Dead Man's Bike

[bwringer]

Is this a purchase or a gift? If it were me I would be focused on what is best for the family. I am sure that is what your deceased friend would want you to do. Doing the best I could for those who loved the deceased would far outweigh any supposed biker culture taboos If the best interests of the fallen brother's family don't come first, then maybe you need to shop around for a different culture.

Agreed. Buying the bike for a more than fair price will do some good for the deceased's family.

I am not the least bit superstitious, but I kinda get that some people are, even if I don't even understand it at all. However, I'm especially baffled as to why motorcycles spark so much magical thinking; lots more people die in car accidents, yet everyone drives to the funerals without a second thought.

That said, I would feel very guilty if I took advantage of a grieving and/or ignorant family by buying a nice bike super-cheap. If I made sure I paid what the bike was worth, erring on the high side, then I would feel good about it.

And the family might also feel good that their loved one's passion will be cared for and appreciated, not just flipped for a profit.

If it was a gift, and the family is not in financial need, then accept humbly, and do what you can for the family if possible. For example, while he was sick, my Dad told us which of his vehicles, tools, etc. to gift to which of his friends and family who needed them the most.

[zed1015]

No disrepect but ghosts, spirits, gods, devils, curses, jinx's, karma, Voodoo etc etc etc the list goes on and on is all bunkum which should be consigned to primitive mans faliure to understand the world around him and left in the distant past.
Whatever the situation or circumstances it isn't going to affect a piece of machiney or anything else one bit.
If the bike is what you want and the family is happy to offer it to you then buy it .
Just dont fit a brown seat, exhaust wrap and turn it into one of those awful hipster bobber/cafe abominations with no mudguards as that most certainly may incur the wrath of the living

[trent]

I know a young lady that married a older man, ( actually I don't know how the guy avoided jail )
she had older guys child when she was fifteen.

He was like sixty??

Anyway she ran off with a guy her age and her and the old guy divorced.

Couple months go by and a lawyer contacts her, the ole guy dies...seems as though the new car he had bought recently had her name somehow attached to it, and so did five grand in the bank.

And insurance had paid off the car and it was now hers.as was the five grand.

She stopped what she was doing and within a couple hours had the money and the car... with two hundred miles on it.

eveyone always called it "the dead man's car"

She didn't care!!

But lawYers got a hold of her and said some relatives were gonna take her to court over the stuff.

They wanted, either the car or the five grand.

So after some talks and dates, she agreed to let three of the old man's relatives split the five grand...to avoid any more b.s.

She kept the car..
Two weeks later she received a check from dodge Chrysler finance for four grand.

She said she wasn't telling anyone.. I said ya just told me and two other people... LOL

Some people say she shouldn't have took the car, he obvious overlooked the car.

He was mad and very angry at her when they divorced...

I say she earned and deserved it??

In the divorce settlement the courts made her liable for half of the cost of the old man's penile implant.
Just a nother day
Getting
the bike or not.
Keep us updated

[ptegsotic]

No disrepect but ghosts, spirits, gods, devils, curses, jinx's, karma, Voodoo etc etc etc the list goes on and on is all bunkum which should be consigned to primitive mans faliure to understand the world around him and left in the distant past.

right!!
it's embarrassing

[trent]

No disrepect but ghosts, spirits, gods, devils, curses, jinx's, karma, Voodoo etc etc etc the list goes on and on is all bunkum which should be consigned to primitive mans faliure to understand the world around him and left in the distant past.
D

No kidding,
now a daze we know to have someone go out and get us one of those Guardian bells or Gremlin bells !

[snark]

This exactly.

...."i earned my Broken Wings on a green bike"....what does this mean?

Green bikes are thought to be unlucky. The idea behind that comes from WW2.

Broken Wings is an honor you earn when you have a serious motorcycle wreck and get back to riding after you heal...thus Earning your Broken Wings.

[snark]

Is this a purchase or a gift? If it were me I would be focused on what is best for the family. I am sure that is what your deceased friend would want you to do. Doing the best I could for those who loved the deceased would far outweigh any supposed biker culture taboos If the best interests of the fallen brother's family don't come first, then maybe you need to shop around for a different culture.

As I said in the original post it's a purchase.

This is a culture that I am a part of, so like any other culture, you need to respect the customs and beliefs to an extent.

There are exceptions in any culture...and this is one of the beliefs that is still alive but exceptions are sometimes made for...like if a bike is handed down or bequeathed in a Will.

[snark]

Agreed. Buying the bike for a more than fair price will do some good for the deceased's family.

I am not the least bit superstitious, but I kinda get that some people are, even if I don't even understand it at all. However, I'm especially baffled as to why motorcycles spark so much magical thinking; lots more people die in car accidents, yet everyone drives to the funerals without a second thought.

That said, I would feel very guilty if I took advantage of a grieving and/or ignorant family by buying a nice bike super-cheap. If I made sure I paid what the bike was worth, erring on the high side, then I would feel good about it.

And the family might also feel good that their loved one's passion will be cared for and appreciated, not just flipped for a profit.

If it was a gift, and the family is not in financial need, then accept humbly, and do what you can for the family if possible. For example, while he was sick, my Dad told us which of his vehicles, tools, etc. to gift to which of his friends and family who needed them the most.

As I said in the original post they're selling it.

Pricewise, I already made it clear I'd pay book on it IF I bought it. I'm looking at a Heritage Softtail too that's at a dealer.

I think motorcycles have such superstations attached because they are so personal and personalized.

[snark]

No kidding,
now a daze we know to have someone go out and get us one of those Guardian bells or Gremlin bells !

His Bell will be removed from the bike and go to his widow. Someone would have to get me one for it.

[trevor]

It's unlucky to be superstitious

[Rob S.]

My previous owner died flying off his original '73 Z1 in '79. He was my cousin's best friend. I bought it from the 26 year old widow 2 weeks after the fateful last ride.

The dead man riding was in the middle, his younger bro leading, and his best friend trailing. One saw his big bro die in his mirrors, the other saw his best friend die right in front of him.

There's more, which I learned one year after I assumed ownership:

The three lads were riding so aggressively because, the night before, the pretty soon-to-be widow had left her doomed hubby.

The 'widow maker' is more than a myth.

Some months after I bought it, I discovered half a pack of cigarettes in the Windjammer. I thought of the P.O.

Sometimes I parked it in the most recondite part of my backyard, and thought of where my cousin and the P.O. lived, rural South Jersey. It was where my cousins let me try their dirt 250. It was my first ride on a REAL motorcycle because it had a hand clutch lever and a foot gear shifter (sorry, DCT guys). I was 14 and I was hooked. I found some of that light colored, sandy dirt common to Southern New Jersey on the Z1's engine. I wasn't in a hurry to wash it off.

Around here, I've often seen a tiny bell, or a folded up dollar bill hanging in front of or below bike engines (good luck charm). It isn't associated with make (not just Harleys), so much as the culture of the rider. It's okay for them, but not on my bikes.

I wouldn't let something like the PO's death dissuade me from buying. But it doesn't hurt to occasionally pay tribute. We'll all be forgotten soon enough anyway.

[bwringer]

There was a similar situation some while back. A forum member, "Physics Teacher" died riding a different motorcycle. His widow found her way to this forum and offered up his immaculate GS650 for sale.

I'm not sure whether someone here ended up buying it or what, but she did want the bike to find a good home.

[trent]

Just remembered this,

Guy I knew in Jr high. His whole family was into motorcycles...in high school he was given his grandfather's old Honda 750...probably early 70's ? If not older?

It was set up for drag racing, slick on the back. It looked cool for what it was.

Anyway this kid bought and fixed up a lot of dirtbikes.

He bought a old Yamaha dt 400 with blown up engine,
Before he started on it he found a wrecked one with a really good motor.

The guy that owned it t-boned a car that ran a red light.
hurt the guy really bad few broken bones and internal bleeding, beat up bad...messed his arms up , other things

Ruined the front end and even cracked the frame...but it ran great and the guy that owned it was into vintage bikes and his family ran a well known machine shop.

There was people who spoke up about not using parts off of the bike because it would bring about bad luck...karma whatever.

My friend didn't see it that way, he looked at it as re purpose kinda thing..

He swapped motors and rode it around family country property several times.

One day he had a friend hop on the back and they headed down the old country two lane ,just a mile to another friend's place that had a pool.

For some reason the motor locked up and they went down.

My friend didn't get hurt bad, but his passenger got some bad road rash..

And of course those people who told him it was bad luck to use parts off of a wreck bike that someone got injured badly was a no no.
They wouldn't let it go.

But as mentioned..

How many junk yard parts have people used,
Everything had some kinds attachment to someone.

[Vmass]

Alright......since this is a thread about superstitions.....here is my story:

The best 14,000 miles of my life ended abruptly. Having ridden a CB550K all through high school, the winter of my senior year I was ready for more excitement so I purchased the last CB1100F my local dealer had and had them deliver to my house.

I took the pipes off and tossed them up in the garage attic and put on a kerker. Started that thing every day until the snow melted and then proceeded to do 14k miles on it through the spring and summer. All local riding with buddies, beaches, carnivals etc....GS1100'S, FJ1100's and a lone VF700. One of the stupid things we would do is ride through the tunnels in Boston at a high rate of speed, hit the kill switch and back on for some gun fire effects.

Anyway, later that summer my buddy on the VF was hit and killed by a car. We were all 18 at the time and hit us all hard. All of our girlfriends were close and it was just a tough time. I am still in touch with my friend's GF to this day and his brother and mother.

About a week later I loaded my bike in my pick up and took it to a dealer who gave me 2k for it. The following summer I bought a brand new Bayliner and stayed away from motorcycles for many, many years.

With that said, I have to admit, being a teenager with a truck and a boat was waaaaaaay more fun than the motorcycle!!

[rphillips]

We all got our own idy's, ain't we???...snark, no wrong answers, do whatever suits " YOU"