Tributes for Barossa Valley man killed in motorcycle crash at Rowland Flat

A father has paid an emotional tribute to his son, Barossa Valley man Corey Loleit, who died on his way to meet his girlfriend in a motorcycle crash on the weekend.

A devastated father has paid an emotional tribute to his “best mate” killed in a motorcycle crash at Rowland Flat on the weekend,

Corey Loleit, 41, was on his way home to get ready for a date when his motorbike collided with an SUV on the Barossa Way just before 5pm Saturday.

Police and emergency crews rushed to the scene but were unable to save Mr Loleit.

The two occupants in the car were not injured.

Supplied Editorial Corey Loleit and his father Gregor. Picture: supplied

Gregor Loleit was heartbroken to learn his second-born son of three had died.

The Port Pirie man said he had bought his son a boat, and every time he visited they went fishing together.

“Whenever he could, that’s it, he’d be fishing,” Mr Loleit told The Advertiser.

“I wish he was still here.”

The victim’s stepmother Mel said her husband would miss their son very much.

“Gregor will miss him a lot, because he wasn’t only Gregor’s son, he was Gregor’s best mate,” she said.

Mr Loleit, of the Barossa, was a crane operator at Max Services and left behind a daughter, Kayla, 16.

His friend and colleague Marko Santini visited the scene of the crash on Sunday and remembered his friend as a lover of fishing and motorbikes.

“He was a good bloke and we loved him, we will think about him all the time,” he told 7 News.

“The new girlfriend certainly changed his ways, he was a lot happier at work, he always looked forward to getting home and doing something with her.”

Corey Loleit died in a crash in the Barossa at the weekend. Picture: Facebook

Another friend Baylin Cole told The Advertiser the victim was a “quietly spoken, genuinely nice guy”.

“He was always good company, we’d have a chat, reminisce about the old days, then we’d go our own ways and it might be a bit of time before we’d see him again,” Mr Cole said.

“It’s really disappointing to hear, because he was a genuine nice guy, it’s the last person I’d ever thought I’d never be talking to again.”

Mr Loleit’s death was the second fatal crash in the Barossa Valley region in less than 24 hours.

A Mildura man, 31, was killed in a single car crash on Gomersal Rd at Shea-Oak Log just after 8pm Friday.

There have been 21 road deaths in South Australia this year compared to 32 at the same time last year.