Edmonton ‘ghost bikes’ at risk of vanishing

Ghost bikes – memorials created near the site of fatal motorcycle crashes in Edmonton – are at risk of vanishing due to costs.

The group behind the installations, Ride in Paradise Memorials (RIP’M), is appealing to the community for donations to keep the project running.

Lead organizer Cory Bacon says he started installing ghost bikes six years ago as way to give back to the biker community that he is a part of.

“Every time I put one out, I remember the friends I’ve lost over the years,” Bacon says.

“Just to let other motorcyclists know that someone has died there, to let the general public and people who are driving their cars  …. to also get peoples’ attention and remind them to focus on the things that they’re doing when they’re driving,” Bacon adds.

In June, 19-year-old Bradly Maeir, a new rider, was killed in a crash near 49A St. and Mill Woods Rd., near where another fatal motorcycle accident occurred last month.

For Noah Haman, Maeir’s best friend, having a ghost bike at the site of the crash helps remember him.

“I think it just kind of helps [to] add a spot where we can go and remember them,” Haman said. “And just [to] drive by, or somewhere to go sit and talk to them and be in their presence.” Haman said.

Bacon has been paying for the ghost bikes out of his own pocket and with the help of a local scrap yard.

He spends about $3,000 a year replacing damaged parts, repainting and moving the bikes.

Bacon says without, he can’t afford beyond another year without help and has launched a Gofundme campaign to keep the project going.