The grieving family of popular motorcyclist and devoted Rutherford father Joshua Hardy are mourning their second fatal motorbike tragedy.
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Mr Hardy’s brother Colin was killed in a motorbike crash in Pokolbin some years ago.
Mr Hardy, 26, was killed when his motorcycle crashed on Aberglasslyn Road on Friday.
The young man’s motorcycle struck a tree outside a house near the Oakhampton Road turn-off about 1.15pm on Friday and he died at the scene.
Distraught family members arrived at the spot in groups yesterday to place flowers and notes at the tree.
“RIP Joshy. Fly high – you will be missed,” one note read.
Relatives told how Mr Hardy was devoted to his two-year-old son Chevy and his partner Sam Ditton, to whom he was recently engaged.
“Josh lived for Chevy and his partner Sam – they lived for one another,” his aunt Tracey Mordue said.
“He grew up on a farm and he was just like his dad,” she said.
“Josh could put his hand to anything and he was a top mechanic.
“He could pull an entire car apart and put it back together again.”
Other family members told how Mr Hardy lost his brother Colin who was killed riding his motorcycle several years ago.
“His brother Colin was killed on Wine Country Drive, Pokolbin,” relatives said. “It is unbelieveable how two similar tragedies have struck the same family.”
Mr Hardy’s uncle John Mordue said: “He would have a go at anything – nothing was too hard for him to do.
“And he could ride anything.
“I remember when he was two years old, sitting on the back of a motorcycle at Paterson.”
Mr Hardy’s sister Shelley Dalley said he was absolutely full of life.
And he was attracted to anything that had a motor in it.
“Josh was a very talented man, just like his dad,” she said. “He was always a bit of a rogue who lived life to the limit.
“And he was devoted to his partner Sam and his little boy Chevy.
“I will remember him as a happy-go-lucky man who just lived to have fun.
“He had been riding bikes all his life and was fascinated by them from the time he could could walk.
“Josh was loved by all his family and by everybody who met him.”
The last words came from a close friend in Rutherford.
“Josh was one of the best motorcyclists I know,” he said.
“I still can’t believe this happened to him.”
Police investigations into the tragedy continue.
