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I’m not a frequenter of TSL, nor did I know Nick Braley, but I probably came pretty close to meeting him in LA earlier this year. This sort of thing is always terrible news.
I just received this note from 1985Gripen:
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I just learned from a fellow SoCal Saab Club member that one of our members, 26-year-old Nick Braley, was killed this past Saturday in a head-on accident with a BMW SUV while riding his new Suzuki GSX-R600 sport bike. Mercifully, he was killed instantly according to the Coroner.
Nick was a frequent poster to The Saab Link forums as user XASSH. He was an avid Saab devotee and had a SWEET tuned C900 he was constantly tinkering with. When I write “tinkering” I mean that he was constantly repairing whatever horrible thing happened when he last pushed the engine beyond its tuning limits.
He was a great guy and at the last SoCal Saab Club meet (Coffee & Cars in Irvine) during breakfast even suggested we have the next Saab Club meet over at my house so that he can fix my Saab and get it running again. His wasn’t even working (he was driving an old Chevy
Suburban SUV at the time) but he was thinking of helping someone else get their Saab working. He was in a rush to get back home after the breakfast because he wanted to put his 900’s engine back together that afternoon.
Nicholas Alexander Braley was only 26-years-old. He’ll be missed by both those who knew him and those who only knew him through the internet. Memorial services are planned for this coming Saturday.
Details to follow at the SoCal Saab Club forums website.
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My deepest sympathy to anyone here who knows Nick or has otherwise been affected by this tragedy.
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8 responses so far ↓
1 jeff k
// May 8, 2008 at 2:25 pm
Nick was a great guy — I met him through Saabing. He was always willing to help me out with my 900 whenever I needed it. Very sad. I hope to make it Saturday.
2 1985 Gripen
// May 8, 2008 at 4:02 pm
I’m planning on going to the service on Saturday so maybe I’ll see Jeff K there (though I don’t know what to look for).
Another of the SoCal Saab Club members, Gabe, was pretty close to Nick and said that he thinks Nick would have liked it if a lot of his fellow Saabers could make it to the service.
3 Jeisenne
// May 8, 2008 at 4:08 pm
Nick and I (as well as a bunch of other people) have been hanging out online in the gaming circuit since 2001. We often got together since we were just a short drive south, to San Diego. Our short tribute to him is here on our front page:
http://www.nkguild.com/
I have been in touch with his Mom, as well as all of our friends, who are heartbroken that we will never get to hang out again. Several of us who still live nearby will be there on Saturday.
Please pass the word along.
4 1985 Gripen
// May 9, 2008 at 3:33 am
Thanks for posting this, Swade.
For any of you who will attend the memorial service this Saturday, the details are at this link.
Nick was a contributor to the Team-60 24 Hours of LeMons team whose race is this coming weekend. I’m sure those participants in the team wish they could make it to the service but they’ll be there in spirit. I’m sure the team members will have Nick in their hearts. Good luck to Team 60 this weekend!
5 1985 Gripen
// May 9, 2008 at 3:34 am
I’m kind of bending the rules here and breaking a comment in two so I can post two links. I would’ve liked to include Team-60’s link in the comment above, so there it is.
6 1985 Gripen
// May 9, 2008 at 4:56 am
I just learned from another SoCal Saab Club member, Guilbert (I’m sure you remember meeting Guilbert at El Coyote, Swade), that the Team-60 car will race with some parts donated by Nick in the 24 Hours of Lemons this weekend.
Nick himself was planning to drive up to NorCal to attend the race (it’s in Tracy, California).
He loaned Team-60 his spare turbo and highly-coveted short-shifter from Saabsavior. I’m sure Nick will be on all the team members’ minds this weekend.
7 Kaylan Marie
// May 9, 2008 at 10:40 am
RIP man. I was very sad when I heard this last night. You will be very missed in the saab com. and on TSL.
<3
8 Merle Braley
// May 12, 2008 at 7:19 pm
Hi, I’m Nick’s Dad. It’s comforting to read your posts on this forum and to have met so many of Nick’s friends at the memorial service on Saturday. Thank you all. You may be interested in checking out the new website I created to honor Nick’s life: http://www.nicholasbraley.com (If that link doesn’t work yet, then you can see it here: http://www.merlebraley.com/nicholasbraley.com/) Currently there’s only one page up there, but I think it begins to open a window into what Nick was all about.
As those of you who were at Nick’s memorial service know, Nick’s first word was ‘car’ – - but, I’m starting to think he may have been saying Saab before then, but we just didn’t understand!