RIP: Jeff McLeary & Daymon Stokie

The 2018 Australia Day Long Weekend will forever be remembered as a terribly sad one for Australia’s motorcycle community, with the tragic death of two of its finest, stand-up characters, Jeff McLeary and Daymon Stokie.

Jeff McLeary died on Friday night after a vehicle in which he was a passenger hit a tree not far from his family home in Buchanan, near Kurri Kurri in the NSW Hunter Valley. The 52-year-old was part owner of one of Australia’s largest and most successful KTM dealerships, KTM Newcastle, husband to Maree, and father to Brock and Shae.

On Saturday afternoon, Daymon Stokie suffered fatal injuries after crashing his motorcycle while racing the Deep Well MX Enduro Race, just outside of Alice Springs. The 28-year-old was the reigning Finke Desert Race champion, handing Yamaha its first Finke win since 1986 on the Queens Birthday Long Weekend last June, and was part of the 2016 Baja 1000-winning team in the USA.

Our thoughts go out to both men’s families and friends.