Dave Myers: Hairy Bikers star honoured by around 20,000 riders

Dave Myers was half of the Hairy Bikers, a duo where the bikes seemed like a gimmick — but when he died in February 2024 at 66, roughly 20,000 motorcyclists answered with a memorial ride, BBC News reported. Here’s the story of that ride and the friendship it honoured.

Age at death: 66 · Date of death: 28 February 2024 · Cancer diagnosis: May 2022 · Dave Day: 8 June 2024 · Turnout: ~20,000 riders

Eight facts, one pattern: the public story of Dave Myers runs through two places — Barrow-in-Furness, where he came from, and London, where the farewell ride began.

Who was Dave Myers?

Dave Myers made his name as one half of the Hairy Bikers, the motorcycle-riding television cooking partnership he formed with Si King (The Standard). The duo’s appeal never really rested on recipes alone; it rested on two friends who plainly enjoyed each other’s company and cooked on screen like it was the easiest job in the world.

Myers grew up in Barrow-in-Furness, the Cumbrian town whose name anchored the Dave Day route. His widow, Lili, said after his death that he remained “a Barrovian at heart” and loved Barrow (BBC News).

The implication: when a public figure’s appeal is built on friendship, the surviving friend’s grief becomes part of the story. Dave Day made that visible.

How did Dave Day become a national event?

Dave Day began with a modest request. Jason Woodcock, the event’s organiser, said Lili Myers initially asked for a small number of motorcycles at the funeral before the idea expanded into a full public procession (BBC News). The broader plan took shape in conversations at or after the funeral, according to BBC News.

The ride took place on Saturday 8 June 2024, described as a motorcycle procession from London to Barrow-in-Furness (BBC News). Around 20,000 motorcyclists joined, with the distance between the first and last riders stretching to roughly 16 miles (BBC News).

ITV News put the distance covered from London towards Barrow at about 30 miles (ITV News). The day also included a music concert and a service of remembrance (The Standard).

For the full account of the procession, see our feature on the Dave Day memorial motorcycle ride. What this means: a private funeral wish grew into a public event on a national scale, and the crowd’s willingness to show up made it credible.

Why did the tribute resonate so widely?

Si King described Myers as his best friend, saying the friendship continued beyond death (BBC News). He told the crowd at Dave Day that Myers would have been proud of the turnout, and described the ride as a celebration of the best friend he had lost (The Standard). He also said he would miss Myers every day, and that their friendship had lasted more than half a lifetime (Spark Sunderland).

Lili Myers said the support surrounding Dave Day helped her through grief by showing her she was not alone (The Standard).

For more on how King has spoken about life after the funeral, read our profile of Hairy Bikers partner Si King.

The trade-off: public mourning on this scale could have made a family’s loss feel like a spectacle. Lili Myers said the opposite — the crowd was the comfort.

What is left of the Hairy Bikers’ legacy?

The Hairy Bikers’ story now has a final chapter written by the public. Dave Day gave the duo’s television partnership a farewell that none of their programmes could have scripted.

• Dave Day took place on 8 June 2024, drawing around 20,000 riders (BBC News).
• Lili Myers said the support helped her through grief (The Standard).
• Si King called the ride a celebration of the best friend he had lost (The Standard).

The pattern: a decade from now, the image most likely to survive is not a recipe but a road — 20,000 motorcycles moving as one, taking a Barrovian home.

The timeline: from diagnosis to Dave Day

• May 2022 — Myers is diagnosed with cancer (Spark Sunderland).
• 28 February 2024 — Myers dies (Spark Sunderland).
• 8 June 2024 — Dave Day takes place; about 20,000 riders join (BBC News).

The pattern: roughly two years separated the diagnosis from the death; just over three months separated the death from the ride. Grief, in this version, moved fast and in public.

What we know and what we don’t

The pattern: the confirmed facts are public and well sourced; the unclear ones are the human gaps — a family’s private timeline, a crowd’s true size, an idea’s exact point of origin.

Voices: what they said about Dave Myers

“I will miss him every day.”

Si King, on his friendship with Dave Myers (Spark Sunderland)

“He remained a Barrovian at heart and loved Barrow.”

Lili Myers, Dave Myers’s widow (BBC News)

Lili initially asked for a small number of motorcycles.

Jason Woodcock, Dave Day organiser (BBC News)

“Dave would have been proud of the turnout.”

Si King, speaking to the crowd at Dave Day (BBC News)

What this means: the people who knew Myers best kept returning to the same words — pride, love, and a friendship that did not stop at death. That consistency is why the public believed it.

Dave Myers’s death closed a story that began in Barrow-in-Furness and ended with a farewell ride of roughly 20,000 motorcycles. What the tributes leave behind is a standard set by his own audience: grief organised the way he lived — on two wheels, in company, with the next meal never far away. For Si King, the road ahead is the harder one: the friend who made the duo work is gone, and the public telling of that loss now rests with him. For the riders who joined Dave Day, the choice is already made: keep the bikes running, keep the route in mind, and keep turning up — because that is exactly what he would have done.

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