It was nothing, just the normal thing to do at the time.

All the members aboard were rescued by the Portaferry Lifeboat. He appeared to lose control of his bike in the wet conditions and was killed instantly on impact with trees. [citation needed]
On 31 December 2009 Joey Dunlop was voted 3rd greatest Irish sportsperson ever.

William Joseph "Joey" Dunlop OBE (25 February 1952 – 2 July 2000) was a world champion motorcyclist from Ballymoney in Northern Ireland UK best known for road racing. His humanitarian work was done without drawing attention to himself. He was awarded the MBE in 1986 for his services to the sport and in 1996 he was awarded the OBE for his humanitarian work for children in Romanian orphanages.