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Hit a deer!

sandfire183353

sandfire183353

Guest
Guest
After many years of riding and 100+ thousand miles in the saddle, I had my first incident. Deer ran out in front of me on my ride home and I collided with her backside.

The surprising thing was that fact that the bike barely seemed to care. Other than the thump of the impact, the bike just stayed upright and straight down the road. I've hit speedbumps more violent than that.

Unfortunately it shattered my front fender, headlight and some of the fairing. Was able to ride home without issue but have some repairs to do.

Does anyone know how hard it would be to get parts for it? It's a 2012.
 

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sandfire183353 said:
After many years of riding and 100+ thousand miles in the saddle, I had my first incident. Deer ran out in front of me on my ride home and I collided with her backside.

The surprising thing was that fact that the bike barely seemed to care. Other than the thump of the impact, the bike just stayed upright and straight down the road. I've hit speedbumps more violent than that.

Unfortunately it shattered my front fender, headlight and some of the fairing. Was able to ride home without issue but have some repairs to do.

Does anyone know how hard it would be to get parts for it? It's a 2012.
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That is one of my biggest fears as a Michigan rider. I always get nervous this time of year with the long legged giant land rats moving all over. There are some roads that are littered with carcasses. So glad you are OK and I hope that insurance will pick up the tab on the parts.
 
I would take look at ebay too. You might get lucky and find someone parting your year bike out.
 
rlievenski4555 said:
That is one of my biggest fears as a Michigan rider. I always get nervous this time of year with the long legged giant land rats moving all over. There are some roads that are littered with carcasses. So glad you are OK and I hope that insurance will pick up the tab on the parts.
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Yeah, I'm relatively new out in the NE Pennsylvania area where they are quite plentiful as well, but I have been really good about watching for them. But if they decide to time it right, there just isn't much you can do except hold on.
 
in 40+ years of riding I still haven't figured out how to "watch for Deer". I watch the road, and react to what's on it, and coming towards it....I don't watch the woods as I drive. You are correct, there isn't much you can usually do. They jump out of the brush, and that's when you see them.
 
Glad you are ok! I ride a lot of miles on a bicycle and had three close calls just biking In the last 6 weeks. They come out of the woods in an instant and just leap right across the road. Had one spin out and go down right in front of me. Hitting one at speed on my my motorcycle is always on my mind. C2E8C2D1-B8E1-483E-9D75-7BAAFE4687C1.jpegThis was my backyard last weekend in PA
 
I had a deer hit me on my C10...ran her head between the windscreen and my belly..swung around like a 50s jive dancing move ,threw her off the same side of the road she came from....
 
4bikes said:
Glad you are ok! I ride a lot of miles on a bicycle and had three close calls just biking In the last 6 weeks. They come out of the woods in an instant and just leap right across the road. Had one spin out and go down right in front of me. Hitting one at speed on my my motorcycle is always on my mind. View attachment 34468This was my backyard last weekend in PA
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I had 4 outside my window this morning eating my plants...they are taunting me at this point. Lol
 
Reading my post again, I meant to say that photo was from last month. Most of those leaves are now on the ground. I watched a bunch of deer this morning. The babies lost their spots in a matter of a few weeks and are growing fast.
 
Glad your OK

Between the ruff roads and deer, I quit riding in my late 20's in the Buffalo area

South Florida is good for roads and not many deer so I started riding again

Great to hear a good outcome (y)
 
I started riding in Florida and yes, the roads are very good there. Have to watch out for Sandhill cranes and armadillos though.

I've ridden all over the US, and PA by far has some of the most poorly maintained roads I've been on.
 
Riding in PA has it's challenges. The first ride I ever took with my brother after buying the C-14, a tree limb fell on him and broke the mustache bar off of his Harley. On another ride, the lead rider had a snake dropped onto his windshield by a turkey vulture. This time of year you need to look out for mud clumps and spilled grain as the fields are harvested. Those corn kernels are slippery and will step out your front wheel in a hurry.

As far as other critters go, I took the Stayin' Safe two day on-road motorcycle course. Eric Trow told us that when it comes to animals, if it fits in a skillet, kill it. Meaning don't risk an evasive maneuver.
 
SNIP "far as other critters go, I took the Stayin' Safe two day on-road motorcycle course. Eric Trow told us that when it comes to animals, if it fits in a skillet, kill it. Meaning don't risk an evasive maneuver.

Similar: from an an old IBR rider. "If it's too big to eat in one sitting, you really shouldn't run over it." Served me well for many years.

Larry
 
Happy to hear you are ok. Anywhere in the so called "rust-belt" has terrible roads, I'm in NE OH and no different, some Twp's are really bad, welcome to our nightmare:). I hit one with a car and it obliterated the front end. Everyone I know, my family and all I work with has hit a deer sometime in the past.


I stopped riding after dusk all year round, and pretty much stopped riding altogether after about Sept. 15th or so. There are more deer now than before the white man came. You could shoot 10 a day in my suburban Cleveland city every day of deer season and not make a dent in the population. Our police dept. culls the city herd each year with police SWAT team members using silenced rifles and getting trigger time in the forested sections of town.

As a firefighter, we have first refusal on deer killed by police. So, I am doing my part by eating them but in the long run, they will win as I have not reproduced.
 
cuda said:
Glad your OK

Between the ruff roads and deer, I quit riding in my late 20's in the Buffalo area
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The rough / and at times criminally maintained roads in PA, and within the overall NE corridor, frequently damper (no suspension pun) the joy of riding. 😕

As far as deer - we’ve been fortunate to avoid any collisions, several close calls.

Happy to hear you are safe. Good of you to not have done the, “had to lay her down”….

Wayne, Carol & Blue
 
We have some deer out here in the PacNW and a few years ago I installed a little deer whistle under the right side mirror. I cannot say that it is absolutely foolproof, but I have not hit or had a close call with one although I have seen them on the roadside when their eyes reflect the light.

Anyone have experience with these things? Since we cannot prove a negative i.e.- "I have not hit one so it must work..."

Re the Bald Eagle incident - If you look like food, you will be eaten...Clint Smith

Be safe!

Gilbysan - Aka, Fat Ninja
 
gilbysan said:
We have some deer out here in the PacNW and a few years ago I installed a little deer whistle under the right side mirror. I cannot say that it is absolutely foolproof, but I have not hit or had a close call with one although I have seen them on the roadside when their eyes reflect the light.

Anyone have experience with these things? Since we cannot prove a negative i.e.- "I have not hit one so it must work..."

Re the Bald Eagle incident - If you look like food, you will be eaten...Clint Smith

Be safe!

Gilbysan - Aka, Fat Ninja
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I lived out in Western Washington and had deer out on my commute. They were far less skittish I feel, at least on the island I was on. They still wandered into the road but didn't tend to just leap into them.
 
Glad your OK. Several months ago I hit a deer after more than 100K of miles of riding. It doesn't always turn out that well for other riders.
 
sandfire183353 said:
I started riding in Florida and yes, the roads are very good there. Have to watch out for Sandhill cranes and armadillos though.

I've ridden all over the US, and PA by far has some of the most poorly maintained roads I've been on.
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PA has rough roads, lots of road crown and big 'ol whitetails.

Nice state though.. at least May though October. :)
 
gilbysan said:
We have some deer out here in the PacNW and a few years ago I installed a little deer whistle under the right side mirror. I cannot say that it is absolutely foolproof, but I have not hit or had a close call with one although I have seen them on the roadside when their eyes reflect the light.

Anyone have experience with these things? Since we cannot prove a negative i.e.- "I have not hit one so it must work..."
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I am not sure how you would prove this, and I don't know that they work, but I have ridden over a million miles on motorcycles mostly in "deer country" and install deer whistles on every bike...accept my wife's B-King...and as luck would have it I rode it to work one day and hit a deer on the way home. Killed both halves. This time of year, South Carolina, spent three days in the hospital, unconscious for 5 minutes, 3 broken ribs, punctured lung, lacerated spleen, broken index finger but not a scratch on the outside. ATGATT! I have deer whistles on both our Concours.
 
https://www.deeranddeerhunting.com/...to-avoid-vehicle-collisions#.Y2aKRaaqTJE.link

conclusion:
Given their research experience, the Georgia-based researchers concluded the following: “Considering the challenges of producing sound at appropriate intensities and distances from a moving vehicle, deer hearing capabilities, human safety concerns, and our observed lack of behavioral responses of deer to sound treatments, auditory deterrents do not appear to be appropriate for prevention of deer-vehicle collisions.”
 
Kentucky Farm Bureau gave them away to policy holders a few years , or at least my agent did ( think we may be #1 in deer strikes)...didn't drop the number of claims...
 
fartymarty said:
https://www.deeranddeerhunting.com/...to-avoid-vehicle-collisions#.Y2aKRaaqTJE.link

conclusion:
Given their research experience, the Georgia-based researchers concluded the following: “Considering the challenges of producing sound at appropriate intensities and distances from a moving vehicle, deer hearing capabilities, human safety concerns, and our observed lack of behavioral responses of deer to sound treatments, auditory deterrents do not appear to be appropriate for prevention of deer-vehicle collisions.”
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I bought a 3 pack of deer whistles on amazon for $9.99. Might not work, but for 3 bucks.....I might not hit a buck
 
I have deer whistles on my Dodge Ram and never hit a deer. The truck turns 25 years old next week, so need any more proof than that? (I only have 60,000 miles on it, so maybe I don't drive it enough to hit deer?)
 
(I only have 60,000 miles on it, so maybe I don't drive it enough to hit deer?)
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2,400 miles a year?

petpedia.co

30 Surprising Deer Accidents Statistics (2022 UPDATE)

Deer accidents statistics for 2022 show that there are about 1.5 million deer-related car accidents around the world every year. Learn many more stats & facts!
petpedia.co petpedia.co
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Doesn't mentioned deer whistles...10 years ago I'd say 90% of vehicles around here had them,, don't see them very often any more..

My old CB700 SC had a kerker pipe on it... never saw a deer when I rode it... :unsure:
 
Murph said:
2,400 miles a year?
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Yep, Driven by a large old man, mostly for trips to the lumber yard. Deer free too. Can't say as much for a Dodge car that hit a deer that cost $6500.00 in repairs. You guessed it, no deer whistles. :rolleyes:
 
While on the subject of the dangers of wildlife and road obstacles back in 2007 went to work in South America (Colombia) and traveled via motorcycle from Colombia to Argentina on a Ducati ST4S ABS.

Wild Monkeys are meaner than a junkyard dog and work in gangs to block you and set you up!

Cows, Horses, Goats, and Alpacas have a death wish!

Was on the tail end of a civil war so Human Gorrellias were unpredictable with some being alright and others well let's leave it there.

Best time of my life and do it every few years since then!
 
Nothing like wild monkeys, but I was on a ride Saturday and stopped for a huge groundhog (Whistle Pig) waiting for him to cross the road. The problem was, he was going in circles crossing back and forth. So every time I tried to ride past, he would cross in front of me again. I think he was drunk from eating rotten fermented Apples.
 
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Sorry for hi-jacking the thread since I feel bad for Sandfire tagging the deer and hurting his C-14.
Strawboss, Nice! I picked up a 1993 Mitsubishi 3000GT from a fellow Cogger with 59,000 miles. It’s Like brand new. Are you planning on antiques tags for the truck?
 
4bikes said:
Sorry for hi-jacking the thread since I feel bad for Sandfire tagging the deer and hurting his C-14.
Strawboss, Nice! I picked up a 1993 Mitsubishi 3000GT from a fellow Cogger with 59,000 miles. It’s Like brand new. Are you planning on antiques tags for the truck?
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It's the natural progression of conversation, it's no problem at all.
 
Murph said:
2,400 miles a year?



Doesn't mentioned deer whistles...10 years ago I'd say 90% of vehicles around here had them,, don't see them very often any more..

My old CB700 SC had a kerker pipe on it... never saw a deer when I rode it... :unsure:
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On a small group ride we approached some deer on the shoulder. They started to move away from the road. The Harley guys started rapping their pipes and the deer turned and ran across the road in front of us. No telling what they will do.
 
kzz1king said:
On a small group ride we approached some deer on the shoulder. They started to move away from the road. The Harley guys started rapping their pipes and the deer turned and ran across the road in front of us. No telling what they will do.
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One of the bucks said “these dumb humans paid 50 grand for machines designed in the 1950’s”. The others said, “No!!! I gotta see this!”
 
More like the 1936 Knuckle Head since it’s still using the 45 degree single crank pin V twin.
They really are some Kool Aid drinking dum ass humans, right falling for that antiquated engine and dressing up everyday like a Homo Pirates!

Arrggg 🏴‍☠️
 
4bikes said:
Glad you are ok! I ride a lot of miles on a bicycle and had three close calls just biking In the last 6 weeks. They come out of the woods in an instant and just leap right across the road. Had one spin out and go down right in front of me. Hitting one at speed on my my motorcycle is always on my mind. View attachment 34468This was my backyard last weekend in PA
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This reminded me, of how I went mountain biking with my father. I started riding a bicycle when I was a small child. When I was about 13/14, my father got me into mountain biking properly and later on took me to Coed y Brenin, which changed my entire outlook on life. It was such a life-affirming pleasure to be riding those trails, seeing views that took my breath away and to be sharing those moments with my father. We saw a lot of wide life there. As a little girl, I especially loved rabbits.
 
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Reading this, I instantly thought of Rabbit Valley on the Kokopelli trail. I rode a mountain bike on a six day camping trip from Grand Junction Colorado to Moab Utah.the views of the Colorado River wee spectacular. The Rabbit Valley section of the Kokopelli trail begins in Rabbit Valley where it travels out to the Utah Border and enters the BLM Utah Rims Management Area. I had to look up Coed y Brenin. It’s a big world with lots of places to explore!
 
On a ride today I spotted a large buck in a harvested field running towards the road. I knew based on my speed and his speed we could collide. Since I could clearly see him I played chicken thinking he would would see me and stop. Nope! He never slowed down and if I wouldn’t have braked I would have my own story. I think they are oblivious to traffic on the road. After braking he just kept running into the next field like nothing happened.
 
This time of year they are only thinking and behaving of ONE thing only, everything else takes a back seat to this thinking, and I mean EVERYTHING.
 
The Connie is a battleship ! Glad your ok Sandfire. I have seen many forum posts on striking Deer and the motorcycles fare well. There are also other stories where it does not turn out well. I would take all the mitigation steps I could to protect myself in that neck of the woods. The Deer whistle system seems to work. 1951 seems to have a solid history of Deer whistle use on his motorcycles. The one time he did not install one, crash time. Here in Florida, we get a lot of serious rear end crashes involving motorcycle versus cager. In order to mitigate this, I installed the "back off" brake light system on all my bikes. It works very well during daylight and night riding. I do believe it saved my bacon one night several years ago with a space cadet teenager. Be safe Troops.....
 
Cloakanddaggeragent9 said:
More like the 1936 Knuckle Head since it’s still using the 45 degree single crank pin V twin.
They really are some Kool Aid drinking dum ass humans, right falling for that antiquated engine and dressing up everyday like a Homo Pirates!

Arrggg 🏴‍☠️
Click to expand...
And what of all the other narrow angle, single crankpin engines, many made in Japan? Honda, Kawasaki and Yamaha all built single crankpin engines. Honda and Kawasaki still do. It's not as if an inline DOHC four is a new idea, being more than a century old (1913 I believe).

The amount and type of technology used on a motorcycle is not a valid measure of its quality, nor the intelligence of the owner. The machine and it's features either suits the buyer's intended use or it doesn't.
 
sean97123638 said:
The Connie is a battleship ! Glad your ok Sandfire. I have seen many forum posts on striking Deer and the motorcycles fare well. There are also other stories where it does not turn out well. I would take all the mitigation steps I could to protect myself in that neck of the woods. The Deer whistle system seems to work. 1951 seems to have a solid history of Deer whistle use on his motorcycles. The one time he did not install one, crash time. Here in Florida, we get a lot of serious rear end crashes involving motorcycle versus cager. In order to mitigate this, I installed the "back off" brake light system on all my bikes. It works very well during daylight and night riding. I do believe it saved my bacon one night several years ago with a space cadet teenager. Be safe Troops.....
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I know it's a relatively big bike, but I never expected it to be a tank. I have the parts on order and its only just under $2k. Thankfully insurance is covering with extra estimated. Nothing I can't do myself.
 
Update:

After sending me a payment for estimated repairs, my insurance is now deeming the bike a total loss and voiding the repair payment. I already ordered the parts and the actual cost of repairs is less than half of what they estimated. I'm kind of pissed. Such a waste to trash the whole bike over this.
 
Merle Lowe said:
And what of all the other narrow angle, single crankpin engines, many made in Japan? Honda, Kawasaki and Yamaha all built single crankpin engines. Honda and Kawasaki still do. It's not as if an inline DOHC four is a new idea, being more than a century old (1913 I believe).

The amount and type of technology used on a motorcycle is not a valid measure of its quality, nor the intelligence of the owner. The machine and it's features either suits the buyer's intended use or it doesn't.
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Exactly!
 
I never hit a deer on a bike, but I did with my truck and totaled my Audi TT on one. I often wondered what the best strategy would be on a bike. Over 25-30 mph, I wonder if it would be better to drop off the throttle and brake easy and avoid if you can. If you yank on the brakes and hit the deer, I would think you would load up that front wheel and the lightened rear wheel would swing and you'd definitely be going down. I guess, though, brake hard and avoid if you can is the best. There's really no good solution. You need to be alert and trust your training and reflexes.
 
I'm not sure there is a "strategy". If I see the deer on the side of the road, I can slow down and not spook them into running. But chances are, I won't see the deer till it is right in front of me.

My first encounter with a deer was in the local area. Wooded. I was on a previous bike with no ABS. So I'm going down the road and the GEICO squirrel runs out in front of me. I locked my front brake and slid a few feet. The GEICO squirrel's film crew was laughing their head off. I was berating myself for doing something that dumb. I could've run over the squirrel and not even noticed it...but I could've easily wrecked the bike by locking the brakes and washing out the front tire.

Probably less than 5 minutes later, Bambi's aunt jumps out of the woods. I'm only doing 35-40, but there was no warning. I'm grabbing those brakes again for all I'm worth and Bambi's aunt is running for all she's worth. I got a chance to count all the hairs on her rump before the bike finally slowed down and she gained some separation.

The other situation was just outside a city in a desert scrub brush. Heavily trafficked road. Bambi's cousin jumped out from a ditch right in front of me and made it between me and a truck coming from the other direction. She was going full speed. With the way the road was elevated and the deer was in the lower side of the road, you couldn't see her till she was right there.

I have a "dash cam" on the bike, and I've gone through the "film" on that last encounter trying to see what I missed. I didn't. You just couldn't see that deer till it was right in front of you.

In both cases, I tried to brake as hard as I could to lessen any impact speed and give the venison a chance to get away.

Chris
 
Hey Daboo!

Do you happen to have one of the "deer whistles" on your Beemer?

Cheers!

Gilbysan, aka - Fat Ninja
 
Nope. :D :D :D

Wouldn't have done any good with the second encounter anyway. My guess it had raced across in the past and been lucky not to get hit. So it did it again. Eventually, that strategy won't work for it.

Chris
 
Deer are one of the animals instinctually programmed to cross the paths of possible predators, it’s the damndest thing but a real, true, studied and proven behavior.

Theorized this behavior helps the prey animals determine if the perceived threat is actually a threat and confirms immediately by crossing the traveling path of predator if they’re a target or not thus reducing the need to run from non-hunting predators.

In summary, I’ll run across your path, look back to identify if you’ll chase - if you are chasing then the afterburners go on. If you are not chasing me then immediately relax and save energy. If deer were to full sprint from every threat that was not out to eat them they’d be out of energy when there is a real threat.

Something I caught on a Discovery program years ago and we chatted briefly on one of the MSF’s classes I took.

Wayne, Carol & Blue
 
Thanks for this knowledge, it is helpful to know for sure. Seems like squirrels and other smaller critters do the same thing...

Gilbysan, aka - Fat Ninja
 
sandfire183353 said:
After many years of riding and 100+ thousand miles in the saddle, I had my first incident. Deer ran out in front of me on my ride home and I collided with her backside.

The surprising thing was that fact that the bike barely seemed to care. Other than the thump of the impact, the bike just stayed upright and straight down the road. I've hit speedbumps more violent than that.

Unfortunately it shattered my front fender, headlight and some of the fairing. Was able to ride home without issue but have some repairs to do.

Does anyone know how hard it would be to get parts for it? It's a 2012.
Click to expand...
Glad you are ok,I know a guy that got really messed up from a dear strike.I hit one back in 02 on my new (1500 mi) c10 on a dark road commuting home from Seattle.I saw the 1st dear cross the road and the second dear just appeared as I was distracted by deer 1.I hit him just in front of the hindquarter and he went up as I went down.It caused some obvious cosmetic damage and after complete inspection the impact bent the cage frame that the whole front fairing portion attaches to so when you look at the bike head on while on the centerstand it was slightly cockeyed.I did not get hurt.Rode the bike home.replaced the left mirror and footpeg for couple hundred and the insurance gave me 3700 for the damage.I put another 70k mile on the bike with no riding issues and sold the bike to a guy who was aware of the damage.I wish I had the bike back now.I never had a single problem with that c10 but I sure had fun AND I was introduced to COG! PS. the deer ran off into the woods and the next day I took my kids to the scene after telling them that ther deer was ok.My daughter then pointed out a dead deer in the ditch and said :look dad,this one wasnt so lucky"
 
Looper,

Doooh! I live in SEA area and have had two close calls and mostly was just damn lucky that contact did not occur. When it happens, its one of those pull over and reflect on how prominently luck can figure in our riding success. I know skill and attention and focus are all vital to survival but I also know that there are many better riders than me who have made contact with an animal, mainly deer as they were tooling around. I think maybe passing a law that requires deer to carry orange flags when crossing a roadway like people do around here, or maybe they wear a fluorescent/reflective vest, yeah, that would help. I'm pretty sure that the hunting crowd would support this change. Now, just how to convince the legislature to take this on and get fish and game to corral them and get them trained and suited up...;)

Stay Safe!

Gilbysan, aka -Fat Ninja
 
sandfire183353 said:
After many years of riding and 100+ thousand miles in the saddle, I had my first incident. Deer ran out in front of me on my ride home and I collided with her backside.

The surprising thing was that fact that the bike barely seemed to care. Other than the thump of the impact, the bike just stayed upright and straight down the road. I've hit speedbumps more violent than that.
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Really glad yer okay... had that happen on my Nomad, but the dang thing jumped in my lap... I eventually became okay, but the bike was toast (couple of cartwheels -- but I just rolled, so the bike got the worst of it...)
 
Me and 2 buddies were coming home from the dragon on I-81. It seemed that there were signs of deer splatter every 50 yards. Paul had moved ahead of us and we pulled into the next rest area. He was sitting on the curb with his helmet off and was as white as a sheet. We asked what happened and he stammered "I almost died". He tells the story that he was at about 75 mph in the right hand lane and two deer on his right in the grass catch his attention. Another suddenly appears to his immediate left out of the left hand lane. He said: "I saw it's head by my left hand. I could have grabbed it. Then it's by my right knee. It was like I went through it, but didn't hit it at all. I saw it head into the bush with the other two in my rearview mirror." Took him about 45 minutes to calm down ad get back on the bike for the uneventful ride home.
 
Murph said:
Indeed!

I had to duck once to dodge a turkey.....That would have been a head shot...L...
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Same thing happened to me. One hit a rider up here in CT in the chest and took him right off the bike. Unfortunately, the result was fatal. Like getting hit with a 10 lb bowling ball at 50 MPH.
 
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