The Last Ride!
This is a tale of a person’s great love for motorcycles and his passion for riding.
The body of Bill Standley secured to his 1967 Harley Davidson rests inside a Plexiglas box inside his grave.Stanley who loved riding his motorcycle was buried in a giant Plexiglas and wooden box where his body rested astride a 1967 Harley Davidson.
The body of Bill Standley, 82, was displayed during his funeral service in Mechanicsburg, Ohio. This rider had been talking about being buried this way for years, and he’d often invite friends and family to a garage to show off the unusual casket his two sons had built for him. He didn’t just want to ride off to heaven rather he wanted the world to see him off on his beloved motorcycle and leave this world.
The Director at the Skillman, McDonald and Vernon Funeral Home in Mechanicsburg, Mr David Vernon, told The Columbus Dispatch that he had apprehensions about this plan but then he agreed 18 years ago to Standley’s request to be buried on his motorcycle but under one condition.
“I told him, ‘I have no problem doing this for you, but I don’t want you to come off that motorcycle,’ ” Vernon told the newspaper.
Standley agreed to it and so he and his sons created a special brace that went up his back and around his ribcage to hold the body in place. He also won permission from the Champaign County Board of Health to be buried on the bike. This was unusual but everyone knew about his passion and love for bikes and so a large crowd gathered during his funeral. A crane was used to lower the casket into the ground.
This news was an instant hit among motorcyclists worldwide and many have now made similar or even crazier plans for their own funerals.
This might sound crazy to others but ask a motorcyclist and he will explain you the kind of equation he shares with his machine.
