The coffin on the back of the motorbike: Hawke's Bay rider's final journey

William Hammond's funeral procession through Havelock North travelling to Patangata. Photo / Warren Buckland

Family and friends sent the late William "Bill" Hammond off in style on Friday by taking him on one last motorbike ride through Hawke's Bay.

On Friday morning Hammond's body was put inside a specially built coffin, put on a trailer on the back of a motorbike and taken from Havelock North to Dannevirke with a convoy of bikers behind.

The procession took off from Terry Longley & Son Funeral Services in Havelock North at 10.30am and finished at Makotuku Hall, near Hammond's hometown of Dannevirke.

The aluminium coffin and steel trailer were designed and built by his grandson.

William Hammond's coffin and trailer were made by his grandson. Photo / Warren Buckland

Hammond was a long-serving member of the Dannevirke Bike Club and also owned his own trucking company and had a collection of vintage trucks.

He died on May 9. He will be laid to rest at Mangatera Cemetery in Dannevirke after a service at Makotuku Hall on Saturday at 2pm.