Cazz Taylor of Hawke's Bay Harley Motorcycle Club said he understood the man travelling through Eskdale had attended the Bay MC One Night Stand event in Havelock North on Saturday night.
"Everybody knows everybody, so it's really upsetting when this happens."
He said riders from all over the country were looking forward to catching up at the "well organised" event on Saturday night. "It's a huge shock to us all," he said.
Mr Taylor said the deceased was a member of the New Zealand Road Pirates Motorcycle Club, and he would probably have been travelling home back up north.
Mr Taylor wanted to extend his condolences from the club to the Road Pirates.
Police reported the man was part of a wider group of motorcyclists who were also leaving Napier travelling that way.
The road was closed for about four hours, and diversions were put in place at Hill and Seafield roads in Bay view.
Evidence was gathered at the scene and investigations are continuing.
Motorists travelling to Taupo experienced some delays and were advised to avoid or postpone their travel.
Police were speaking to the occupants of the vehicle involved and a number of other witnesses.
Senior sergeant David Sutherland said "police would like to thank the travelling public for their patience, and ask them to drive carefully".
Olivia Davie who works at Eskdale Cattery said there had been quite a lot of crashes on that stretch of road over the years.
"It's a very dangerous area."
Another resident said it seemed people relaxed when they drove through that area, resulting in a number of crashes.
Associate Transport Minister Craig Foss issued a public statement on Thursday urging motorists to consider the road toll and its impact before getting behind the wheel during the long weekend.
"The road toll is so much more than a number, it represents the lives of parents, wives, husbands, children, brothers, sisters and friends," Mr Foss said.
"The 2016 road toll stands at 33. We've needlessly lost almost as many people as we've had days in the year - that's unacceptable to me and, I'm sure, every other New Zealander.
"Road safety is not a mystery, we all know what we need to do to keep ourselves and others safe. It's a matter of putting that knowledge into practice behind the wheel."
The Ministry of Transport reported there were no deaths during Waitangi weekend in 2013 and 2014.
Last year there were four deaths. So far this year, five deaths have been recorded nationally.
As well as the motorcycle death on Friday night, a 23-year-old man died after being flung from a vehicle in Ohakea on Saturday morning.
Two men were killed Friday night when three cars collided in Waikato.
