Wire strung between trees in Woodhill Forest hospitalises motorcyclist

The iwi which owns Woodhill Forest say they are investigating the hazard which knocked the rider off his motocycle.

A man is lucky to be alive after riding a motorbike into a wire that was strung up between two trees at Woodhill Forest, in West Auckland.

It happened about midday on Saturday as Vaughan Wenham and his stepson were coming up to a slope.

Wenham was taken to North Shore Hospital and is now recovering at home with a swollen throat and whiplash.

His brother Darren Wenham said the wire hit Vaughan at the top of his shoulders and his throat.

"It completely whipped him off his bike. The injury to him could have been fatal if he was going any faster. He was only doing 20km/h at the time."

Darren Wenham said the iwi who owned and managed the park had been very helpful.

But police said it appeared the man rode off the track and into the wire.

A police spokesman said police investigated the incident and determined the wire was farm wire, consistent with wire being used for stock maintenance.

He said the incident appeared to be an accident and there was no further police action being taken. The motorcycle park remained closed.

Woodhill Forest is owned by Ngā Maunga Whakahii o Kaipara Ngahere.

Chief executive Malcolm Paterson said The Sandpit leased the land for offroad riding.

He said they were working on identifying and managing the hazard that caused the accident while the park was closed.

Paterson said as far as he was aware, the park generally worked well and had a lot of users.

He said offroad motorcycling did carry some risks but the park did not have experiences like this on a regular basis.

- Newstalk ZB