POLICE believe speed could be to blame for a crash which killed a motorbike rider near Walcha yesterday.
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The man, believed to be aged in his sixties, died when he was thrown from his Harley Davidson on the Thunderbolts Way, about 55km south of Walcha just after midday.
Oxley Inspector Jeff Budd told The Leader the man, who hails from the Central Coast, was riding with a group of others when the accident occurred.
"About 55km south of Walcha, the man has failed to negotiate a right hand bend at which police believe was excessive speed and he has ended up in a ravine some distance down from the road way," he said.
"He suffered significant injuries and died at the scene."
Emergency services were on scene for several hours yesterday as Oxley detectives pieced together the circumstances leading up to the crash.
"This is a notorious road for excessive speed by bike riders," Inspector Budd said.
"And once again speed appears to have a claimed another life.
"Now, police have the unenviable task of telling the family a loved one has passed."
RFS and Walcha Shire Council staff managed traffic around the crash scene to ensure the road remained open to vehicles.
Investigators have taken statements from witnesses to the crash and a report will now be prepared for the coroner.
The crash is the second motorbike fatality in the region since Sunday after a 54-year-old Tamworth man died while riding on the Nundle Rd near Dungowan.
The man, believed to be a member of the local chapter of an outlaw motorcycle gang, was killed when he fell from his bike, which crossed to the wrong side of the road and collided head-on with an oncoming vehicle.