AUBURN — A man who crashed his motorcycle on Broad Street last week has died of his injuries.

Reuben Verrill, 76, of Auburn died at Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston where he had been treated for a head injury suffered in the Feb. 23 crash.

Police said Verrill was headed north on Broad Street when he had difficulty negotiating a curve and was thrown from his Yamaha.

He was not wearing a helmet at the time, police said.

Early reports listed Verrill as 65 years old. A family member on Wednesday said he was 76.

Linda Verrill, Reuben's niece, said he was likely going to visit his daughter in a home on Broad Street when he crashed.

"The one consolation is that he died doing what he loved," Linda said. "He'd been riding all his life."

At the same time, she viewed the crash as particularly tragic because it could have been avoided.

"It's a sad, needless death," Linda said. "At 76, he should have known better than to be out on his motorcycle in winter. Had he been wearing  a helmet, he might be alive today."

She said Reuben Verrill, whose wife passed away in 2009, had a living will stating he did not want to be kept on life support in the event of a life-threatening injury. His physicians removed him from life-sustaining machinery Tuesday.