Gresham motorcyclist injured in Hwy. 20 crash into SUV

(Update: DCSO says rider was wearing helmet, ‘full leathers’)

A Gresham man was injured Saturday when his motorcycle crashed into the back of an SUV stopped on Highway 20 east of Sisters and caught fire, Deschutes County sheriff’s deputies said.

Deputies and Cloverdale Rural Fire District medics responded around 5:20 p.m. to the reported crash on Highway 20 east of Gist Road in the Cloverdale area, said sheriff’s Sergeant Grant Johnstone. Dispatchers with 911 were told the motorcycle was on fire.

Emergency personnel determined that Justin Yoakam, 34, of Sisters, was driving a GMC Yukon eastbound on the highway and had stopped behind a vehicle turning left into a driveway.

Duncan Howatt, 65, of Gresham, was riding a 2008 Kawasaki Concours and traveling behind the Yukon, Johnstone said. Howatt was unable to stop for the Yukon and put his motorcycle down on the highway, hitting the rear of the SUV.

Howatt, who came to rest on the south side of the road, was attended to by medics and taken to St. Charles Bend with non-life-threatening injuries, Johnstone said.

The motorcycle rider, who Johnston said was earing a helmet and “full leathers,” was treated and released from the hospital, according to a house supervisor.

The motorcycle fire was extinguished by fire crews, and no one in the Yukon was injured, the sergeant said.

Highway 20 was closed for about 30 minutes to clear the road. Johnstone said the cause of the crash is under investigation.

Also assisting sheriff’s deputies at the scene was ODOT and Davis Towing.