A MOTORBIKE enthusiast known around the world for his intricate paintings of the machines made his final journey in a specially adapted sidecar hearse.

It was a fitting farewell to Rod Organ, who died on August 31, as his coffin was transported from his home in Fawley to Southampton Crematorium in a Triumph sidecar.

Rod's biking friends turned out on their bikes and in their leathers and accompanied the motorbike hearse for the journey.

Rod, who was married to Maureen and was a grandfather, died after he collapsed suddenly at home two weeks after celebrating his 60th birthday.

Rod was the official artist for the TT Riders Association and Ducati. He sold his paintings worldwide, some of which were signed by the riders themselves.

He had owned motorbikes for the past 40 years and was a regular at race meetings and the Isle of Man TT.

Fellow artist Willem de Beer, who paints wildlife, had known Rod for 18 years after they became neighbours in Hythe.

Willem, 66, said: "He was a first class guy, one of the best. Him and his wife were brick walls for me when my wife died. He was still in his prime years and was fit as a fiddle."

Brian Thornton, 68, had been a friend of Rod's since 1973 after a chance meeting in Liverpool when Rod was on his way to stage an exhibition on the Isle of Man.

Brian, who now lives in Southampton, said: "We were always there for one another.

"He was passionate about bikes and painting them.''