I'm Happy to Report...
 

... that I'm still able to report.

Took the old 900 SS out for a blast on some of my favorite back roads this morning. I wound up splitting - like riding right between - two deer crossing the road. I swear I might have brushed one. Good thing I was only doing about 85 or so... Happened so fast there was literally nothing to do about it. No trees or real cover to hide them, they must have come up out of the tall grass in the ditch. Long past when they are usually active...

You just never know. It could have been a bad deal in your 911 as well, so if it happens it happens. Glad you are home safe and sound.

Something like that happened to me going about 80 late at night on I-75 in a pickup with two kids strapped in. The tail lights of the car ahead blinked weirdly on and off real quick then about 3 seconds later I picked an open spot I could squeeze through in the middle of a herd of the abominations of nature.

A little jerk to the right followed by a bigger jerk to the left got us through it unscathed on two wheels. During the 3.4 millisecond ordeal one of those spawns of the devil leaped right over us.

I pulled off the freeway and started crying. The babies never even stirred.

I'm glad you're OK... Back in the 80s I hit a Kangaroo on my Suzuki Katana (great bike in its day).
I was doing about 40 km when I hit it. Smashed up the bike and my right shoulder.

I was 21 so I healed quickly but the bike was a write off.

Big rats with antlers....

Glad you're OK.

Whew! There is no time that deer aren't active here these days...more than most folks realize.

On the plus side, you were outdoors having fun instead of sitting on the couch....and we're all glad that you're still rubber side down!

Glad you made it! Three years ago a deer ran across the road in front of me while I was riding my ‘75 GT380, and I only had time to swerve. I nicked one of his hind legs on my front fender. The deer skidded sideways a little and was over the road and into the bush so fast it was remarkable.

had a friend hit a deer on his scooter. he was wearing shorts and a t shirt. Got torn up pretty badly . Glad you are alright.
I remember almost tagging one on a dirty bike. It gets your attention real quick

The best type of report...

Glad you are OK.

Yeah, but they are yummy rats with a fair amount of meat...

Yikes. Glad you missed it, Jeff. You keep spending your nine lives . . .

Better eating than normal size rats though

Hit a deer at 85 mph on a scoot and you might be all done. Glad to hear you are not dead Mr Higgins.

You know, if you just had a set of casters that would let you lay the bike down without damage...

Lucky you.

All my years of riding I never even saw a deer , I consider myself lucky . Where we live now in the GA. mountains they are everywhere and at any time. Glad you and the Duc came out ok .

A coyote ran out in front of me on my dirt bike on my first ride after breaking a vertebra on that same bike. I decided it was him or me so I pulled up the front wheel and broke his back. Saved me a bullet...

When I was in Sweden you had to stop and call the police if you hit a deer .


If you did this they paid for the damage to your vehicle!!!

Funny - I narrowly missed two deer on my way to work this morning. I was driving my truck; that would not have worked out for the deer.

Code BROWN

why Do pickup trucks have bullbars on the front if you’re more likely to hit a deer ?
Surely you’re better off with deer-bars installed?

Phew, a bit too close.

Glad you made it through Jeff. There are easier ways to stock the freezer.

I'm on the lookout for a '96 softail front fender after my Father in laws little run in. Luckly he was only going @35.

Very glad your ok Jeff. Ive had a couple close calls myself and rendered first aid to another rider we came across who wasn't so lucky. I am not a deer fan.

Good to hear you are ok. Friend of mine totalled his older Nissan Frontier on the Palouse highway a couple of years ago. A week later in a truck he borrowed from a friend, hit another one. Sometimes things go your way, sometimes not so much....

Where were these back roads you speak of? :D

+ whatever the number is.

Also why I stopped scooter-cruz'n. I'm lucky to have survived the many hazards of 2-wheeled speed. -- So many ways to splat.

On our way to Winthrop yesterday, just past Washington Pass on Hwy 20, came upon a motorcycle crash. Stopped to help, but there was nothing to be done. Help was already on the way, according to a guy who had already stopped, which was good, because I had no cell service. Two fatalities, both covered up. On our way down into town, it seemed like every emergency unit in the Methow Valley passed us.

According to our barrista this morning, two bikers just simply lost it coming off the mountain. Two more crosses by Highway 20 next year.

My son called me from Pennsylvania the other day. He is doing a Vetrinary internship. Coming back from the clinic at 2am he hit a porcupine. Creased his radiator and left maybe 20 quills in his bumper. He is leaving them there as a conversation piece.

Was he able to fix the porcupine?

Good to hear you missed them and lived to tell about it. I hope you scared them enough to give them both heart attacks.
Deer and cows in the road were primary reasons I sold my BMWs. Riding was just not that much find.

Washington State is not exactly known for its deer population. Even Lewis and Clarke commented on the lack of game once they crossed the Snake River on their journey west. We have nowhere near the "infestation" seen in the Midwest and down South. As an avid hunter, I can tell you just how difficult it is to fill our one tag every year. As a matter of fact, I rarely hunt my own state anymore. Seasons are simply too short, too scattered, and any decent hunting is on the other side of our Cascade range anyway, in what we call "Eastern Washington".

As a result, collisions with deer on our West side are virtually unheard of. It's pretty easy to ride or drive even during the morning and evening "witching hours" in which they are most active. We really don't even have to consider them.

One of the exceptions, however, is a well known migration route that crosses our North Cascades Highway (Hwy 20), where Terry went through on his way to Winthrop. They actually have a big yellow billboard with the year's tally of deer collisions. Our Mule Deer herds actually migrate, unlike the Whitetails indigenous to the South and Midwest, who often live out their entire lives in just a few square miles. When the migration is on, there are thousands of them concentrated in a very small area. That's when it really gets bad.

And geez Terry, sorry to hear about your encounter. That's one of our favorite drives, of course, in a P-car or on a bike. There are some real "gotcha" corners on it, though, and I know it claims a few riders or drivers every year. Such a shame. Coupla buds out for a good time... then some poor guy has to call their wives...

Happy to hear you threaded that needle Jeff!, one second either way would have been very very bad!

I've had a couple close calls with deer locally and had to lock my brakes to avoid a bear over on Vancouver Island.
I was in a truck or car though, it would have been messy but not like it could be on 2 wheels.

Somebody is watching out for you, safe travels!!

I like your reporting, and I’m glad you can continue to submit them!
There are close calls on motorcycles for sure: it happens. I once hit a raccoon at night at highway speeds… by the time the headlights painted him I was center-punching him. Actually caused very little drama except for the heavy breathing that ensued afterwards and fogged up my visor. Another time I had a young lady suddenly try to execute a u-turn from the shoulder across both lanes and immediately in front of me; the bike drilled her rear quarter while I went up and over her hatchback, tumbling to a rest without any body-to-auto impact. (That one doesn’t count as a near miss, actually.) But the closest I ever came to dying on a motorcycle was many years ago on the Henry Hudson Parkway north of the GWB. It was well past midnight and I was flying north on my way home when I thought I maybe saw something in the center lane just at the far edge of my headlights. On instinct I decided to flick over to the left lane, and a mere second or two later I flew by a dark Chevy van STOPPED in the center lane, with both of his rear doors open, which of course hid the rear reflectors/taillights. I would have flown through the cabin of that thing and out the windshield at probably 90MPH, and the course of history from my perspective would be very different. That was another fog the visor moment that I can still get a rise from. All three stories are 30 years old now- I’m happy to report that I don’t outride my headlights anymore, I don’t stay out that late anymore, and that they have lit up the HH Parkway like a landing strip since then.

^^^
That was funny!

Don't seem to be one of the brighter animals regarding vehicles. I have tagged 2 in northern WI, one did bumper and grill damage to an Explorer and the other just left a few hairs on the Forester headlight trim. Just missed one locally riding some backroads on my Z1 and the event was part of my consideration when I sold it and gave up scooters a couple years ago.
WI has about 40K deer/vehicle "events" per year. Lots of wasted tenderloins and backstrip unless you stop in a local bar to report it and the place empties like a LeMans start.
Glad you dodged the bullet and are here to report it.

Jeff, you need to put up a marker.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1564260074.jpg

:cool:

I would soon run out. While I'm sure that was a memorable, significant event in poor Amy's life, that's day to day stuff for me.