Ohio Man Buried Riding His Harley-Davidson Motorcyle

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Drache

Drache

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84-year old Billy Standley of Mechanicsburg, Ohio, who recently died of lung cancer, was buried riding atop his 1967 Harley-Davidson motorcycle, attired in full riding gear, encased in a coffin made of wood and plexiglass. According to his family, he’d been making these arrangements for the better part of two decades.

It was a funeral he started planning 18 years ago, well before he could have known about the lung cancer that killed him on Sunday at age 84. “This was his dream,” said one of his daughters, Dorothy Brown. “He was a one-of-a-kind.” – Columbus Dispatch

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http://laughingsquid.com/ohio-man-buried-riding-his-harley-davidson-motorcyle/
 
It must not have been very fast if they could bury him while he was riding it.... LOL!


Boy, what a time capsule that will be for someone to dig up in the future. (Did they put some gas in the tank so they could ride it when they dig it up in the future?)
 
Thanks "C". He did get his wish. Not a bad way,to go.
 
In the other thread I posted a pic of his bike
with the rest/standard that supports him on
the long ride.
I wish you could of heard us laughing and having
a good old time as he sat on the scoot and I measured
everything out then welded it up.
Might sound a little weird but he was happy as could be
knowing he was gonna get his dream.
He had it all planned out and it went off without a hitch.
Even had news helicopters flying around the whole service.

For the guys that are interested, the bike was a 67 and
had been majored 3000 miles ago.
He painted it himself.
It started right up and was ridden up on a trailer in 0 degree
weather by his son.
There was too much ice on the road to ride it to the parlor.
All the fluids and battery were removed although we were
told it was not necessary, the sheriff witnessed the removal
in case any questions arose in the future.

Ask any questions you like about the burial, I will answer all
I can, he would be proud you were interested enuff to ask.
I won't answer any personal or family questions out side of
he was a rodeo rider, in the service, did trick water skiing,
loved horses, could shoot and rope, owned a bar, built/painted cars,
bikes and trikes.
He drove trucks for 47 years and was one hell of a good friend
to his pards.
He'll do to ride the river with and that's all I got to say.



If you don't know the expression look it up pilgrim.
 
No offense to the person who knew him, but i saw the video online. Its kinda creepy IMO.
 
Ohio folk are pretty hard core.
 
magnumdust said:
No offense to the person who knew him, but i saw the video online. Its kinda creepy IMO.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's a pretty common remark and its O.K.
because it was an outside the norm event.
Response has been all over the map, mostly positive
but some clear off the scale negative, I would have
never thought I would have been involve with something
like this, but he's been planning it so long we just took it
for granted it would happen.
I was amazed that it went out over the AP and became
a worldwide story.
The story was on facebook and reddit in wtf and you would be
amazed at the remarks and things that have been said.
 
I bet this great old friend was fun and out going and helped many folks in his life, I am
glad to see his wishes was taken care of and dun, RIP Billy.
 
He was finest kind Mike.
We last rode together in late November
before the snows.
 
This may be a creepy question but it is a grave. I think the idea is cool, but there looks like there is a lot of space inside the glass case. Did you make a vault too. If not how thick is the plexiglass etc.? Any chance of it eventually giving way? If so it looks like a lot of dirt could sink out of the grave in a hurry.
 
How much deeper did they have to dig the hole to bury him in that "coffin"?

If they used the standard "six feet under", and the bottom of the "coffin" was on the 6 foot mark, then the top would probably be less than 1 foot down from the top. So I wonder if they had to dig 10 feet down or so to accomodate the extra height for the "coffin". How accomodating was the cemetary to having to dig his grave deeper?
 
I'm not sure of the depth of the hole, I think it
was 9 feet deep, I wasn't part of that, just something I was told.
He told me he had purchased 3 plots, that equals 6 graves.
The vault was special built by a company that specialized in poured
concrete tanks.
It is reinforced with rebar and fiberglass strands and was set
with a small crane.
It has some other features that discourages tampering and secures
it from the elements.
That and the fact myself and most of the biker brotherhood would
take it personal if it was bothered, nuff said on that.
The casket is pretty fair sized, built of steel, wood and Lexan.
It houses Bill, the machine, his spurs and some trophies he
was proud of.
 

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WOW... God bless his soul... As for the going on the bike thing from my beliefs he did not know he was even on it when he was buried. As the bible states you will know of nothing of this earth when you leave it. I think that is more for the family and friends then him in this case. That is a creepy picture for sure..
 
Sounds like a fun friend to have had. I bet you have some great memories and kudos (cudas~) for helping him to pull off his last dream.
 
cool I guess but just hate that a nice piece of iron will be gone for good seems like to nice a bike to bury maybe a picture of it in the box with him would have worked..different strokes for different folks... eating bugs in the next life I guess
 
I'm in the positive camp! It's all about being you and this was his last way to express himself. I think it is great, nothing remotely wrong with doing it right all the way to the end!

There are certainly worse ways to go out!
 
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