Topic: Birds at 65 MPH Suck!

[Steve F]

Out crusin' yesterday afternoon, country road (Illinois rte 47 south of Elburn) and out of no where, just milliseconds away, a bird on the side of the road decided to "go flying".  He took off from the side of the road, and was about 2-1/2 feet in the air and flying to the other side of the road when BAM!  F%&^ing thing nails my right leg just below the knee cap!    Nothing I could do.  I look in the right mirror as I go down the road, and see a blizzard of feathers and the bird tumbling down the road behind me.  I was lucky in that it didn't even leave a mark, and that it didn't fly any higher than that and hit the fuel tank or maybe worse, my neck or the helmet.  I'm thinking about this later that night that I've had June bugs that hurt more than this bird.  Ya know....you never know!

[Mark M]

I had a pigeon hit me in the face at 85mph a few years back, it totaled my helmet, smashed the visor and broke my nose. Fortunatly as I was near an off ramp on the motorway I managed to wobble to a halt and reagain my sences without being flattened by a truck. Now everytime I see a bird (of any size) flying near the road I instinctivly duck down.

[Raul CB750K1]

I read that somebody racing in Phillip Island struck a seagull... who was him?


Raul

[6adan]

I hit one years ago, it hit the crash bar and splattered on my pants leg and tank,there is still a stain on the tank that I have never been able to get off.It was on a back rode with a long straight and you those know what happons under conditions. Dannie

[ElCheapo]

I hit one years ago, it hit the crash bar and splattered on my pants leg and tank,there is still a stain on the tank that I have never been able to get off.It was on a back rode with a long straight and you those know what happons under conditions. Dannie

The blood stain only gives it character 

I had thought on this one but lucky me, I have never hit one.

[ProTeal55]

I hit a squirrel once in my first new car (2006 Trans-Am).
The thing went off the nose of the car, over the top, and actually got stuck in the spoiler 
I ad to pull over and "remove" the carcass from the car. My girlfriend at the time was totally freaked out, it was great...

Another animal vs. vechile encounter was when I was driving my Pro-Street 72 Nova, which happend to be so low that it had about 2'' of ground clearance. I was comming home from a cruise night at about 2am when this raccoon that weighed about 25 lbs. (bigger than my dog) came waddling out into the street. It was either run off the road or try to "clear" him, so I opted for option #2. Well, if you can guess, with him being a fatass , and my car being low, I sort of clearance" him so to speak. Kinda like a dewalt plainer does to a chunk of wood. I pulled over to see what I broke, and found no real damage to the car, except a transmission pan full of blood, skin, and hair. I turned around to see the carcass, and was amazed to see the poor thing limping its way back into the forrest.. Later that night I powerwashed the underneath of the car ,and the it looked as If I had killed a human with the amount of blood running off the car...

True story...

[ProTeal55]

Also saw a NHRA Pro-Stock bike rider take a seagull to the helmet at the top end of the track once a few years back. Broke his shield, and destroyed the bird.

Have that on tape somewhere....

[csendker]

Careful everyone!  My similar "Cigarette butts at 45 MPH suck!" thread damn near incited a riot, and resulted in the first permanent expulsion from the forum!    

Let's not turn this into an animal rights activist melee; keep it clean, keep it simple, keep on subject!  

[upperlake04]

good advice csendker, but I find the dewalt planer image funny      While riding through a dark industrial area on a 750 years ago, a black cat darted out across the street in front of me. Hit it square on at 50KPH with a thump on both tires. I was amazed when I looked back, it jumped up and continued running across the road. True story.  9 lives I guess

[my78k]

Luckily the biggest thing I have hit was a bumble bee in the chest...looked like I had taken a Boomer Wells fast ball to the chest tho...damn thing swelled up so big. Guess that's the problem when you hit the stinging end first...

Dennis

[tsflstb]

Craziest animal encounter I've seen...If you've got time, watch this racing video.  It's 4 minutes long.  At around 2min 30sec...look what's getting run over on the track.  A freakin' cobra...and it looks pissed.

http://media.putfile.com/RisebyBap

[ProTeal55]

Craziest animal encounter I've seen...If you've got time, watch this racing video.  It's 4 minutes long.  At around 2min 30sec...look what's getting run over on the track.  A freakin' cobra...and it looks pissed.

http://media.putfile.com/RisebyBap

Ya, that Cobra didn't look to happy...

[74cb750]

Saw stars, literally after hitting a bird with the faceshield at 70-75mph.
Managed to pull over with the girl on the back saying something....
couldn't hear her for a while.
Split the face shield in half and shook me up some.

[750K4]

No birds yet, but years ago I smacked into a grasshopper (for you Aussies, that's a large insect 3-4 inches long) at about 70 MPH. Right in the forehead. Instantly my eyes were watering and I was looking for the side of the road. Couldn't see a thing. Young and stupid, I wasn't wearing a helmet. I have worn one every ride since - 30+ years ago...

[Chris Schneiter]

In the early '80's I discovered the CB750. My room mate had one, and it's the reason I have one today...alas, he hit a deer @ 2:00 in the morning. He's ok, the deer got his just rewards for wrecking the bike.
At about the same time, I had a Triumph TR7 ("The Wedge" Probably the WORST car Triumph ever made). The shocks in front were too soft, so when you put on the brakes, the front would dip down, and the clearance was low anyway (I later ripped thee entire muffler system off going over railroad tracks)...you can see what's coming...one night, I was coming off an off ramp at about 70, when a stupid possum ran in front of me...I saw him, slammed on the brakes, front end goes down...you can envision it...grease stain on the pavement!

[petercb750]

Many years ago a friend of mine on his 750 hit a kangaroo (large furry animal that hops a lot for those that don't know  whilst doing 100+mph on a country road at night (yeah, ok he had been having a beer or two) - 2 broken arms, 2 broken legs, broken ribs, broken jaw (all of the preceding was to my friend not the roo!), very dead and dismembered roo, very dead and dismembered 750 - they never even found the speedo after they picked up all the bits.
As far as I can remember, that guy never rode again.
My tally in 35 years of bikes - one bird, one dog, couple of snakes, 35million bugs, and most of one swarm of bees. How do bees get the time - at a closing speed of 60mph+, to turn backwards and get stings into gloves and jackets - as they're getting squashed on impact?? When I pulled up I had dozens of stings stuck all over me (luckily not on bare skin) - they must fly with stings at the ready!!
Peter.

[merc2dogs]

The worse hit on a bike for me, out with a girl and taking her home, running a little late so I took a shorter but less traveled road to shave time off the ride, curves, dirt road, and plenty of critters,cruising about 45mph,   came up to an ess, went through the first curve, laid up for the second and saw a dark blob in the road, a second later I saw it was a porcupine, swung over a bit and missed him,  layed back into the curve just in time to hit his partner, flattened the front tire, slammed into my leg and foot, stuck 22 spines through my boot into my foot and 16 into my leg,  had to shove the bike out of the road, and hobble 4 miles to the next house to make a phone call to get her a ride home and someone to run me a tire and rim.
 tire looked like a scrub brush, took two hours to get my boot off and another hour to get the rest of the spines out of my foot and leg, worse part is I don't think the porcupine even noticed. getting my boot off was the most painful bit of self surgery I've ever endured.
 
  another time,  on 101 heading into sf from salinas, went to pass a semi got just in line with the trailer tires and a chunk of rock or concrete as big as my fist got thrown up from between the tires and pegged me right above the left eye, helmet on fortunately, almost knocked me off the bike, only thing that realy kept me on was the sissy-bar, it  took a big ol gouge out of the helmet and my neck was sore for three days.

ken.