Authorities identified a 59-year old Manteca woman as being the motorcyclist killed in a solo crash on Saturday morning, Jan. 27 east of Oakdale.

According to the California Highway Patrol, officers received a call of a motorcycle down on Highway 108, about two miles east of Lancaster Road about 11:30 a.m. Saturday. Officers responded to the scene and found a motorcycle on its wheels resting against a fence and the victim being tended to by fire and ambulance personnel. She was taken to Oak Valley Hospital via ambulance but died there of her injuries. She was identified as Katherine Lopez by the Stanislaus County Coroner’s Office.

CHP officers said the initial investigation determined that Lopez was driving a 2008 Harley Davidson eastbound on State Route 108/120 east of Lancaster Road at an estimated 35 mph, approaching a left hand curve in the roadway. For an unknown reason, she lost control of the motorcycle and traveled onto the south shoulder. Attempting to regain control, the motorcycle instead traveled down into a water culvert and the front of the Harley struck the opposite dirt embankment. The impact caused Lopez to be ejected from the motorcycle, with both the victim and the motorcycle coming to rest on the south dirt shoulder of the roadway.

Officers said Lopez was wearing a helmet at the time of the accident.