He died while doing something he loved.

A violent crash killed a man riding his motorcycle with a group of friends.

Investigators say 26-year-old John Harnett, of Lexington, lost control of his motorcycle Thursday night on Hume Bedford Road, near Paris, and crashed into a tree.

Harnett later died at UK Hospital.

Harnett was among a group of about 20 motorcycle riders at the time.

When Harnett and his friends were not out riding, you could usually find them at Paradise Cycles, a motorcycle shop on Commercial Drive in Lexington.

Friends we talked to at the shop Friday remembered Harnett as a great rider and a great man.

"Every time I saw the boy, he had a smile on his face," friend Steven Fletcher said.

"There's an old saying when its your time it's your time. Personally I think he was taken too soon because he had a lot to give to this world," friend Randy Himes said.

On Sunday, August 14, Harnett's friends, and others, will gather for a memorial motorcycle ride in his honor.

The ride will begin at noon on that day at Parkette Drive-In on New Circle Road in Lexington.

A memorial fund will be set up Monday at Chase Banks, which will help pay for Harnett's funeral and burial.