ROGUE motorcyclists who recklessly break the speed limit will be the target of a Victoria Police crackdown over the Australia Day weekend.

Last Australia Day weekend one motorcyclist was killed and 26 suffered serious injuries on the state’s roads.

So far this year, two motorcyclists, neither wearing helmets, have died on the roads.

The total toll for the long weekend last year was seven dead and 76 seriously injured.

Victoria’s top traffic cop, Assistant Commissioner Bob Hill, told the Herald Sun he was keen to avoid a repetition of last year’s carnage, and would deploy officers statewide to nab speeding motorists.

Police officers would flood nine locations considered high-risk: Melbourne, Geelong, the Mornington Peninsula, the Yarra Ranges, the Surf Coast, Benalla, Baw Baw, Yarra and Glen Eira.

EastLink has also pledged to use its network of 200-plus cameras to help police prosecute speeding motorists.

“The Australia Day weekend traditionally sees high levels of motorcycle trauma,” Mr Hill said.

“The fatal crashes we’ve had in 2015 have predominantly been in rural Victoria, in the western region.

“A lot of those crashes were the result of people driving at inappropriate speeds,” he said.

Victoria Police said the number of riders who died on the roads in 2014 had fallen by 25 per cent on 2013’s toll.

Motorcycle Victoria has joined police in calling for motorcyclists to take care.

Its CEO, Wayne Holdsworth, said: “We would like to urge rogue riders to stop speeding, and if they do have a thirst for it they should quench it by riding in a safe and controlled environment ... The road is no place to race.”

david.hurley@news.com.au