The accidents, involving male riders aged 44, 48, 54 and 66, occurred at Hartley, Lyndhurst, Hill End and the O’Connell Road.

Bathurst Highway Patrol Sergeant Peter Foran said if you make a mistake on a motorbike, “it’s generally a big one”.

Despite extensive rider training under NSW legislation, he said motorbike riders are still susceptible to the behaviour of other road users.

“You’re riding for others, not yourself,” Sergeant Foran said.

The riders’ ages concerned Bathurst Regional Council traffic committee member and councillor Warren Aubin, who queried if they were newly licensed riders.

“I wonder how many had been riding bikes all their life,” he said.

Under NSW legislation, riders up to 24 years old must have a minimum of 36 months of experience before graduating to a full rider licence.

During this three-year period, they are restricted to a bike with an engine capacity no greater than 660cc, and a power to weight ratio not greater than 150 kilowatts per tonne. 

Riders over 25 only need to have 12 months of experience before graduating to an unrestricted motorcycle licence.

Cr Aubin said all new riders should be forced to have 36 months of experience regardless of their age to allow them to learn and become familiar on smaller bikes before being allowed to ride faster, heavier vehicles.

While he has held a motorbike licence for many years, Cr Aubin said he has not ridden in a decade, and said lack of recent experience as a rider on the road, despite still holding a licence, is a problem for any rider.

Even if lack of experience was not a factor in these fatalities, he said the nature and size of motorbikes makes them harder for other road users to see.

“If something goes wrong, it usually goes horribly wrong if you’re on a motorbike ... you can get yourself in trouble quite quickly,” he said.

The total number of fatalities in Chifley local area command is at a four-year low.

The seven fatalities on local roads last year was down on nine in 2013, 10 in 2012 and 12 in 2011.