The rider who found the body of missing Sandgate rider Siemon Mulder hopes to organise a cortege of riders for the funeral if the family agrees.
Kyle Gilroy says he was out for a solo Sunday ride up to Maleny when he low-sided the BMW S 1000 RR he was riding.
As he was picking up the bike, he noticed Siemon’s blue Triumph Sprint ST down a steep embankment.
Siemon with his son, PaulSiemon, 66, had set out for a “joy ride” to Esk at 9am on Monday (19 August 2019). He was due back at noon but never returned, crashing on the Maleny Stanley River Road at Booroobin.
Kyle stumbled on the scene, literally by accident.
“I wasn’t injured and my bike only had light scratches. It was a small low side,” says Kyle.
“As I was picking up my bike, I saw the Triumph in the bushes.
“I ran down to help but then I realised it was Siemon because I had seen the poster on Facebook.”
Kyle Gilroy on a BMW S 1000 RRKyle, who comes from Scotland and has been living here seven years, hopes to organise riders to form a funeral cortege to honour Siemon.
“It’s something we do in Scotland if a biker dies. It’s a nice gesture for a fallen colleague,” he says.
Siemon’s son, Paul, says the family is “still coming to terms with everything” and has not yet made any funeral arrangements.
Crash cause?
The Coroner is preparing a report on the incident.
Kyle says he is baffled by the crash.
“I wasn’t hanging about and I didn’t go off the road,” says Kyle who has been riding 10 years.
“Siemon just went straight over the edge with no skid marks or anything.
“I don’t think he’s leaned it over at all, he overshot the corner by miles and just drove straight over the edge.
“Maybe it was a heart attack or stroke.”
The Mulder family says Siemon had no history of health issues.
Other possible causes could be wildlife or another vehicle. We will await the Coroner’s report.
Dangerous corner?
Sweetwater cornerThe corner is known as Sweetwater as it is near the Sweetwater Cottage.
It’s one of two blind, uphill left-handers that tightens.
“I’ve been over there plenty of times,” Kyle says.
“I had the perfect line and should have made it but the tyres were a bit fresh.
“I know the front end goes a bit light there where the camber flattens out a bit.
“It was just me being stupid.”
Several readers have pointed out that they have also crashed or know of riders crashing on the corner.
However, Kyle defends the road and says it is not to blame.
“It’s a beautiful section of road,” he says.
“The corner often catches people out, but I don’t blame the road and I don’t want that area knocked down to a 60km/h speed.”