Remembering Joe Hollingsworth

An esteemed H.O.G.^® member, Joe Hollingsworth, sadly passed from cancer last year. His wife, Kimberley Feeley, shares memories of him and his beloved Sportster^®

Joe sadly passed away on 15 September 2023 at the young age of 37, after being diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer on 1 August 2023. Of course, this was a massive shock to us and sadly something Joe had been terrified of after losing his mother, Susan Hollingsworth, to terminal cancer years earlier at only 54. This was devastating for Joe, his dad John and his sister. John was a born and raised a biker, and Joe followed suit. He hadn’t yet passed his test, which he was looking forward to achieving in the years to come, and was focusing on building bikes and cars, which he loved. Naturally, when he passed, we were heartbroken that he couldn’t pursue his dream.

Joe and his cherished Sportster
Joe’s parents travelled around with the Southeast Region Club in their younger years and in 1981, John purchased a Harley^® Sportster^® manufactured in 1980 which had been imported from California. After Joe was born in 1986 priorities changed for John and Sue, so the bike was sold on a few years later.

Many years later, Joe was determined to try and find out if he could somehow track down the Harley Sportster so he could own one of his dad’s original bikes. Amazingly, in March 2016, Joe found the motorcycle locally and purchased it; he was astounded – what were the chances?! However, the bike had been chopped and changed quite significantly, so Joe was aiming to get it back to its original state. Fast forward to June 2016, Joe and I met at Hyper Japan in London, fell in love and started saving money which delayed the bike build.

We bought a house, rescued our little dog, Pixel, and started to build a workshop for our car and bike projects. I’m a Yorkshire lass who love cars and motorcycles, so it was a perfect match from day one. Our neighbours Ross and his wife Leanne became our best friends due to shared interests, but sadly we were all stopped in our tracks last year when Joe’s cancer was diagnosed. Joe did not let his diagnosis stop him caring for people; Joe’s main concern was that he would miss supporting Ross and Leanne and their son Ryan, who unfortunately lives with a terminal childhood illness called Batten disease, which was diagnosed when he was just eight years old. Joe was always thinking of others before himself.

After the diagnosis, John visited often and started rebuilding the Sportster to distract Joe, but he was ultimately too weak to help. Joe was forced to think about his life ending, which was not a situation you expect to find yourself in at age 37. He knew how much Ross loved Harleys – he would collect any Harley-Davidson^® merchandise he could find – and we used to look for items at autojumbles too! Joe told Ross that he would be left the Harley Sportster under the premise that Ross would lose some weight for his health and that Ross should try to build the bike with the help of Joe’s dad. Joe passed on 15 September 2023, and as Joe’s wife I will of course honour Joe’s wishes and the Sportster will go to Ross.

Currently, the bike is still in parts in our garage as we have all needed a little time to come to terms with losing Joe. Joe was the light of our lives; he revved our engines, and we miss him dearly. I promised him I wouldn’t let his name be forgotten and that he would leave a legacy, so here it is. From one Harley family to another, we wanted to share Joe’s story and if possible, gain all the help and expertise we need in building Joe’s Sportster back to its former glory. It’s quite a painful journey for us all, but once we hear the rev of that Sportster engine again one day, it will be a little moment of glory in Joe’s honour.

Ross is set to start building the bike, and we have no idea where to start, but hopefully with the help of John and maybe someone in the Harley family who would love to help, it will live on once more!