Motorcycle racer Bill Warner - dubbed fastest man on two wheels - killed attempting to reach 300mph speed record over just a mile

Bill Warner, 44, died after crashing while attempting to be the first man to reach 300mph over the distance of a mile

Bill Warner, 44, died after crashing while attempting to be the first man to reach 300mph over the distance of a mile. (AP)

A motorcycle racer, dubbed the fastest man on two wheels, died yesterday trying to top 300mph on a test track in Maine.

Bill Warner, 44, died after crashing while attempting to be the first man to reach 300mph over the distance of a mile.

It was unclear how fast Mr Warner was travelling when he lost control of the bike but he was clocked at 285mph shortly before the crash.

According to reports Mr Warner was conscious and talking after the crash just before 10am but died about an hour and 15 minutes later in hospital.

Riding his modified turbocharged Suzuki Hayabusa, Mr Warner previously hit 311 mph (500 kph) on the same course in 2011, using 1.5 miles of pavement.

That is considered to be the world land speed record for a conventional motorcycle.

"No one will touch Bill's achievements or be the type of racer he was," said Tim Kelly, race director for the Loring Timing Association.

This time he was trying to hit 300 mph using just a mile of track.

Mr Warner crashed during the Maine Event, an annual timed speed event that uses the runway at a former Strategic Air Command base that closed in 1994.