Dunnspeed
.060 Over
Sorry to hear about your incident. Best thing is you're OK. Hopefully, insurance will do the right thing and take care of you. Good luck!
Hit a deer this morning
- Thread starter rocketbill
- Start date
tdragger
Living Legend
Sorry to see this. Makes me want to go home and get my full face helmet.
Glad your injuries are minor and hope that the insurance company does the right thing.
Glad your injuries are minor and hope that the insurance company does the right thing.
Ugarte
Turbocharged
Ouch! Sorry to hear about that but glad you survived with minimal injuries. You are extremely lucky to still be with us. Hitting a deer is what I fear most in motorcycling, they are so unpredictable and can be so deadly.
rocketbill
Supercharged
Thanks for the best wishes and prayers. Went to the accident site and at a normal walking pace my back tire skidmark was 33 paces, i couldn't have told you if i applied the brakes or not.
vanguard138
Living Legend
Sure glad you are still with us! It is THAT time of year in Northern Michigan when you do not want to be out in the early am or in the evening. Makes me **** aweful nervous and the closer to the rut it gets, the crazier it gets.
cktire
.060 Over
Wow...yes, you are lucky to be here!
I had the same experience at 55 MPH 4 years ago. It was like riding into a brick wall. Had my girlfriend on the back and we both went flying. 90 degrees and at dead Noon. The deer came out of the woods so fast we had no chance. We only had on helmets.
Lucky thing is we didn't hit anything while flying. Just rolled down the road. I remember turning to her as we laid ion the road and saying "We're alive!"
I bought hundreds of dollars worth of bandages the next couple of weeks.
When the state trooper got there he was shaking. I asked him why. He told me when he gets these calls of bikes hitting deer there is usually a fatality.
You made it! Congratulations.
I had the same experience at 55 MPH 4 years ago. It was like riding into a brick wall. Had my girlfriend on the back and we both went flying. 90 degrees and at dead Noon. The deer came out of the woods so fast we had no chance. We only had on helmets.
Lucky thing is we didn't hit anything while flying. Just rolled down the road. I remember turning to her as we laid ion the road and saying "We're alive!"
I bought hundreds of dollars worth of bandages the next couple of weeks.
When the state trooper got there he was shaking. I asked him why. He told me when he gets these calls of bikes hitting deer there is usually a fatality.
You made it! Congratulations.
TriumPhil
Living Legend
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Bill, first and foremost I am always happy to hear that in essence you walked away from this get off. Bikes are much easier to repair than people!
Please indulge me as I share a similar experience to yours with other readers here:
I had the exact same accident at the same speed with a nearly mature (150-170 lb) doe about 6 years ago, practically to the day. Since I was only going about 1 mile from my house to see a friend on that unusually warm late afternoon, I rationalized to myself and decided not to bother to wear either of my armored uppers or lowers... just a full-faced lid, fingerless gloves and boots. later, as I was returning home from a pleasant visit, the deer came out of nowhere and at a full run... right into me. It was dusk and during the beginning of the rutting season. In other words, it was, as far as deer hazards go, the worst time of day, the worst time of the year and I was caught very unprepared for the surprise. Note: My home, about 400 yards as the crow flies from the accident site, is on a deer trail and the surrounding area n which I live and play has about the highest density per square mile of whitetail deer anywhere in the lower 48 states.
When I hit Bambi - as if she had a magnet that drew my front wheel to her dead center - the thud I heard and the impact that I felt as my VTX 1800 literally cut her in two, was as savage as it was heart-stopping... about the same as the thud my body and helmet made upon impacting with the pavement at 65 mph. I came to rest about 250 feet from the point of impact, not really sure immediately whether I had survived or not, as I was in fairly deep shock from the get go, in a cold sweat and fighting very hard both to breath and to maintain consciousness.
As I partially recovered my senses, it was immediately apparent that I was pretty badly hurt, but, thankfully, alive. I proceeded to wiggle my fingers and toes then tried moving my legs and then, less successfully, my arms... they were severely traumatized, as was a good part of my upper body, from the full contact fight for survival I had just had with the road and the ground. I purposely coughed to see if I had punctured a lung, risked developing a pneumothorax or had a pulmonary contusion. The electric, shooting stars of pain my test caused was accompanied by no small measure of relief as I realized that I had not suffered such a dire injury.
Minutes later, as helped arrived and the EMTs scraped me up and tied me to a back board and litter, I realized that the ambulance ride to the hospital, for what would become a 6 day stay in the trauma department, was not going to be a pleasant journey. Every single twist and turn or bounce in the road over the course of that very slow, 21 mile journey felt as though it was driving a hot knife into the broken bits of my well-busted-up body. It wasn't until the following day that I learned that, amongst some other unpleasant physical outcomes, I had shattered my right shoulder blade into lots of little pieces, the top six ribs under it were cleanly broken through-and-through and that the ligament between my left thumb and hand had become detached! Fortunately, after another two weeks in a hospital bed in the family room on the ground floor of my home, surgery to reattach the torn ligament, a total of 7 weeks not driving and about three months of physical therapy, I was strong enough to go out and buy my next bike.
The moral of this story, for me, is a very strong one. Never again will I rationalize, and in the process, compromise my own safety whenever I am going out to ride my motorcycle. From that incident forward, I have become a religious adherent to the ATGATT mantra. I never have left my driveway again without wearing All The Gear All The Time!!! That smart habit has already saved me from needless pain and suffering from a subsequent get off which totaled another VTX 1800 three years after this first mishap, but from which I walked away with minor bruises only. I learned to never again forget about the worst hazard to motorcycling that I have to deal with where I live... the deer. Now, I always look for them. I am always slowed down for them in areas that I know they are in or where I suspect them to be. I always keep to the middle of the road in those hot spot areas so that if I am ever surprised again (and, believe me, I have been!) I am in the best defensive position to try to avoid getting hurt again.
After this episode was substantially behind me and as i was beginning to go out to find myself a replacement for the bike that was destroyed, I was selling off some of the aftermarket goodies salvaged from the wrecked 1800 over on the VTXOA (VTX Owner's association), which is a 50,000+ member strong owner's site for owners of the VTX family of Hondas. It was via correspondence with other owners over there that I had learned what was to be the most telling and chilling aspects of my entire ordeal. After several members had asked why I was apparently getting rid of my bike and selling off all of the nice custom bits and pieces that they were seeing me put up for sale in the classifieds on that site, I finally relented and admitted to and then described the aforementioned accident. Within a day of recounting my experience, a half dozen different members from around the country responded to my accounting by recounting their stories of friends, neighbors, co-workers, brothers-in-law, etc., that they used to ride with and that all had experienced accidents almost identical to the ones you and I have described here, Bill. In each and every case, their fellow riders had died from their injuries and over the next six years subsequent to my deathdance with that deer, I have heard sad stories from others who have lost friends and buddies this same way. The last death that came to my attention from this cause happened to a friend's and fellow Captain from New Jersey's brother-in-law not too far from here about 6 weeks ago.
So celebrate life, Brother Bill, for ours are not mere cautionary tales, but stories of survival. IMO, we have both cheated death. Hopefully by sharing our experiences we will help others to do the same should they, too, meet up with similar, unanticipated, unforeseen and unavoidable misfortune when on enjoying life on two wheels!
Please indulge me as I share a similar experience to yours with other readers here:
I had the exact same accident at the same speed with a nearly mature (150-170 lb) doe about 6 years ago, practically to the day. Since I was only going about 1 mile from my house to see a friend on that unusually warm late afternoon, I rationalized to myself and decided not to bother to wear either of my armored uppers or lowers... just a full-faced lid, fingerless gloves and boots. later, as I was returning home from a pleasant visit, the deer came out of nowhere and at a full run... right into me. It was dusk and during the beginning of the rutting season. In other words, it was, as far as deer hazards go, the worst time of day, the worst time of the year and I was caught very unprepared for the surprise. Note: My home, about 400 yards as the crow flies from the accident site, is on a deer trail and the surrounding area n which I live and play has about the highest density per square mile of whitetail deer anywhere in the lower 48 states.
When I hit Bambi - as if she had a magnet that drew my front wheel to her dead center - the thud I heard and the impact that I felt as my VTX 1800 literally cut her in two, was as savage as it was heart-stopping... about the same as the thud my body and helmet made upon impacting with the pavement at 65 mph. I came to rest about 250 feet from the point of impact, not really sure immediately whether I had survived or not, as I was in fairly deep shock from the get go, in a cold sweat and fighting very hard both to breath and to maintain consciousness.
As I partially recovered my senses, it was immediately apparent that I was pretty badly hurt, but, thankfully, alive. I proceeded to wiggle my fingers and toes then tried moving my legs and then, less successfully, my arms... they were severely traumatized, as was a good part of my upper body, from the full contact fight for survival I had just had with the road and the ground. I purposely coughed to see if I had punctured a lung, risked developing a pneumothorax or had a pulmonary contusion. The electric, shooting stars of pain my test caused was accompanied by no small measure of relief as I realized that I had not suffered such a dire injury.
Minutes later, as helped arrived and the EMTs scraped me up and tied me to a back board and litter, I realized that the ambulance ride to the hospital, for what would become a 6 day stay in the trauma department, was not going to be a pleasant journey. Every single twist and turn or bounce in the road over the course of that very slow, 21 mile journey felt as though it was driving a hot knife into the broken bits of my well-busted-up body. It wasn't until the following day that I learned that, amongst some other unpleasant physical outcomes, I had shattered my right shoulder blade into lots of little pieces, the top six ribs under it were cleanly broken through-and-through and that the ligament between my left thumb and hand had become detached! Fortunately, after another two weeks in a hospital bed in the family room on the ground floor of my home, surgery to reattach the torn ligament, a total of 7 weeks not driving and about three months of physical therapy, I was strong enough to go out and buy my next bike.
The moral of this story, for me, is a very strong one. Never again will I rationalize, and in the process, compromise my own safety whenever I am going out to ride my motorcycle. From that incident forward, I have become a religious adherent to the ATGATT mantra. I never have left my driveway again without wearing All The Gear All The Time!!! That smart habit has already saved me from needless pain and suffering from a subsequent get off which totaled another VTX 1800 three years after this first mishap, but from which I walked away with minor bruises only. I learned to never again forget about the worst hazard to motorcycling that I have to deal with where I live... the deer. Now, I always look for them. I am always slowed down for them in areas that I know they are in or where I suspect them to be. I always keep to the middle of the road in those hot spot areas so that if I am ever surprised again (and, believe me, I have been!) I am in the best defensive position to try to avoid getting hurt again.
After this episode was substantially behind me and as i was beginning to go out to find myself a replacement for the bike that was destroyed, I was selling off some of the aftermarket goodies salvaged from the wrecked 1800 over on the VTXOA (VTX Owner's association), which is a 50,000+ member strong owner's site for owners of the VTX family of Hondas. It was via correspondence with other owners over there that I had learned what was to be the most telling and chilling aspects of my entire ordeal. After several members had asked why I was apparently getting rid of my bike and selling off all of the nice custom bits and pieces that they were seeing me put up for sale in the classifieds on that site, I finally relented and admitted to and then described the aforementioned accident. Within a day of recounting my experience, a half dozen different members from around the country responded to my accounting by recounting their stories of friends, neighbors, co-workers, brothers-in-law, etc., that they used to ride with and that all had experienced accidents almost identical to the ones you and I have described here, Bill. In each and every case, their fellow riders had died from their injuries and over the next six years subsequent to my deathdance with that deer, I have heard sad stories from others who have lost friends and buddies this same way. The last death that came to my attention from this cause happened to a friend's and fellow Captain from New Jersey's brother-in-law not too far from here about 6 weeks ago.
So celebrate life, Brother Bill, for ours are not mere cautionary tales, but stories of survival. IMO, we have both cheated death. Hopefully by sharing our experiences we will help others to do the same should they, too, meet up with similar, unanticipated, unforeseen and unavoidable misfortune when on enjoying life on two wheels!
rocketbill
Supercharged
Thanks for your story TriumPhil, wear all the gear folks. I will not only wear all the gear but i'm getting better gear.
mexican
Living Legend
They will probably ask if the deer had insuranceThank God your alive ..65 and hitting a deer ,not too many live to tell the tale.
Sorry, you never know what the adjustors are going to say
Glad you are alive RB, go and get you a brand new rocket,that will make you forget about the pain!
HansO
Not Taking Life Too Seriously
- Joined
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two things, one We are all glad your injuries are minor and two Phill and I don't always agree on some things but like you and him I always believe in ATGATT not that I learned the hard way but even a young age I thought it Stupid not to be protected because you can have accident just 50 yards from home or 500 miles end result is always the same skin is no match for tar or gravel
