Article Contributed By MySendOff.com
While not particularly useful in any practical situation, or even possible in an actual procession, testing the top speed of a hearse is something that just seems fun. Coach-built hearses are modelled after massive luxury cars (Cadillacs, Lincolns, Mercedes-Benzes) and are extremely large, and well, overweight. The work involved to make one of these vehicles a respectable racer just wouldn’t be economical. There is, however, another option: Motorcycle Hearses.
A motorcycle hearse is often used when a motorcyclist or motorcycle enthusiast passes. Instead of using the typical hearse, the procession will feature a motorcycle with a side-car. However, it isn’t a typical side-car. This one is longer than the motorcycle itself. It carries a full sized casket.
Rev. Paul Sinclair, owner of Motorcycle Funerals Limited in the UK, operates a fleet of Motorcycle Hearses. His fleet consists of several Triumph motorcycles retrofitted with a sidecar large enough to fit a full-sized coffin. He also has a Harley-Davidson bike matched with a sidecar as well.
Motorcycle Funerals Ltd.’s fleet includes Harley-Davidson, Triumph and Suzuki Hayabusa motorcycle hearses.
The third type of Motorcycle Hearse that Paul’s company runs is a Suzuki Hayabusa. The Hayabusa held reign over the title of world’s fastest production motorcycle for several years. This title gave Sinclair the idea to change things up a bit – he decided to take a stab at the world’s fastest Motorcycle Hearse, and specially engineered and manufactured a custom sidecar for the job. Sinclair personally brought the beast up to an extremely impressive speed of 120 mph (193 km/h) and coined the bike the fastest in the world.
Motorcycle Funerals Ltd. has been serving the entire UK since 2002 and with 25 years serving at funerals, Paul believes that funeral sendoffs should reflect a person’s lifestyle. “No one submits a Protestant to a Muslim service or places an Everton fan in a Liverpool strip when they die so why should motorcycle enthusiasts be last seen in an automobile?”
Read more: Motorcycle Funerals, UK Wide Motorcycle Hearse Service
Colin,
There is an Irish Blessing/Toast that says, “may you be in Heaven a half hour before the devil knows you’re dead!” Perhaps the “world record hearse,” is designed to assist in facilitating that wish? – tim
I like that blessing/toast Tim 🙂 As a longtime bike rider those kind of speeds were wisely left in my youth, but I certainly do admire Rev. Sinclair’s attitude about providing alternatives for personalized sendoffs.
Colin Firth
Founder mysendoff.com
I agree Tim – The Irish certainly know how to offer a blessing/toast. I have a friend who passed and his final wishes were for an Irish Wake and he even instructed that part of his life insurance policy was to be set aside for his life celebration. Seem to recall the bar bill nearly equalled the price of the casket.
As a longtime motorcycle rider I think these levels of high speed were best left back in my youth, but I do agree with Rev. Sinclair’s attitude about personalizing sendoffs to reflect the person’s lifestyle.Founder – mysendoff.com