In Memoriam: Gwilo Mr. John Norwich

[?NR]

As some of you may have heard through social media or !SG's global annoucement on RS, today we all lost a good friend, rider, mentor.

It is with a heavy heart that I have to break this news to all of RS rider's corner as well as RS itself. The young and seasoned in the riding community will miss John for his sense of humor, his insightful advice on everything and not just motorcycling. John succumbed to his injuries from an MVA earlier this week.

John was a proficient and mature rider, whom doesn't take careless chances. I know John is the last person I'd expect to perish from motorcyling, one would never expect it.

To ones that rode and knew John: take heed and do not falter in the sport, educate and arm yourself with all necessary gear to ensure your safety and well-being, do not give up the sport as that will be the last thing John wanted. He truly enjoyed everything about motorcycling, the culture and the people.

We shall all ride on for John in his memory. If you have any John stories or pictures please feel free to share them here.


Rest in Peace kind sir.

[XplicitLuder]

RIP =[ didnt know him but clearly he was a friend of many. May he be in a btter place now

[Raid3n]

I am going to try to get a ride set up this weekend as a memorial to John and the sport he loved. Once I've got some details nailed down I'll start a thread for people to get into and sign up.

This is a huge loss for the community in general, not just the riding community but Revscene as a whole.

My most sincere condolences go out to his friends and family.

[jACEDesignsLtd]

My condolences to John's family.

John: May you Rest In Peace.

Words cannot express how I feel.

You were a pioneer in developing a great online community like Revscene (and others).
You were here with us when no one else was. Revscene.net was better because of people like you.
I hope that your family and others who have never met you know that. You brought the best in us. You tirelessly taught newcomers the right path.
You were in support of us through thick and thin.

We last spoke at Thursday night meet about your sold turbocharged Miata not too long ago.
I miss you already. RIP John Norwich

jACE,

Exec Council

p.s. if there are any witnesses to the accident, please contact police (see article). It would be in John's nature to consider all basic safety rules
http://www.thenownews.com/news/motor...rash-1.1376428

[dlo]

RIP John

Glad to see the RS community to come together to honour and preserve John's love for his motorcycle, truly sad and for sure never forgotten by family and friends. Take this as a chance to celebrate his life, props to RS once again

[rb]

Condolences to John's family. I'm still somewhat speechless upon hearing the news.

You were one of the first people to welcome me on the forums almost 14 years ago and I've never forgotten that... even though I did make fun of Jbody's a lot back then. I mean who the **** modifies a Cavalier/Sunfire? :P

I wish I had gotten to know you better in person as the few times I've chatted with you were always informative. The last time we talked, you were telling me about how much better Aprilia's were than Ducati's and that I should not buy a Hayabusa for a first bike.

And I dont know why this memory of you has lingered around for so many years but back 2000 or early 2001, I remember you chugging down a few bottles of wine on a Friday night and posting absolutely insane **** in Garbage/Offtopic and filling up the entire forum with your name as the last poster... essentially kickstarting the post whoring races/wars.

Rest in Peace Gwilo. Founder, Leader and forever a member of ROOGP (Royal Order Of Garbage Posters).

[Sunfighter]

The King Has Fallen, Long Live The King
John was the official King of the Royal Order of Garbage Posters, established in 2001.

I needed to go for a long run and clear my mind and really use that as an opportunity to reflect on all of the hugely positive encounters that I have had with John over the years.

The first time that I met John was at a BC J-body car meet downtown in October of 2000. It's important to remember at the time that the import scene was booming but there was a massive, visceral distaste between owners of imports and owners of domestic cars. John was infinitely wiser and more mature than any of us kids and did a tremendous job of bridging the gap between the "outsiders" (as we perceived ourselves) and the import crowd (Vancouver Imports, Revscene, etc.). He was also hugely liked amongst our crowd and made an effort to attend every event.

I even remember in February of 2001 when I came over from the Island to buy lowering springs for my car, he made an effort to meet up for lunch to talk cars.

It was soon after that, with John creating the momentum, the ROOGP posters was born! And with it, many, many, many long winter nights were spent posting, and reading, and sharing and generally consuming all of the bandwidth that our primitive broadband internet connections to provide! I remember working with John in early-2003 to stage a "ROOGP comeback...." when the ROOGP would plan stage FLASH WHORINGS on RS ....

I went one way with cars, and John went another ... but it was always great to be able to connect with him on RS and share memories from all of the old J-Body events. I enjoyed watching his Miata build over the years and last year totally struck up conversation with him on the regular... I discovered "Revscene Riders" and realized he was very much Revscene's long-establish elder-stateman that now represented the site's bike crew. I had always wanted to get into bikes and realizing that John was riding emboldened me to go to bike school, get my license and get a bike (and then another after the first was stolen).

He was very much an information super-source for me as I learned the new sport. I have no issue saying he provided the motivation and inspiration for me to get into bikes that I probably wouldn't have otherwise had.

I remember spending much of last summer's RS Summer meet walking and chatting with him after we both rolled in. The conversations with him that day reminded me of a couple of things; he always had a sharp, humorous wit (never intended to harm), that he was always extremely positive, had a strong moral compass and was never even remotely interested in gossip. A great personality and character for sure.

A few months ago I managed to go on an amazing ride up to Whistler with Morgan, Tommy, one of Tommy's friends, Winson, and John.... it was the best ride of the year. The weather was spectacular, everybody rode within their means and I think I will always use that memory as frame of reference looking back.

RIP John.... I have nothing but good things to say and wish your family nothing but the best

Fun fact : being that I was a white boy from Victoria, one of the first things that I asked him when I met him was what his name ("Gwilo") meant : he explained that it was what the people at the car washes in Richmond would call him when he took his Cavalier to be washed.

Attached is a picture of John from the first event I met him at... the BC J-Body event in October of 2000.

[The_AK]

Didnt know John but expected a younger guy until I saw the pictures. Damn, how old was he? RIP

[gdoh]

such terrible and shocking news to hear about.

I will miss his great sense of humor

you will be greatly missed

RIP

[Ronin]

RIP.

Surprised me the first time we met. "YOU'RE Gwilo?!"

[CharlieH]

^ my exact words to him when we first met.

RIP bud, you'll be missed.

[radioman]

Thank you for your kind words John. As a new rider I very much appreciated your advise.

RIP

[E-40six]

RIP John.

He was one of the first mods I had the pleasure to meet when I first joined Revscene as a teenager and he was the guy who I postwhored with in the garbage forum.

My condolences go to his family.

[vexor]

Wow, I did not expect to see this on RS today.

I remember fondly riding with him last year to the Summer RS meet and meeting him on occasion at the Thursday Night Meets (before it got out of control) and he always had such interesting stories to tell. It always felt to me like I was talking to an old friend that I hadn't seen in years.

RIP

[CP.AR]

Rest in Peace

[DSHDSH]

I did not know Gwilo personally, but I will remember him as an outstanding and truly compassionate member of the Riders Corner.

RS is getting bigger every year and RS group rides have become more and more exclusive to join. Gwilo would always be the one to respond to my noob motorcycling posts when others would simply just disregard them. The Riders Corner lost a truly exemplary individual who looked out for those who were getting into the sport and made this forum more welcoming to all.

[320icar]

Holy shit man. I didn't know. I never spoke to him directly but have been around him at a few of the rs meets checkin out all the bikes. He seemed so friendly with a rich history in bikes and cars. Rip

[SoNaRWaVe]

RIP John. My condolences and best wishes for his family and friends.

I have never met him in real life, but he was always informative in the Riders Corner. I always enjoyed reading his posts and appreciate his knowledge and wisdom.

[dtea54]

May he rest in peace, condolences to his family and friends

[Chooman]

First off, my deepest condolences to his family for their loss. This is extremely saddening news.

Gwilo was always a great guy at meets and was one of the original members back in the day.

Rest in peace my friend.

[saucywoman]

Originally Posted by Ronin

RIP.

Surprised me the first time we met. "YOU'RE Gwilo?!"

Same here. I remember his name from when I joined RS like 12 years ago and finally met him at Byrne sometime this year. He was super friendly chatting me up, and when I found out who he was I said the exact same thing.

Condolences to his family. Rip

[DragonChi]

Rest in Peace

[orgasm_donor]

I talked with John a few weeks back at one of the Thursday night meets. We talked about his beautiful dog, his love of motorcycles and cars. He was and will always be a kind and gentle soul that was intelligent, thoughtful and positive through and through.

He will be greatly missed by many.

[MeowMeow]

From the pics I could already tell it was pretty bad.
Anyways I recall seeing Gwilo at meets. Although I was not a personal friend of his, and did not know him very well, he was mutual friends with many riders friends of mine. it's really hard to believe that was Gwilo I was looking at in those pictures i received that day.
Rest in peace, & condolences to his family and friends.
From what I was told, this was the other party's fault. So dear riders, although you may be a great driver please be careful on the road as others may not be as good on the road.

[tiger_handheld]

RIP. Sounds like a stand up a guy.