A day after Ventura resident Jack Dunn was killed in a motorcycle crash north of Ojai, friends remembered him Monday as a dedicated student of alternative medicine with a quick wit and charming manner.

Dunn, 62, ran an alternative medicine practice called the Dr. Jack Dunn Alphabiotic Life Enhancement Center in Ventura.

Alphabiotics is a field of alternative medicine that aims to reduce stress through subtle physical manipulations of the body, said Virgil Chrane, the profession's founder and a close friend of Dunn's. The practice is based on the idea that many conditions and diseases are symptoms of stress.

Chrane heard about Dunn's death Monday morning through mutual friends, he said.

"It really hit us hard here," Chrane said from his home in Dallas.

Dunn was killed Sunday afternoon when he crashed his Harley-Davidson more than 20 miles north of Ojai.

He was riding south on Highway 33 near Potrero Creek when he swerved onto the dirt shoulder, sideswiped a guard rail, lost control and hit a pothole, according to the California Highway Patrol.

Although he was wearing a helmet, he suffered severe head trauma when he fell 50 feet down a steep rock embankment after being thrown from his bike, according to the CHP. He was pronounced dead at the scene at 3:42 p.m.

CHP investigators had not determined what caused Dunn's bike to swerve.

Dunn became friends with Chrane nearly 20 years ago when Dunn left the field of chiropractics for alphabiotics, and the two spoke on the phone about the discipline nearly every week throughout their friendship, Chrane said.

Over the past two decades, Dunn attended about 90 of Chrane's seminars on alphabiotics — more than anyone else, Chrane said. He was such a regular figure in the audience at the four-day programs that Chrane once let Dunn give the hourlong opening address.

"I think of the persona of Gene Kelly from the movies — that was the kind of impression that Jack had on a person," Chrane said.

Dunn had a sharp wit and a subtle sense of humor, agreed Richard Wright of San Pedro, a fellow alphabioticist and friend.

"He was bigger than life, Jack was," said Wright, who was friends with Dunn for more than 30 years.

One of Dunn's patients, Gordon Crook, an insurance agent from Westlake, said he was a skilled practitioner who will be missed. Several of Dunn's 40-second alignment procedures cured Crook's neck pain after more expensive treatments failed, he said.

A motorcycle enthusiast for many years, Dunn was an excellent rider, said Wright, a fellow motorcyclist.

Family members could not be reached for comment.

It was the second motorcycle fatality in western Ventura County reported by the CHP this year. The first also was a solo crash that occurred on Highway 33.