Close call as motorcycle clips truck

Trustpower TECT crew load an injured motorcycle rider into the rescue helicopter at Te Kaha medical centre.

A Rotorua motorcycle rider has suffered a dislocated hip and severe bruising after crashing into a truck in Te Kaha.

The 52-year-old male lost control of his motorbike on a sharp bend on Friday afternoon about 1pm.

His two riding companions called emergency services who drove the man to Te Kaha medical centre to meet the Trustpower TECT rescue helicopter, which flew him to Rotorua Hospital.

He was discharged yesterday.

A riding companion, who only wanted to be known as Geoff, said they were riding from Rotorua to Waihau Bay.

"It could have been a near miss, he glanced the front bumper of the [oncoming] truck on a very tight 30km/h corner and just got it a little bit wrong."

Geoff said the collision sent his friend off his bike and down a 4m to 5m bank.

He said he and his other riding companion had ridden ahead but turned back once they realised their friend was not with them.

They saw the truck stopped on the road with its hazard lights on and thought he may be trapped underneath it.

"It was with huge relief to see him down the bank conscious and looking up to me," he said.

"He is a very, very lucky man. He had all the right riding gear on and is a very experienced and cautious rider, he's been riding bikes his whole life. The truck came around a tight corner and he just glanced it."