Topic: Deer accident tonight

[seaweb11]

I live on a small Island on the West Coast of Canada. I have lived here for a few years and heard a great many stories about bikes and cars getting involved with the deer on Island.
I have had a few close calls with the truck and a couple with the bike, but tonight was not my NIGHT!

It had just rained, (Very Slippery) but I had just re-jetted my carbs and really wanted to check them out. Came over a hill and saw a deer up ahead on the left.......pulled the throttle off and braked a smidge  (Very Slippery)  and watched to see what he wanted to do...he headed towards the road so I went left hoping to get around behind him...he then stopped in the left lane. At that exact moment I had only one option, I went FULL throttle in 3rd and head to the right and hope that I get in front of him now. I know this sounds like the last thing you might do, but with a wet road at 50mph it seemed the best idea.

I remembered something I heard during  a Nascar Race that it was better to go full at the problem than brake into it.

This #$%* happened about 2 hours ago and I am still shaking. I have no idea how I came through the other end, but the deer died. I sat with it for 10 mins as it passed away.
I hit him full side.

A guy came down to the road from his house and couldn’t believe I was still standing! Bike on the kick stand.  It was then I realized that the bike gods had been with me. The guy then walks back down the road 200 +  ft and says this is where you hit.  I couldn’t believe I went through the “slow motion” milisecond that seems like 10 seconds and still not ended up on my ass looking at my shoes in a  tree and my underwear up around my head.

There are obviously a few of lessons here.
#1 Slow down a bit at dusk when the deer are out.
#2 If in doubt, Full on throttle works better than sliding down the road sideways into the same deer and then god knows what.
#3 Hang on and Never give up control!

I feel very lucky to be typing tonight, it could easily have been and emergency boat evacuation to the mainland hospital.

If I can say one last thing
Keep yours eyes open,  and most important......your options open.

[Harry]

Wow, run on out and buy a lottery ticket! Its your lucky day!

[Terry in Australia]

Gee that's no good Derek, I've plowed a few Kangaroos (Aussie "Jumping-Deers") in my little Toyota work truck, but it's fitted with a purpose-built "Bull Bar" which is designed to push the offending animal (or pedestrian) down and under your vehicle, mashing the interloper for it's sins of transgression without as much as a scratch on your paintwork.

Sadly there's no such device available for Motorcycles, so all I can do when I see the dopey grey buggers moving at right angles is slow right down and hope they all get across the road before I catch up with them. I remember hitting a freshly killed "Roo at around 100 Mph in the dark one night and becoming air-borne for quite a distance, but not seeing what was happening, and being generally slow-witted anyway, I didn't attempt any "emergency avoidance" techniques, so just like you Derek, I survived. Worst part was washing all the dead 'Roo's internals off my bike after it had baked on with the hot engine and all. 

Anyway, I'm glad to see that you survived mate, shame about the Deer though, do you own a large freezer? ha ha, Cheers, Terry.

[78 k550]

Glad your still with us. Hopefully that is your last accident like this.

[carpy]

Man Oh Man, you were lucky.
We had deer in England but luckel;y the queen eats them.
I now live in the good old USA, I dont see too many deer in the road, but, plenty of Mexicans.
You have to go full throttle, else they will jump on the back of your bike to get deeper into this country.

The only thing I want to hit on my CB750 is paydirt.
Great story and hope that's the last you have to deal with it.
but here's a trick that will work.

Next time you take that route, attach a hungry black Grizzly bear to your handle bars, not only will it prove to be a superb wind deflector, it will scare the crap out of any potential deer that dares to venture beyond the bounds of the greenary.

Peace and Grease

CARPY www.cb750cafe.com

[Uncle Ernie]

Braking is normally OK when it's wet out- the rain cleans surfaces after about 1/2 hour. In your case it's the wet leaves and left-over winter sand in the curves.   Slowing down when it's dark is a very good idea.

[Japbikemike]

Be glad it was "just" a deer.  We have alot of elk in the Cascade & Coastal mtn.'s of Oregon.  I hit an elk with a pickup once and totaled it (the pickup).  I've heard many stories of deer ending up in the passenger compartment via the windshield (windscreen).  Any bike accident with a deer here has ended poorly for the rider.

[smithrelo]

Whoa!!! You are one lucky person!

Dear Hubby hit a small deer about 10 years ago in a car -it hit grill, windshield and roof of very large Monte Carlo Chevy - repair was almost 2/3's of the value of the car NEW!!!  And somehow the deer walked away!!!

And if I had been in passengers seat...well, I don't even want to think about it!

So very glad you're OK and I think it was truly a miracle...as those deers are real solid!

Linda

[MRieck]

You're a lucky man. I saw a gut wobble into Pocono Raceway after hitting a deer about 500Ft from the track entrance (his ultimate destination). Bike was very screwed up and he was bleeding and shook up. He had hit a small buck and killed it. My friends and I rode up the road to check out the deer and were just in time to see a toothless local throw the carcass in the back of his junk pick up. Guess what was on the menu that night.

[seaweb11]

I left out one point of this ride last night because I thought no one would belive me, but I swear ithis is  true.

As I came back along the same bit of road later, I was obviousley looking for the carcas as I was going to drive by.
What I did not expect comming around the corner was an EAGLE on my left which had been eating the deer and was now in the mdst of taking OFF! These things have a 6 1/2 ft plus wing
spans and here he is swooping along into my lane at 1 ft, 2ft, elevation. GOOD CHRIST....now I'm going to plow into a protected bird of prey. The thing managed to get above my head as I was ducking, craping my pants and slowing down.

Didn't ride today

[Bob Wessner]

We vacation every year in the extreme western UP of Michigan and eagles have made a real comeback. There are several nesting pairs around the lake now, very impressive birds to say the least. I never experienced one that close and hope I never do.

[DRam]

Are congratulations in order?  Probably.  There aren't many who nail a deer with their bike and walk away unscathed.  My son's friend did on his Yamaha sport bike.   He was bruised, the bike was totaled, the deer was dead.  I've had some close calls but haven't hit one yet.  Eagles?  Some years back I rode under one what was hovering in the wind about six feet off the pavement.  My sakes, but they're big!  Could have reached up and grabbed its feet, but I like my hands where they are, and besides eagles are a protected species. 

Glad you're okay and I hope the bike isn't too badly pranged.

[Terry in Australia]

Here in Oz we don't see that many Eagles in the Eastern states, but there are heaps of Eagles up in the Northern Territory that live around the Stuart Highway. This road has no speed limit, so all the locals drive big V8 cars and turbo sportscars and big bikes, as they should.

Anyway, there are also many trucks, "Road Trains" pulling 3 or more trailers, and the "tractors" are enormous Macks, or White's or Western Stars etc, so the local fauna, when it ventures out, doesn't stand much of a chance, thus providing free food for the Eagles. Because they're so well fed, it's nothing for some of these bad boys to have wingspans of 6 or 8 feet.

I often marvelled at them swooping in and picking up a whole Wallaby or a Roo and just flying away with it, but in 1995 I was in the army on joint exercise  with the US Marines, and one truck being driven by a couple of unfortunate marines had an Eagle go through the windshield and, apparently unharmed, begin to express it's displeasure at the driver and passenger of the truck as they tried to slow from 60 Mph so they could safely get the f*ck outta that truck! The boys got a bit scraped up in the process but everyone (including the eagle) survived the ordeal, and there would have been some stories told when those boys got back home, ha ha! Cheers, Terry.

[MRieck]

Eagles are making a BIG comeback in the Northeast too(USA). I worry about my dogs....especially the deaf, half blind 15 year old one. A crow could kill him .

[kghost]

Make, Model on the Dog? Helps with the troubleshooting. 

[74cb750]

Glad you made it ok. Deer can present real problems everywhere. Especially to City folk whom occansionally drive in the country. Saw a Boston gentleman on a new BMW K1200RS? on the Kangamagos Highway (tourist area of NH) hit a deer at 60mph. He sliced the deer in half and broke themajority of his ribs, but survived. The BMW was totalled I believe.

[Raul CB750K1]

I've mentioned before my trip from Nashville to Tupelo along the Natchez Trace Scenic drive in a rented V-Rod. I saw a killed deer in the roadside on the way up but saw no other one. In the trip back I saw many, and it was nightime. Fortunately their eyes reflect the headlight's light so they were easy to spot, and everytime I saw one I simply easy on the throttle. The only animal I was about to ride over was a raccoon, and even when it seems trivial it can make you fall of the bike.

In Spain I was about to crash against a wild hog like this

(in spanish it's called "jabali", and it is the animal below. For those of you who wonder, I'm not the animal above...)

I simply didn't have the time to react. When I spotted him it was about to cross running the road in front of me, but in the very last moment it turned back. My wife complained because I had braked too hard and she got scared of that hard braking...

[DRam]

I'd much rather hit a deer than that wild hog.  That thing looks like it could stop a tractor-trailer rig.

[Terry in Australia]

Well when I used to drink (a lot) I woke up next to a couple of them "Jabali", could never work out where those beautiful maidens that I'd picked up in those bars the previous evening had disappeared to? Hmmnnnn, the mysteries of hard liquor. Cheers, Terry.

[Raul CB750K1]

There is no such thing as an ugly lady, but not enough booze...   

Sheep, wild hogs, Terry, it seems that you like it hairy.... HAHAHAHAHAHA


Raul