Whenever I wanted a second opinion on a bike, I’d do a web search to see what Kevin Ash had to say about it. A British moto jourmnalist who has written no-nonsense motorcycle reviews (backed up by an unsurpassed technical knowledge) for the UK’s Daily Telegraph for the past two decades, countless magazines and his own website (Ash on Bikes), died yesterday while at the BMW R1200GS launch in South Africa.
Costa, who is also on the launch, broke the news to me this morning and let me know that the launch had been cancelled as a result.
BMW released an official statement, saying. “It is with deep regret that BMW Motorrad confirms the fatal injury of Kevin Ash in a motorcycle accident during a launch event in South Africa. The accident happened to the north of a town called George, 250 kilometres east of Cape Town. Out of respect for Kevin’s family and friends, no further information is being made available at this time.”
Although likely an unfamiliar name to most CMGers, Ash was a gem of a journalist and leaves behind his wife and three daughters. Our thoughts are with them.
[…] Le regretté M. Ash avait une femme et trois filles. C’est avec le coeur lourd que la communauté de la moto et du journalisme de la moto et sourtout sa famille, iront de l’avant. Pour en savoir plus sur Kevin Ash, cliquez ici. […]
[…] He leaves behind a wife and three daughters. He will be sorely missed by the whole motorcycle and moto journalist community, but especially by his family, to whom he was devoted most of all. You can read more about Kevin here. […]
What a great loss to motorcycle journalism. I can’t begin to imagine a world without “Ash on Bikes” reviews. He will be missed by the motorcycling community. Our deepest sympathies to his family and colleagues.
I met Kevin a number of times and he was a first class individual and a hell of a rider. RIP.
Terrible news. His stuff was terrific.