Bikie dies in crash during charity ride
By Michael Ruffles, police reporter
Monday, 23 May 2005
A ULYSSES motorcycle club member died in a crash during a charity
ride east of Meredith yesterday afternoon.
The man, 66, from Hoppers Crossing, was heading east toward
Steiglitz on the Meredith Rd with a group when he came off his
Harley Davidson about 12.30pm.
The crash happened on a downhill bend about five kilometres from
Meredith.
Paramedics pronounced the man dead at the scene.
It was the fourth fatal crash to the south of Ballarat in the last
two months.
The crash occurred as a group of about 40 riders were involved in a
charity ride and were on the way to Steiglitz for lunch.
The Westgate Wanderers Ulysses club was riding a 280km circuit from
Hoppers Crossing to Balliang East to raise money for orphans in the
Zambian province of Chibobo.
Ballarat Traffic Management Unit Senior Constable Brad Fisher said
police would speak to members of the club to help determine the
cause of the crash.
"They were making their way to Steiglitz, during which time the sole
rider lost control of his motorcycle, running off the road," he
said.
"As a result of his injuries he's died at the scene."
Sen Const Fisher is preparing a report for the coroner.
The man's metallic maroon 1998 FL Heritage Dresser Harley Davidson
was left lying in a ditch, broken and covered with dust.
The bike stopped against rocks.
The stretch of road where the crash took place did not have guard
rails.
Meanwhile, police believe a female motorcyclist was killed instantly
when she collided with another vehicle at Emerald, south-east of
Melbourne, about 1.45pm yesterday.
The other vehicle's driver, a 40-year-old Cockatoo man, was taken to
a hospital in Ferntree Gully with minor injuries.
The deaths take the Victorian road toll to 156, 11 more than for the
same time last year.