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CVO Social => Rider Down => Topic started by: 07_Flhrse3 on November 24, 2008, 03:47:56 PM
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This isn't a story about a CVO bike or CVO rider, but I thought many of you would appreciate this story and accompanying video. It's about my brother and what his wife did to memorialize him. In order to watch the video at the end, you will have to cut and paste the url into your browser. Hope you enjoy it. John
A motorcycle memorial
Man’s ashes painted onto Harley
By Mike Moore
Journal Times
Saturday, November 15, 2008 3:36 AM CST
Although Jeff Vlieger agonizes over each of his projects, the Caledonia man had a bigger incentive to get this one right.
Sandy Berken-Ottery of Muskego heard from another of his customers that he paints designs on motorcycles, and she asked him to do one on her 1990 Harley-Davidson Softail. Oh, and could he incorporate her late husband’s cremated ashes into it?
Vlieger took on the unusual memorial. The motorcycle’s gas tanks now feature a train, with ashes forming the image of smoke billowing from the engine. On the bike’s back fender, more ashes form a written tribute to three friends who have helped keep the motorcycle running.
“It kind of creeped me out at first,” Vlieger said. “After a while, I got used to it, I guess.”
George Ottery Jr. repaired rail cars for the Chicago & North Western Railroad, and most called him “Railroad George.” An abbreviated version of that nickname appears on the train design. So does his face, poking out the engineer’s window.
He died in 2000 from lingering problems attributed to Agent Orange, an herbicide the U.S. dropped in Vietnam, where he served, Berken-Ottery said. His ashes were buried next to his grandfather, but she decided to keep a few aside for her own tribute.
At one point, she had a plan to ride to the Mississippi River and spread them there.
“It just didn’t seem like the right thing to do,” she said.
Finally, the idea of painting the bike came to her. The couple bought the Harley with a severance package Ottery got from the railroad when it shifted operations elsewhere. They flipped the bike’s odometer at least once, traveling around the state.
Berken-Ottery had always ridden as a passenger, but after her husband died she made a point to learn to ride it. She never thought of selling the Harley, not after that much history.
“If there’s one place I’m the most relaxed, it’s on that bike,” she said.
The paint job took Vlieger a month of spare time. He showed it off this week at a friend’s auto body shop in Sturtevant, where the guys chided him for being such a perfectionist.
“I’m not on a meter. It’s done when it’s done,” he said. “There’s the little boy in me. I love to hear the oohs and aahs.”
Vlieger has done all sorts of artistic work on all sorts of surfaces. He painted a mural at Spokes Restaurant and Bar in Yorkville. This was a whole new entry in his portfolio.
Some people he knows say it’s gross. Others think it’s a touching gesture.
Soon the motorcycle will be put back together. To Berken-Ottery, this finally feels like the right tribute after eight years.
“It’s 500 times better than anything I imagined,” she said.
She took home a small bag of ashes that were left over. Let the planning begin for the next project.
VIDEO: See what one of the Harley tanks looks like
(cut and paste the below link into your browser)
http://journaltimes.videos.vmixcore.com/p/video?id=2393239
Copyright © 2008 -
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Very interesting...thanks for sharing
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Hey John, Very sorry to read about your brother but a very touching memorial. Thank you for sharing.
GK
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Cool story. Thanks for sharing!
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Now that is creative and what a way to remember someone...
:2vrolijk_21:
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In case the video goes away ....
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My condolences on your loss. Your brother sounds like he was a very interesting man. He served his country both in war and peace and left behind friends and family who loved him dearly. Not much more a man could have asked of himself than that.
Strange how things like this thread seem to pop up when my mind is on the subject of remembering the common biker over the Hollywood hero of the hour s h i t that seems to pervade our biker culture these days. The latest being the attention lavished on the lead character of Sons of Anarchy at Biketoberfest. It's men (and women) like your brother who made this life we love what it truly is and I wish I had known him. Nothing against the young guy from the TV show, but your brother was riding before this kid was born. And with this wonderful tribute your brother will ride for as long as somebody in the family keeps that bike running ( hopefully for a long long time)
B B
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What a nice tribute to your brother! Who'll ride the bike now? Thanks for sharing!
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Very touching indeed and my condolences. I've given some thought to my ashes but it never occurred to me to paint them into a rolling tribute. Fantastic job.
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Thanks for everyone's kind words about my brother. He was one great guy who is at least partially responsible for where I am and who I am today. He rides with me wherever I go. His wife Sandy continues to ride the bike, and I will make sure it never leaves the family; whatever it takes. I can't wait to get back home next summer to go for a ride. Thanks again and all the best, John
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John,
First I would like to say that I'm sorry for your loss,my hart goes out to you and your family.
Second I think what your sister in law did, learning to ride that bike,and the incorporating the ashes of
her husband into a paint job that shows him as he was known is a grate tribute to him. And insures that
he will forever be with her riding that bike.
Jo Mo NYC :coolblue: