deer season

Well, just a friendly reminder that it's deer season in southern Michigan as well as most states and with that said be on the lookout for them.
I did hit/kill one (a nice 8pt) a couple of weeks ago on i75 at morning rush hour speeds.
Am currently healing but thought that it was worth a mention to us all to me more alert... its not only the cagers that are out to get motorcyclists.

So I have this sitting in the garage and having sold my old k a few months back has me ride-less which may be better for my health in the long run.

 

Holy heck man, glad you're ok!

 

Get well soon and get back to riding. It was 5 years ago October 17th that I hit a 7 point buck with my Maxim. 6 days in the hospital and 5 weeks at home. It cost me about 500 dollars to get the bike back on the road. Cost a little more to get me back on the road. The way I look at it is that I had my dance with the Devil so I'm good to go. Besides, only the good die young and I intend to live forever.
Once again, get well soon and best wishes.

 

Hope you recover soon. Get some Deer Whistles, had them on mine with no problems. Some say they don't work, but for 5 bucks it's worth the chance.

 

Sorry to hear about your accident. I nailed my doe on September 3rd. I live out in the woods. I decided to ride to the store just after sunset (deer thirty). On the way, I passed several deer next to the road side which put me on "deer alert". I slowed to 35 and continued on...looking for a deer to run out in front of me. Sure enough, a deer missile came from the left side of the road. I had just enough reaction time to spot it and hit it. I'm now convinced that there is no defense. The deer impact pulled my bike down instantly, pulling me into the pavement shoulder first. Unfortunately, I didn't get much bounce or slide, just pretty much instant stop. I wear awesome gear and if it weren't for the padded shoulder, it would have been mush. I did separate my left shoulder and pushed it into the left side of my rib cage, causing 8 breaks in 6 ribs. A cop car was approaching from the opposite direction and was assisting immediately, so I made the evening news. I'm almost all healed up, but it was very educational. I've been street riding for over 35 years. First time down. Now I'm wondering if I'll ever ride again. Bike needs about $500 in parts. Emergency bill: $11,000. All riders, please take note.

 

The day before my 21st wedding anniversary i threw a leg over the seat and my adrenaline spiked as it does every time i press the starter and hear my bike jump to life, ready for my 35 mile commute to work (25 miles of which is 4 or 6-lane on I75). I was just about half way to work in the center of 3 lanes of I75 headed south when i saw something (actually, an 8 pt) haulin' ass from the wooded median on the left (east)side of the road. this was wednesday morning rush hour on I75 so my speed was between 70-75 as per my speedo which is the typical commute speed on this interstate whether on my bike or in my truck.
i couldn't have hit it any more square as my headlight hit the bugger directly in the ribs....the deer came thru the windshield and witnesses say rode the bike for 2-3 seconds. This was probably a god-send as eventually the front end washed and threw me off the back where i hit pavement (saw stars/sparks) and then commenced flipping and flopping ass over tea-kettle down the hiway all the while consciously trying to make it "out of bounds" to the grass on the right side of the road so as to not get run over by any of my brethren behind me..i succeeded! When the dust settled the bike was 50 or 60 yards south of me and the buck about another 10 yards south of the bike.
My final flip/flop left me laying flat on my back, legs and arms laid out flat as if i were just "resting"...it took me 5 or 6 seconds for it to register what had just happened....i rolled my head slightly right-left-right-left and felt no pain, good... then i wiggled all 10 fingers and knew immediately my little finger on my right hand was ruined..moved my arms..no real pain...wiggled my toes, moved my legs and knew that my right knee was rashed and that my left knee and ankle were already swollen and somewhat damaged (yes, the dent on the drivers side was from my knee upon ejecting from the bike). i unbuckled my half helmet (how there was no damage to my face from the ground i'll never know), slid it off and then sat up and waited for about 3 minutes before another commuter finally walked over to see how i was doing. At that time i also figured i either had some broken ribs or some internal bleeding as it hurt a bit when i would inhale (CT scan in ER showed nothing). EMTs were about 8 minutes out (enough time for the motorist who was tending to me to bring a marlboro from his truck and smoke half of it ... heck, i quit smoking but i needed one!)
All in all the deer gored my right thigh (i have a hole that i could get my ring finger in up to the first knuckle and was blunt force, a puncture not a tear), both hands were a bit rashed (my gloves melted into my knuckles), removed several layers of skin on my right knee (a pound of flesh?), either torn ACL or other ligament damage on my left knee (am scheduled for MRI after some PT next week), broken right pinky finger (already been drilled/pinned), and a little rash on my right foot (shoe was disintegrated from all of the bump and grind...could have called me shoeless joe jackson). i got a horrible wambulance ride, i got to spend 2 nights in the hospital (not fun) and had a heck of a lot of dilaudid, then vicodin (am down to 1 pill a day now)
This seems dramatic, but to be honest things could have easily gone much, much worse for me/my family.

I really love my bike. i just got her home yesterday (my garage has been awfully lonely for the last couple of weeks) and did fire it up, let it warm up and then rode it down my driveway, around the cul-de-sac and back into the garage. All tin (except the rear fender) is trash. the fork covers are all dented to hell (you can see in the pics) and there isnt a single lamp that is usable on it. I am torn between a project or stripping (i really really hate the though of parting this bike out as i really love it) but can honestly tell you that as of right now i really have no desire to ever ride this (or any other bike) again. I am more in love with the thought of building and having a nice bike in the garage than the idea of throwing a leg over it (or any another) and riding again.
But a project is gonna cost me $$ that i dont have and to be honest, even if i spent $500-1000 to make it road-worth again it's still worth more in parts than it is as a running bobber or anything else AAARRRRGGGGGHHHH!!!!!!
















Your headlight burned out long before your legend ever did....

 

MoralDK, you will ride again if it's in your heart. And you'll be gun-shy for a while. I was for weeks. I still get a knot in the pit of my stomach when I ride through the spot where I had my accident. I think its made me a better rider. I'm constantly scanning the sides of the road and try to be aware of everything.

Did any of you keep the deer? Mine was pretty tasty.

 

When I totaled my Yamaha (SR500) it was a Toyota that ran out in front of me and put me in the hospital for two weeks.

The replacement was in the garage before I could physically ride it.

That was 31 years ago. (To this day I've only ridden past the accident site twice and it 'twarnt easy.)

If it's "in your blood" you'll be back on two wheels before you know it.

Heal quickly.

 

Sorry to hear about your accident. Sounds like an awful experience. Riding this time of year is a little risky, especially around dawn or dusk. I was riding in to work Monday and the truck in front of me nailed a doe. Luckily I was a ways back and had plenty of time to stop. I went for a ride this evening and was scanning for deer and a damn turkey walked out ahead of me!

Sorry about your bike. Looked like a beauty. Feel better!