The Deer Splitter

[jrd]

Just Read this month's CW.

There are 6 letters describing acutal, real deer-splitting!!

This has got to be the stupidest thing I've ever heard of. You can't split a deer with a motorcycle. These people have to be joking!!

Someone give me an answer to this one...

[Raven]

It is a myth spread around by car drivers in an attempt to get M/C riders to wipe them selves out so that they have something to rubber neck while driving along at 5 MPH on back roads complaining about how stupid we are for driving so fast.

Sorry, had some stupid twerp driving a truck tell me how he was run off the road by a couple of M/C.

My response?

GET OUT OF THE WAY STUPID!!!

[Derry Walsh]

Ladies and Gentlemen,
Gather round-
Here is a tale that is both tall and true!
While the term "deer splitting" might connotation some sort of "fur covered mammal dodging game" to some of our brethren "cage" drivers, motorcyclists know that this is one of the worst fears of the two wheeled traveler.
Some years ago, one of our own, Dr. Curve (A.K.A. Jim Roche), was out for a ride at in the North Florida / South Georgia countryside on his new red R1100RSL (one of the first if not the first in Florida at the time). Dr. Curve was riding at a pace that was making his companion aboard a ZX9R work hard to stay within sight of him. As they made their re-entry into Florida from Georgia on S.R. 155, they rounded a sweeping corner at a speed well into three digits. In retrospect (and Dr. Curve will be the first to admit) the entrance to this corner is usually the shut off point to a ride as the road narrows and the previously wide open view well off to each side becomes obscured by trees and brush close to the edge of the road side.
On this day however, the ride was extra spirited and this "shut off" point was being stretched - too far....
As the doctor exited the corner Bambi leapt from the right side of the road. This action set about a series of events that make us all cringe. As the impact was made, Jim did his best to pilot the bike in a straight line despite the fact that Bambi's midriff and hind quarters (now separated from her front half) took Jim's right leg and pushed back and off the motorcycle shattering his femur in the process. Jim aimed the bike towards the most open section of the road side and the R1100RSL began to buck and row and tossed Jim off. The R bike continued and cart wheeled high into the air and over a farmer’s fence. The distance the bike traveled after the impact was incredible!
Luckily the ZX9R rider had a cell phone and Jim received quick medical attention.
What separates this tale from the other CW articles that claim real "deer splits" are these pictures, the first is the R1100RSL after it was hauled back over the fence and trucked home and the second is Bambi's head and fore quarters.
The day of the accident I rode out to see the site myself and saw Bambi's "front half" on the left side of the road and her "rear half on the right side of the road. Truly amazing!
Here are the pictures (pictures are big and slow to load);

http://garnet.acns.fsu.edu/~jroche/259_vaporizer.JPG


http://garnet.acns.fsu.edu/~jroche/bambi.JPG

[jrd]

Derry,
I am posting the pics here, but this can't be real.

Bambi is too big to load on the BBS. See the above link.

I'm still shaking my head at this...

[BMVay]

One more story – Back in April 2000 I had a similar triple digit deer splitting (or deer exploding) experience here in Florida on HY19 just north of US40. I have lived and ridden in Florida for the past ten out of the total thirty-five years of ridding experience so this shouldn’t have come as such a surprise.

While out for a late evening ride with one of my ole sport ridding buddies mounted on my late eccentric 98 hopped up S3 Buell (The only Harley product I’ve owned and the last) on one of the many 200 mile loops well worn over the past ten years. The expected but unexpected happened.

About five miles north of US40 on HY19 heading north into the Ocala National Forest (one of the few moderately challenging fast roads in North Central Fl) I wicked the S3 up and blew by the my buddy’s 916 heading up to a set of fast changing elevation sweepers at 100+ mph. Having ridden these roads for so long you’d have thought I’d have been a little more cautious but I guess after living with all the reflecting eyes grazing alongside the road side for so long I had become a bit complacent.

Anyway. Heading into the third left hand sweeper laid over and modulating the throttle having one h*ll of a good time I hit the first apex of the closing radius turn as the head light rolled to the left there they were! Not just a deer, but many deer, all across the road and less than 50 yards in front of me and closing fast. Closing the throttle or banging the breaks was not an option, so I rolled out of it lightly tail breaking and began to look for run-off (right! Run-off. All I could think of was you IDIOT now what?). At this point the only option I could come up with was the old stock car racer trick, you know, point it into the smoke and hope like h*ll there’s nothing there when you arrive. Deer are known to bolt?

Well it didn’t work. The last thing I remember seeing was gray everywhere and one H*LL of a bang, then the grinding of my helmet on the highway. Having slid for what seemed like forever (about 70 yards the trooper said) we finally came to a stop on the side of the road, broken S3 and body. The first thing I remember was my buddy asking “Are you alive” my reply was a groan and then turn the key off d*mmit. Then I faded out to wake with a EMT cutting off my expensive Vanson leathers (by the way, they really worked) all I could think of was “this is going to be a long night” it was. Later after being yanked, pulled and prodded back together I found I had 18 broken bones, mostly hands, left arm and shoulder and a rib or two then three surgeries and numerous pins to contend with.

All is well though. I replaced the totaled S3 with a 2000 R1100S two weeks later, my third BMW. I think the hardest part of the experience was waiting six weeks to first mount the R11S. I sure this was the only I could have gotten rid of the Buell albeit a hard way.

[jrd]

It good you got out of that in one piece.

But did you cut a deer in half??

[BMVay]

Not in half but numerous parts. Having not seen the results of the impact on the deer myself I can only tell you what the EMT and my buddy said after they tried to bag a bit of the spoils and the debris left hanging off the bike. Not enough to make a venison steak. I buddy was hopping to make his witnessing this fiasco worth it.

[buckeyeRS]

I'm not sure where I saw the "Deer-strike" study, maybe on this forum. I'll try to track it down and post it. Essentially it concluded that most deer strikes occur 1 to 1/2 hour before and after sunrise and sunset. The study included a graph that was pretty compelling. It was clear which times of the day were safe and which were not.
Now with a deer splitter...

[R11S-Dave]

Hi,
We don't have too many Deer in Oz, but we have lots of sheep. Way back in 1983 on the way from Cooma to Adaminaby a mate on a Suzuki GSX-1100 crested a rise at about 140 Kmh and was confronted by 3 sheep. He had no time and nowhere to go.

Thinking that he was going over the front he got light on the pegs and bars and did the stock car thing mentioned before, hoping for a gap. He took out sheep number three and bisected it neatly in two in a explosive cloud of green guts and goo. After a serious bit of bar shaking he lined up the next left and disappeared.

I was 50 metres behind and seeing the survivors running off, the debris cloud, apparently 2 dead sheep and no GSX I thought he was in a ditch. Until moments later he came back trailing a red and green sheep skin off each fork leg.

The smelly green stuff sprayed with force over and into every possible surface, orifice and crevice on the bike and rider's outfit. I'll never forget the look on the bloke at the Adaminaby servo when we asked for a hose to clean him up. "No mate there's a drought and water's short....." Then as the smelly green one approached, "Oh, oh my gawd! here have the blasted hose - keep away!".
Go well,
Dave

Ground zero.


We think it died of Liver failure, That's the red bit down the road.


Go Champ.

[Joe]

10/23/2002
Opie Caylor Hits Deer At Road Atlanta


Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

EMGO USA’s AMA Superstock rider Chris “Opie” Caylor survived a high-speed impact with a deer and resulting crash while instructing in a Kevin Schwantz Suzuki School Tuesday at Road Atlanta.

“I had just passed a student on the outside of turn three, the left-hander, and was going down into turn four, the right-hand turn where Rich Oliver crashed his Superbike a few years back. I was in fourth gear and had just flicked back to the right when I saw a deer’s head pop up. I didn’t know if he was just sitting there or what, but as I came around the bend, he sprinted right into my path,” Caylor told Roadracingworld.com.

“I T-boned it, the deer, cut it in half. The hind quarters were laying on the track, the front half was over in the grass by me. I went into the haybales and the wall on rider’s left covered in blood. I’m okay, but I pretty much destroyed the bike.”

Caylor was riding a Suzuki GSX-R750 belonging to the Kevin Schwantz Suzuki School. Caylor’s bike was equipped with an on-board video camera used to record students riding, and Caylor said the video footage shows the impact clearly.

[dsl]

So much for hoping that tracks would be free from road hazards . #*%&! stupid forest kamikazes... hate 'em .

[whitedog]

The truly scary thing about dusky deer encounters is that they tend to roam about in packs. Just when you see the first one exiting the road, there is inevitably one or two others following the leader. So, beware...

[shoemakj]

No doubt. I was playing around in the West VA twisties a couple of weekends ago when a doe & juvenile cross the road about 100 yards in front of me. I slow down to about 20 mph as I approach and sure enough, here come Juveniles #2 & 3 straggling 5 seconds behind.

--Jim

[Dr. Curve]

You must be running in triple digit to really split the deer in "half" and that is exactly what happened. Please be carefull out there........it can happen to you. Took me months to recover and longer to walk again.

[Guest24]

Jim, your new name is " The Butcher of Tallahassee."

[Dr. Curve]

The point is that a motorcycle CAN split a deer in half..........clean. I had never seen this post till someone sent it to me a few days back.......likely in relation to the "three point" thread our brother pelican has going. I feel lucky to be alive and blessed that I eventually healed. I have never hit anything going that fast before or since and never intend to again. The center part of the deer turned into a pink mist according to the bikes that were following me. I went air born like a "ragdoll" they said before eventually landing some 245 feet down the road and the bike did the same. My friend larry said he looked UP to see me and the bike as we cartwheeled through the air with the bike eventually clearing a 5 foot fence......clean and landing in a small tree. I was all broken up, in intensive care for 12 days or so and months before walking again. Deers can be on you so suddenly........and I never had a chance. Take care out there brothers.

[Guest24]

HID lights allow you to see the deers eyes at a greater distance.

[Guest24]

HID lights allow you to see the deer's eyes at a greater distance.

[bill pierce]

Originally Posted by Dr. Curve

Deers can be on you so suddenly........and I never had a chance. Take care out there brothers.

That's my story too and I'm sticking to it.

[Droptarotter]

Originally Posted by bill pierce

That's my story too and I'm sticking to it.

Me too...............collected my "prize" back in 1975........north rim of Grand Canyon...........sure was glad I had a Vetter fairing on the R75.

Cheers