Authorities have branded Macquarie Pass a motorcycle black spot after 144 accidents and six deaths in the past five years.Those most likely to be injured or killed on the road are men returning to motorcycle riding later in life.All the fatalities involved males aged between 30 and 60.Some 60 per cent of the crashes happened in wet and overcast conditions and 80 per cent happened on bends.Shellharbour City Council has joined forces with police, the RTA and Illawarra motorcycle groups to reduce the accident rate."We have surveyed many motorcyclists during our research and have discovered riders from as far away as Tasmania come to the mainland purely for the rides and Macquarie Pass is high on that list," the council's road safety officer Jenny Davies said.She said the campaign to improve safety on Macquarie Pass was heavily focused on the older age group of riders."We have found a lot of men go back to riding after their families have grown up but there is often a skill gap which we are now trying to address," she said.Illawarra motorcycle shop owner Trevor Jordan said 30 to 40 per cent of sales were to men 45 years and older and that figure was growing."A lot has changed in the past decade in terms of power and manoeuvring ... riders need time to adjust to that," Mr Jordan said.That is where RTA-trained motorcyclist mentor Steve Fullard comes in.He and another mentor Damian Zanni work voluntarily with the council, police and the RTA to help riders improve their skills.Mr Fullard, 37, said he was not surprised that older men were over-represented in the accident figures."Bikes are a lot more powerful these days and after they have been away for a while the older riders tend to be a bit rusty," he said."A 600cc bike now is equivalent to a 1000 or 1100cc bike when they were riding," he said."Bike shops can advise customers about this change but often the bikes are bought second-hand."Mr Fullard said he conducted educational tours for new and returned riders but he usually tried to avoid Macquarie Pass."The bends are the attraction because that is what makes riding enjoyable but riders have to be properly trained for that tight sort of riding," he said.Mr Fullard, who has been riding for 13 years, said recent work on Macquarie Pass was impressive."Authorities have cleared a lot of the foliage ... and improved the road surface but I would like to see a few more things done such as more pull-over lanes for the slower vehicles."