A motorcyclist who boasted about hating pushbike riders has been sentenced to eight years' jail for the manslaughter of cyclist Steve Jarvie on the Old Pacific Highway north of Sydney four years ago. 

Mr Jarvie, 61, died after coming off his bike near Cowan in 2013 after he was clipped by a motorcycle, driven at high speed by 27-year-old Ben Smith. 

A witness described Smith telling him after the incident that he hit Mr Jarvie and he deserved it. 

Smith had previously written about his dislike of cyclists on social media and had been seen abusing cyclists. 

Ben Smith used social media to vent about cyclists. (  Facebook )

In Penrith Court, Judge Mark Buscombe found Smith had driven with gross negligence. 

Judge Buscombe said Smith had demonstrated a hatred towards cyclists, but said he could not rule that this motivated him to deliberately hit Mr Jarvie. 

"I am not satisfied that his hatred motivated him to hit the cyclist but I believe it motivated his lack of care towards cyclists," he told the court. 

Smith was sentenced to a minimum of five and a half years in jail. 

"This is a tragedy that they [Mr Jarvie's loved ones] will struggle with for the rest of their lives," Judge Buscombe said. 

"It's a tragedy that should never have happened." 

As Smith left court he hugged and kissed his sobbing partner. 

Steve Jarvie died from head injuries after being knocked from his bike. (  Supplied )

Mr Jarvie's partner, Linda Ellis, described the sentence as a great relief. 

"What a great result," she said outside court. 

"I think it sends a really, really good message to all the Ben Smiths out there I guess, that there are consequences for your actions." 

"[The message that] a life is valuable, that they can't just do what they like and leave someone lying on the side of the road like a piece of garbage. 

"The legal system has to show that there are punishments to fit the crime and that they can't get away with it."