I didn't know him other than by his posts on RS, and only met him less than a handful of times at various meets. I had the same reaction as a few other people when I first met him "That's Gwilo?!", I was expecting him to be Asian and younger than me or around the same age. The memory that stands out the most to me was one of the posts he made for the Mansters meets. He'd written the wrong date on the post (despite the poster being right above it) so I asked my brother if he knew which date was correct thinking maybe it got changed. Raid3n told John about the mistake and silliness ensued between the two of them. http://www.revscene.net/forums/68331...ml#post8308681

As someone who's trying to master their fear of two wheels, I always appreciated his knowledge and honesty when interacting with new and prospective riders in the Rider's Corner. John was one of the main reasons I liked browsing around in there. He was funny, a bit of a smart-ass and above all else a very knowledgeable rider. He also never seemed to mind answering any and all questions from anyone. Thankfully nothing on the internet ever really gets deleted, so we'll always have his humour and advice around to remind us of what an awesome man he was.

RIP John

Jezz. Heart sank a bit.

RIP fellow rider.

Memorial sticker
 

These stickers will be available in limited number tomorrow at the memorial ride. Donations would be appreciated. These donations will be going towards the family and future plans: it is my intention to setup a scholarship if you will, in John's name for riders training and safety courses. More details of this once all is setup. Special thanks to Inaii for creating this design and special thanks to Bing of The Kraken Lab helping to produce these late Friday and into late Saturday as we speak.

First met John maaaaaany many years ago at one of the first RS (IC?) meets I ever went to. Used to make fun of his Z24, but it was all in good fun as he would fire right back about my VW's. His Miata was one of the first I got to experience that made me actually want one to AutoX. He was always around for a good chat, to share his experience and opinions, and just be a lot of fun to shoot the shit with.

Revscene in particular, and the automotive and bike community as a whole will be less without you around, John. Rest in peace. Or, more appropriately, I hope you're ripping up the roads in your bike where ever you are.

Tommy, can you possibly keep a sticker aside for me, please? I'll be down on the Coast in mid-November and can pick it up from you, unless you're able to mail it to me. I've no problem doing an eTransfer or Pay Pal'ing some cash to you.

I should have more by then as this will be an ongoing campaign. Let me now when you will be here.

site went down as i posted my message :/


I know this isn't the first time Revscene has lost a member but this one comes as quite a shock, I never met gwilo but through my time here his posts are one of several that stand out, mainly because of his username.

losing someone is always hard but to lose someone in this way is especially tough as it could have been avoided. Being safe on the roads is paramount but it's only half the job as we also depend on the actions of others...please let's do our part in being safer drivers and especially to take the step in reporting dangerous drivers we see out there in hopes to minimize the amount of incidents like this in the future

My condolences to Gwilos friends and family, may he rest in peace.

RIP. I've met John several times and even worked on his Miata. And I also had the same first reaction as many "That's Gwilo?"

Just a suggestion, how come there's no thread/link in VAC? I hardly ever come to this forum, and only happened to catch the thread on the forum home.

Thanks to those who dropped by and/or went to the Memorial Cruise
 

Thanks to rb and !SG (for set up), Tommy (memorial stickers, contacting family), Morgan (leading rs cruise) and Hilton (setting up the memorial ride).
It was comforting to grieve with others who knew or met John.

interesting moment: a pedestrian from Brazil walked by to see what was going on. He said he didn't know John at all but from what he heard there, he sounded like a great guy. I said yea, he was the type of person who would talk to you even if he didn't know you. then some dust flew into his eye

thanks to Wilson who was kind enough to allow us the time and space to hold our vigil.

http://i60.tinypic.com/2rzxell.jpg
http://i58.tinypic.com/1yjwoh.jpg
http://oi60.tinypic.com/27xqa9d.jpg

"We will all miss you!! RIP my friend"
"Ride in Peace John. We will miss you. J."
"John (gwilo) Thnx for the advise.You will be missed. S (CJ)"
"R.I.P. John, You will be missed. G."
"John, It was a pleasure getting to know you this year. I'll always remember the pics of your gear room. Hope you are somewhere in the universe enjoying the ride. Love E."
"RIP John You will be missed. C.C."
"John 'gwilo' Norwich. R.I.P. Brother. This is for you. You would do the same for any of us. J."
"John, R.I.P. We will all miss you. A."

I am sure he would be proud of the ride!

I couldn't make it but lots of others did!

Never met Gwilo personally (wish i had the pleasure) but always enjoyed reading his posts on Riders Corner. Kudos to RS for renaming the forum in his memory.

RIP

Thank you for sharing the pictures with us jACE. It looks like the ride had an amazing turn out and beautiful weather.

?NR you're very welcome. It was the least I could do.

updated with Memorial/vigil gathering footage at end

RIP.

RIP

one fellow went ahead of the pack to take video/pics on a overpass, anyone know who that was?

I believe that was Nick Caia from. 604 group

Awww shit? Really? Fuck.. I really liked John. He was the crazy BCJ guy that pre-dated me in J-body craziness. I have to give him credit.. if it weren't for him, I would have never stuck around RS. I went to meets in the old days because of him. I took up AutoX because of him. I never wanted a Cantonese tattoo because of that whole Gwilo thing.

Fuck!! I can't believe this happened!! Oh man.. this blows. And I gotta come here more often... shit.

I'm sorry I didn't see this much earlier. RIP Gwillo I always enjoyed your posts.

from John's Nephew:

To any of my family and friends in the Vancouver area who would like to pay their respects to John Norwich, there will be a memorial service held for him this Saturday at 10 am at his work, Thomson Technologies in Langley. In case you are looking for me during the memorial, I will be in Montreal attending the service there. Many blessing to you all, and thank you.


official Vancouver memorial details:

Memorial will be held at John's former workplace Thomson Technologies in Langley
10am Saturday October 4th, 2014

The address is:
9087A -198th Street
Langley, BC
V1M 3B1

If anyone would like to pay final respects via this memorial.

I'm going to keep the John Norwich Memorial Riders Group alive and well out of respect to John... I'll keep pumping content, pictures, videos, and generally entertaining motorcycle content until people get annoyed. :)

I never talked to John before although I think I may have saw him at one of the Thursday night Market Crossing meets last summer. But I can certainly feel his legacy here through the strong sense of community and responsibility. He would be proud. I hope you're resting well, Mr. Norwich.

Happy birthday John, we at revscene all miss your guidance and friendship. May you ride in peace.

Are we going to have a memorial ride in his honor on the 17th?

a weekend day would likely work better for most people.