German offering motorcycle hearse for last trip

[March 17, 2012]  BERLIN (AP) -- A German man says people are dying for a ride in the sidecar of one of his Harleys -- literally.

Joerg Grossmann said Friday that his prototype hearse for die-hard bikers who want to ride until the very end -- a special sidecar fitted to his motorcycle -- made its first funeral run last month.

The original's a Kawasaki but the 48-year-old from near Frankfurt says 10 of his patented Harley hearses, each costing about euro60,000 ($78,000), are currently being assembled and will be ready later this year.

He's counting on 1,000 bookings per year in Germany alone at euro1,200 ($1,600) each, compared to euro200 for a normal hearse, and already has a contract in Switzerland and is in talks elsewhere.

He says people are really excited about the Harley hearse: "It's something special."

[Associated Press]

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