Motorcycle hearse business brings biker community together, says owner
Owner of Edmonton company wants to 'change the way funerals are done'
An Edmonton company is offering funeral processions fit for bikers, by hitting the road with a coffin — or urn — fastened to a motorcycle.
Brad Chalcraft, owner and operator of One Last Ride, said the motorcycle hearse business was an opportunity he stumbled upon.
"I was looking for a car hearse and I was scouring Kijiji, I put it on Canada-wide and the bike came up and I thought [it] would be a great business opportunity, [to] change the way funerals are done," Chalcraft said.
The 1998 Harley Davidson Electra Glide bike is originally from Windsor, Ont., where previous owners George and Val Winney, ran the Forever Free Motorcycle Hearse Company.
After George Winney passed away in 2018, the bike was sold and put into storage.
Chalcraft contacted the owner, who didn't think he was serious about starting the business in Alberta.
"So I hopped on a plane and went to Hamilton to check it out and it ended up coming home with me," he said.
Chalcraft said it's emotionally draining work over the past two years, but it is rewarding.
"It's hard to see people in pain and grieving, it's not the easiest thing. There's been times where I even question myself why I'm doing this," he said.
"The feedback is just unreal — it's straight positivity — [even] if I can help them get some closure in … honouring the way that their loved one passed, or even lived, being an avid rider."
Honouring two Alberta bikers
The bike has stickers on its windshield — reminders of some of the past funeral processions, including the funeral for NHL player Bob Probert.
Probert was originally from Windsor and played for the Detroit Red Wings.
Two funerals that meant the most to Chalcraft were for Tyler Duboski and Laurent Isadore, Alberta bikers killed in a crash last August.
The bikers were on a charity ride with the Redrum Motorcycle Club when they were struck by a semi-trailer truck near the hamlet of Faust, about 300 kilometres northwest of Edmonton.
At the funeral for Isadore, who was a knowledge keeper from Driftpile First Nation, Chalcraft learned about Cree culture and was gifted a ribbon shirt.
"When I see that many bikes come together and the brotherhood and the sisterhood … the whole community came out and supported this man, it was huge," said Chalcraft.
Chalcraft said he offered to lead Duboski's procession.
"It absolutely changed my life, and to this day, I still watch the video of [the ride]," said Jed Mansell, Duboski's father.
"When I'm sad … it puts a smile on my face, so it didn't just help me that day, it's helped me for the past year get over what I've been going through."
Mansell said his son had only just started to ride shortly before the accident.
"He was free, he was at peace when he was riding … before the accident was the happiest time of his life," said Mansell.
"I really wish that I would have gone with him riding and I never had the opportunity."
Mansell said it was only at the funeral that he fully understood what biking — and the Redrum Motorcycle Club — meant to his son.
"When they first put him in the … sidecar, everybody is revving up their bikes and stuff, it was magical, it was something I never expected, I was overwhelmed with feelings," said Mansell.
"It just brought clarity to … what [biking] meant to him."
Mansell said he feels like an honorary member of the Redrum Motorcycle Club.
"They've become my family now that he's gone," he said.
"To this day … they all reach out to me and talk to me and make sure I'm okay, and now I understand it, and I love each and every one of them."
For Chalcraft, he said it's important to offer funerals that best reflect the person who has died.
"We all share our love for motorcycles and especially when these avid riders pass, you think, 'what would they want?'," said Chalcraft.
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