Give big space to festive deer

[Deer Slayer]

Give big space to festive deer that makes sport in roadway.

I hit a deer coming home from work last Monday night on my 72' CB750K. Only real damage was a broken headlight bucket, broken filament in rear left turn signal, and a sore left leg. I managed to keep the bike up and on track. This happened around 1:00am on I64. When I realized I wouldn't be able to miss it, I poured on the coal hoping the extra momentum would carry me through. I was very lucky, the deer wasn't. Would like to hear any similar stories about critter encounters.

[sgtslag]

No personal experience, but have heard stories of cyclists being killed from the impact -- some with the deer, others with the pavement, because of the deer.  You are very fortunate...    Cheers!

[free2ride]

wow!

not much more that I can say.

but . . . WOW!

[seestheday]

ugh, damn you're a lucky man.

[Butcherblock]

Glad you came out ok man. This is a definite concern where I live. Been lucky so far...

[TOOLS1]

Shiny seems to have an unusually high encounter rate with squirrels.
Damn those deer are tough. Your lucky.
TOOLS

[shinyribs]

Wow! Don,glad to hear you're OK. That could have been really nasty. Or worse. Good job of keeping your wits about you and thinking through the situation.

I recently plowed a ground hog (not a squirrel!) at a pretty high rate of speed. In the mountains running about 50-ish mph and had a good lean going on. Right side peg was dragging. Grass was only about 8-10 inches tall so I knew the deer couldn't hide in it at that short height. I saw a little clump of grass moving about 100 feet in front of me on my side of the road. I was really hoping for something small,instead I got about a 15 pounder. He shot out,got spooked and doubled back in front of me. Like you,I was counting on momentum working for me. I clenched my knees to the tank as tight as I could and braced the bars as tight as possible. Both tires hit the poor little guy and I was still in the same hard lean.I stayed firmly planted in the saddle and the bars just barely wiggled. I knew if I jumped on the brakes it would've uprighted the bike and sent me... who knows where. When the bike skipped across the ground hog it lifted each tire off the ground as they hit him and shifted the bike about (I think) a foot over ,setting my back down on the freshly painted center line. Not good! That paint is slippery when it gets hot! The back end drifted over the painted line and caught traction. By now I was far enough through the curve,and had lost enough speed,that I pulled the bike upright,got on the brakes and hauled it fully back into my lane. I learned alot during that situation. My buddies keep preaching to me about ''target fixation'' and to remain aware when you get caught in a tough situation. When I saw that clump of grass moving all of their preaching came instantly to the front of my mind and I started working out my options at that point. All that preaching paid off! And I'm grateful for it!

[Beekeeper]

A deer knocked a guy off his bike here last week.  Deer jumped over the K-Bars on the highway and landed right on him.  He was wearing protective gear and had only minor injuries.  The doe was disembowled, and his bike continued on for over 100 yards before smacking a snow fence.

[free2ride]

and other assorted wild life

BANFF, Alta. — A Banff man took the phrase “pics or it didn’t happen” to another level over the weekend when he managed to snap photos of a wolf chasing him down the highway while riding his motorcycle.

Tim Bartlett was travelling north on Hwy. 93 South in Kootenay National Park on Saturday afternoon when a wolf crossed a lane of traffic to try to intercept his motorcycle. Bartlett rode for another 100 metres up the highway before looking back to watch the wolf, which had stopped in the middle of the road before making its way back into the trees.

Bartlett decided to turn around to try to get a photo of the wolf, but as he was riding in the southbound lane back toward where the animal went into the trees, it came out of the forest. The wolf crossed the road again and proceeded to run after Bartlett in the shoulder lane, then eventually ran on the highway.

[Deer Slayer]

I was impressed how well the bike stayed intact, Honda sure built em tough back then. Another guy I know hit a deer last fall on his Gixer, He came through okay too fortunately. His bike paid a heavy toll in shattered plastics. I was at a mutual friends house that night when he came by right after the accident. One of the fairing brackets was pushed up and back towards his brake lever. He stopped by to borrow some tools to bend the bracket out of the way. He couldn't turn too far left without it putting the front brake on for him. He had just had the bike repainted the week before, I really felt bad for him.