Close calls with Deer

[barney fife]

Anyone else having many close calls with deer. Here is my recent history:

In 15 I sideswiped a deer in Eastern Washington doing about 55; saved it by going into ditch and almost got the bike stopped before I fell over. In 16 I just missed one near Durango Colorado again at a slow speed. Earlier this year near Abilene, Texas I missed hitting numerous deer when 6 of them that I just saw out of the corner of my eye came running across the road in front of my buddy and I. We were going 75 in a posted 75, all I had time to do was back out of the throttle and get back on it when I saw a gap between deer 2 and 3. I was able to hit that gap thanks to the torque of my 2014 Valkyrie. I immediately looked in my rear view and was amazed that Larry missed them too. Then a couple of weeks ago in Arkansas, again doing about 55, I saw one coming from left at the last second. She actually ran into the side of the Valk, making a small crack in the radiator cowling. All of these occurred in the middle of the day and in only the first instance was I looking away from the road. I asked my buds if they wanted to lead for awhile after this happened. Their response was along the lines of thats ok. I know I am lucky to be here.

 

[ucwinters]

Happens all the time here in the Texas hill country. In 2014 I'd bought a new FJR and was out doing a 30 mile loop and had my closest ever encounter w/ a deer - seriously considered giving up riding m/c's after getting home safely that afternoon.
I try to never ride at night because of all the deer here in the hill country that tend to gather at the edge of the road to feed on the grass. Every time that we drive into town, see at least one or more dead deer that is been killed from a vehicle strike. Think that I am more concerned about hitting a deer than having someone in an incoming car turning left in front of me.
Does anyone remember this story? He shouldn't have been riding at night (if I recall correctly, he'd stopped in Marathon but no lodging was available and made the mistake of trying to ride to Ft. Stockton TX in the dark to look for a room).
http://www.post-gazette.com/news/obituaries/2006/04/11/Obituary-Lawrence-Grodsky-Top-American-expert-on-motorcycle-safety/stories/200604110210

 

[Madhatter]

grodskys death at the hand of deer ( so to speak ) was very sad. that he figured that a deer would be the cause of his demise ,present. that he recognized though people can be ignorant ,their actions can be predicted somewhat and when possible self correcting. that if he could talk to us now he would say that he violated his own rules , should have stopped sooner before dark.

 

[Madhatter]

I posted my reply accidently before I finished writing , what has been posted is not finished . it sounds harsh , I will finish my post tonight.

 

[Checkswrecks]

For a while we had 5 vehicles in the family, all of which had deer strikes, some more than once. That includes my Ducati ST2.


In prevention, when alone I run the high beam as much as possible because the Rigid lightbar gets their eyes glowing. If I'm not off alone, I try to put another vehicle in front of me, especially once it turns dusk. I was following a pickup on the highway a year or two ago and a deer ran in front of him which we were coming to a light. With the light backlighting the hit and the speed we were at, the spray of red was amazing.


A number of us here have stories of hitting deer and staying up. Brace, get off the brakes at the last instant, and ride through the hit. You have a 855 lb vehicle (you and bike) of inertia with two big gyro stabilizers on your side.

 

[Dirt_Dad]

In 2015 I was doing about 75 mph when I hit one. I was fortunate not to go down, but the insurance company did total the 1st gen Tenere I was riding. Deer are the number one danger out there as far as I'm concerned.

 

[barney fife]

Thanks for the replies.

Deer are the number one danger out there as far as I'm concerned. I think you hit the nail on the head. ::026::

 

[Madhatter]

its stupid time for deer , mating season, or the rut . they are twice as dumb right now.

 

[Madhatter]

ok, lets see if I can finish my train of thought....... Mr Grodsky the ultimate safety professional in my mind , if it can happen to him what chance do we have.... I personally like riding at night especially during summer months , but at night you get all the bugs all the critters all the happy hour crazies as they head were ever . so not the best time to ride, so I ride slower and in areas not so rural.... but with all the green belts in town ive seen dead deer in and near downtown Austin .... no place is completely free of the chance you might hit one.... so you have to have a strategy , I ride slower with all the lights I can legally have own ..... still not a guarantee , so during deer season I ride less , especially morning and evening. still there is that chance that ..... Grodsky if I remember correctly violated some of his rules, heck he is only human.... last February I had a weekday off and was very late getting to the house. about 9pm , I'm tired I'm in a hurry to get to house ( I was going to take wife out for a treat , she likes sonic.) and the two lane I'm on goes to four. I'm following a car , he takes the inside lane I stay on the outside lane trailing him about 30ft. so as we clear the intersection I'm thinking my lane is clear ill just blast past this dude.... but a little voice kept saying don't do it. just past the intersection is a convenience store on the right , he is maintaining a slow speed , the voice said don't do it.... he turned hard right across my bow ( abs all the way ) missed him by a couple of feet ..... I bet grodsky was having the same conversation with himself..... whats the answer , for me its more deer hunters. no one was there and no one knows what grodsky was thinking, it was a sad thing to die by deer. I have not hit one myself , I have missed a few but were not really that close, they seem to just appear in front of you at times. heck a car hit a horse in front of my mothers 3 days ago , some injuries to the driver. horse didn't make it. its a dangerous world out there... I chewed the two teenage boys out pretty good for trying to kill me , said they didn't see me , when it was over they stutterd thanks mister for being so nice...... arrrrgh.

 

[terrysig]

3 deer hits in 4 yrs. Stayed up on two of them. Well last was a low speed drop when coming to a stop in the median when i hit a rut in soft dirt.

All three totaled the bikes. One FJR and two Teneres. Inthe previous 45 years of riding mno close calls. Now i seem to have them every day. Although i you ride everyday you are bound to see more deer.

I hate to think it could be me aging and not perceiving and reacting as i once did but that could be part of it.

 

[Madhatter]

wow

 

[barney fife]

Terrysig, glad you are still kicking. ::008::

 

[Cycledude]

I’ve had very very many close calls with deer while riding motorcycles, have actually killed 5 deer with Honda GL1800 Goldwings, never went down until the last one about 3 years ago, 70 mph at night on the freeway, the deer sort of exploded on impact, the wing was a total wreck, bike and deer wound up coming to a stop on the shoulder of the road, i made it about 300 feet further and came to a stop on the centerline and most likely would have got run over by traffic but there was a car right behind me when it happened and thankfully the nice couple driving stopped to block traffic, spent two days in hospital and couldn’t ride again for about two months , my left hand works again but it’s seriously damaged and will never be the same again, the impact caused my thumb joint to come apart, thankfully they were able to put it back together but it will never be the same.

 

[jmz]

Speaking of deer , my wife wants me to put a deer whistle on my bike . She has been working Germania insurance for a good while and before that ,State farm. She swears they work but I really don't believe it. But now it's like if I don't put one on and I hit a deer it will be like I told you so. I had my closest call on my XR650R on a gravel road running about 70mph . Scared the you know what out of me

Signatures ??? we don't need no stinking signatures !!!

 

[Madhatter]

when I whistle the dogs come a running , wonder if you trade one evil for another....... deer whistle don't cost much probably don't work , keep wife off ones back , priceless.....

 

[RonH]

I've been lucky over the years it appears. In 500,000 miles through all the lower 48 and Canada, many in pitch black at night, to this time I have had zero close calls with a deer.I've seen them off the side of the road, had some run out 100yd ahead, but not even close to hitting one. Like the Johnny Cash song, I've been everywhere. Can't explain, but not complaining.

 

[jmz]

Yeah madhatter I hear you ,I'm just looking for a place to mount one now.

Signatures ??? we don't need no stinking signatures !!!

 

[Madhatter]

front fender ,it will catch most air there, if they come in a package of two, maybe inverted at the front of the winglets , hanging upside down out of view . top of helmet like a gopro... on crash bars , that's probably a good spot. I'm rambling.....

 

[Dirt_Dad]

3 deer hits in 4 yrs. Stayed up on two of them.

After a deer totaled my Tenere I paid attention to people who have hit larger animals on Teneres. Mainly kangaroos and deer...apparently roos are just as stupid as deer. The overwhelming majority of people stayed up when hitting a deer at speed. In fact the only person I spoke with that did go down on a Tenere had the deer's leg get into the front spokes causing a very bad situation.

From a physics standpoint it makes sense. I was on a trip, so bike, plus farkles, plus loaded luggage, plus rider with gear put me over 900lbs moving at 75mph. The odds are in your favor when hitting a deer weighing less than 200lbs.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying don't worry about a deer (or roo) hit. They go very badly for many people every year. But a deer hit is not an automatic crash. Most stay up.

I'll admit, the obvious flaw in my informal survey is I couldn't talk to the people who had the ultimate bad outcome. So clearly my findings cannot be considered conclusive. Let's be careful out there.

 

[Madhatter]

the tenere that we love so much has a very big advantage over most makes ( ie: bmw etc. ) in that the bike is extremely stable... saw my buddy plow through a pot hole the oil field trucks have excavated in the highway at 70 mph plus , the bike hardly wiggled . now he didn't notice the giant hole till he was going through it( seems he was checking out the scenery ) and he was compressed on the seat kind of hurting his chest. other wise no issues with the bike ( had he gotten his butt off the seat , not even that I think ) . hitting the bike is probably not the worst thing , if the deer (or 'roo ) jump and hit you directly then you not bike absorb the hit . thinking that's not good for ones health. and then if you fall , and what eventually stops your forward progress is probably the worst by far .... stability is a very good thing...