Thousands of bikers attend memorial ride out to honour Hairy Bikers star Dave Myers

Almost 6000 motorcyclists have come together to honour the life of Hairy Bikers star Dave Myers, and raise money for Cancer Research. 

Myers was one half of the much-loved culinary TV duo, and died in late February of this year aged 66 following a two-year battle with cancer. The news lead to an outpouring of sympathy from the motorcycling community. 

Biker Escorts East Yorkshire arranged the meet up and ride out, which took place on Sunday April 7. Just a week before only 800 people were expected to attend, with thousands more then flooding into Beverley town centre to pay their respects on the day.

The event generated £2500 on the day, with donations continuing to pour in online afterwards. 

“As the morning unfolded there was convoy after convoy of bikes turning up,” said Sean Martin, event organiser. “The square got fuller and fuller. People were in great spirits, even the locals were happy to see us and offered money for the collection boxes.” 

Touched by the support, Si King, the other half of the ‘Hairy Bikers’, took to social media to thank those in attendance both for their support and fundraising efforts. 

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“I’m compelled to say an enormous thank you,” he said. “What happened at the ride out for Dave was nothing [short] of astounding… Dave would’ve loved it”.  

The two-and-a-half-hour ride set off from Beverly, before travelling through the North Yorkshire Moors and finishing at Scarborough. Once here the scene “was like being back in the ‘70s, with thousands of bikes lining the sea front,” according to Martin. 

“Dave was a real ambassador for the motorcycling community. He was a thoroughly nice guy who changed the image of biking for the better. We wanted to say thank you and raise some money for charity,” the organiser continued.

“The support we had was really quite moving. Thank you to everyone who came along and to North Yorkshire Police too who were amazing with us.”