I was leading the convey on the Circuit Rd and stopped at the base of the Craigs Hut Rd to talk to a bike rider who was off his bike waiting.
There were some more bikes that were going to go up to Craigs Hut so I said I would wait until the convey caught up and the bikes had all made there way up the track. Basically I didn't want bikes passing us on the track.
A couple of bikes made the turn and headed up the track and i was out side the vehicle chatting to the lone bike rider when I heard a strange noise. I said someone must of missed a gear.
Then over the UHF we heard that a bike had gone under a 4WD. Not knowing which radio the message came from, the one on scan or the other which is on CH16 for the convey I asked first if someone in the convey had hit a bike.
Ever one one was OK, then I heard another massage on the radio that was on scan that a 4WD had run over a bike on the Craigs Hut Rd. That was the sound that I had heard, not a missed gear but a bike and 4wd hitting.
The first thing was to stop any more vehicles onto the track and then with the bike rider that I was talking to we set off up the track. Not far and we saw the 80 Series with a bike wedged under the front. The rider had dropped the bike just before impact and was not hurt.
They had already tried to move the vehicle back to free the bike but the foot peg was wedged under the steering damper. The only way to free the bike was to lift the front of the vehicle.
The
young couple from Tasmania had a Hi-lift jack so I asked them to come up with there vehicle and jack. The 80 Series had side bars so I placed the jack under the support and started to lift after making sure that the vehicle was not going to move down the
hill.
Got the vehicle clear of the foot peg but the front wheel of the bike was wedged around the front tyre of the vehicle. Turning the tyre we were able to free the bike.
The bike rider and driver were both in shock so we made sure that someone stayed with them for a while. The bike riders had to go and get the ute to pick up the bike and the partner of the 80 Series driver said they would have lunch at the bottom of the track.
By the time the track was open there were a few vehicles that had waited and I would like to thank them for the co-operation and not tyring to go up the track while we were getting the bike from under the vehicle.
Latter in the trip we came across the series again and I spoke to the driver who said that he did take some time before he could drive again after the incident.
No one was hurt, the bike a little second hand, and not a scratch on the vehicle.
I didn't see what happened so I will not make any comment on how the incident happened.
Wayne