Motorists should look out for large numbers of motorcyclists on southern roads over the next few days.
That is the message from Wanaka police as hundreds of motorcyclists head to Invercargill for the Burt Munro Challenge, beginning today.
A motorcyclist who was part of a group heading south on Cardrona Valley Rd, between Wanaka and Queenstown on Monday afternoon died when his motorcycle was in a head-on crash with a van.
Another male motorcyclist was involved in a single-vehicle crash on the Lindis Pass-Tarras Rd about 5.10pm yesterday. The rider was taken to Dunstan Hospital with moderate injuries.
Sergeant Miriam Reddington said the serious crash unit was investigating Monday's crash.
Police were also still speaking to witnesses.
Sgt Reddington said it was too early to say what caused the crash and it was ''a bit hard to be specific'' at this stage about which side of the road the crash occurred on.
The motorcyclist who died was with a group of riders, some with pillion passengers, but did not have a passenger himself.
His name has yet to be released.
Two people in the van were assessed for minor injuries.
The Burt Munro Challenge ends on Sunday, when motorcyclists begin heading home again.
