THE grieving family of an experienced motorcyclist who died after mysteriously coming off his bike at more than 70mph will never know what caused his fatal accident.

An inquest heard father-of-two David Brian, 57, was seen to wobble as he rounded a bend on the B3335 Highbridge Road, between Allbrook and Colden Common, before the wheels of his 1,000cc racing machine locked up and he was catapulted off.

The retired chartered engineer flew into the air, slid across the road and came to rest on a pavement. A post-mortem revealed he had died of severe internal injuries.

Recording a verdict of accidental death, following the accident at just before 2pm on Saturday November 15 last year, Winchester coroner Graeme Short said: "I do find it something of a mystery."

His widow Susan said after the inquest: "The family is devastated by our loss. We feel that there are still unanswered questions. It is a mystery what caused him to brake so hard. We will never know what really happened and that will be hard to come to terms with.

"He was a very experienced motorcyclist who had done lots of advanced training courses. He was a loving family man with a very close family."

The court heard that on the fatal day Mr Brian, of Aveburg Gardens, Chandler's Ford had been taking the bike out for its first test run since crashing it a year earlier at a racing track in Belgium. He was not injured in that high-speed smash.

Police crash investigators found that he had rebuilt the machine with absolute precision and that the overhaul did not contribute towards the fatal crash. Experts from Yamaha also looked over the racing spec machine and agreed with the police's findings. Eyewitness Alison Brown, who was driving towards Mr Brian when he fell off the bike, said that the day was clear and there was no other traffic on the single carriageway, national speed limit road.

She said: "The motorcycle came towards us, there didn't seem to be anything wrong to start with but then there was a wobble which was corrected.

"I was just saying thank heavens he didn't fall when the bike went in completely the wrong direction and he fell."

The bike hit her silver Ford Mondeo causing the air bag to inflate and Mrs Brown struggled out. She added: "I went over to him. I was expecting him to get up. I didn't think it was that serious, I honestly believed he would stand up and walk away."

A paramedic who was first on the scene said in a statement that resuscitation was pointless because of severe trauma to Mr Brian's chest.

Police crash investigator PC Stephen Hoynes, who was quickly on the scene, told the court: "The reason for the bike falling onto its side must be to do with the locking of the tyres. Why he has done that is open to debate."

Mr Short said: "The strange part of this is that the tyre marks indicate that the rear wheel locked not once but twice, so it does suggest to me he was testing the brakes.

"It is also possible that he simply misjudged his speed and needed to reduce his speed for the bend."