less than ideal season for the faster vehicles.

I watched the Green bagger make his pass last month from the return road and was shocked to see the bike wagging all the way through the course and mentioned the safety of the vehicle during this months inspection while we were having our bikes inspected.

A few facts on Harley baggers, the stock machine in OEM configuration is a very sturdy bike after all it is made mostly with Milwaukee iron and a few bit of Japanese components spread around.

Stock baggers have about 6" of trail and the Green bike has what appears to either be none or very little, as I said before in this forum do not just build something because it looks cool.  Again what may work at 125-150mph may not work at higher speeds.

I made four passes on the track on Sunday and there was not a "soft spot" as mentioned, he may have lost it when the bike started fish tailing however I see the faster bikes did not have a problem and most of them are running a shorter wheelbase and are much twitchier at speed.  Lack of engineering in the chassis  "rake/trail" was the main cause in the accident, that bike was an accident looking for a place to happen and it found it. not sure why the SCTA site says it was a turn out?

I wish Richard Bozzie the best after seeing the damage it was not pretty, one thing for sure is that that bike was so damaged it most likely won't be back to run at ElMo, I hope the rider is able to


John

[McRat]

Guess "soft spot" wasn't the proper term.  Yup, I'm still a newbie to El Mirage.
All the cars and bikes that started to fishtail that I watched, did it at the same point in the track, which was just a couple hundred yards down from our pit.  When I was walking the course, the surface changed at about 1/2 mile.

The racetrack is what it is, which is why seat-time often trumps HP in racing any venue.

[John Noonan]

The loose dirt was about a third of the way down and that is most likely where he and many others started the dirt shimmy (also known as the Bonneville shuffle on the salt) another thing to remember is that this "race bike" is was running with saddle bags with stuff inside them, the bags offer no aerodynamic benefit and were not empty when the bike took off down the course however were soon afterward.

I hope they do not allow a bike with saddle bags to run again, no need for it.  Imagine running a truck with a roof rack or camper attached...why?

Willie, any news on his condition today?


J