newsminer.com

FAIRBANKS — Authorities say a 27-year-old Fairbanks man died after a motorcycle crash on the Johansen Expressway at about 1 a.m. Sunday.

Witnesses told police the man, John Heimsath, had been going up to 90 mph before losing control of his 1996 BMW motorcycle east of Danby Street, according to a Fairbanks Police Department statement.

Heimsath, who worked as a welder and machinist, is the second of Paul Heimsath’s two sons to die in a vehicle crash. Police suspect alcohol was a contributing factor. Witnesses who saw Heimsath before the crash told authorities that he had difficulty standing.

Heimsath wore a helmet, but it came off at some point, the police statement said.

“I am wondering if he didn’t have the helmet buckled on,” said Stewart Lewis, one of the police officers called to the scene.

Heimsath was pronounced dead at Fairbanks Memorial Hospital.

He was raised in the Fairbanks area and attended schools in Two Rivers and North Pole, his father said. He was a skilled mechanic and made a living fixing snowmachines and personal watercraft during a period of living in Anchorage.

“He liked going to the gun range,” Paul Heimsath said. “That was a hobby of his, shooting.”

John, who was single, doted on his English bulldog, Jake, his father said.

“I have him now,” Paul Heimsath said of the dog. “He’s going to stay in the family.”

A service is planned for Thursday at 2 p.m. at Immaculate Conception Church.