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grimjaw · 01-23-2010, 11:43 AM

I wasn't so lucky with my 'deerly' departed. Happened 1/19/2010, just this past Tuesday.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/another...7623138526213/

I'm really to blame for this one. I should have laid on the brakes as soon as I saw the first deer.

It was very late at night on a county highway, after I came around a short bend. Heavy tree cover on both sides of the road, but if I'd applied brake as to stop as soon as I saw the first one (without locking it up) I would have only been doing about 5mph by the time I got to where they were crossing. Since I saw the first one already halfway across and still moving, I only slightly slowed initially and kept my eye on the first deer. Headlight on my GZ just isn't that great, so I didn't see the second deer trotting across behind the first until too late to stop gracefully. The second one slowed down in the middle of the road (stupid forest rats!), WHAM, into its rear half.

The bike went down on its left side with my left leg pinned underneath. It's hard to say since it happened so fast, but I'd guess I was going 25-35mph. My left arm took the brunt of the impact, I think. I had leather covering upper body and and was wearing a helmet, so other than a bad sprain to my left wrist and a bruised right torso, that's OK. The inside of my left foot was driven into the asphalt while the top/front of my knee was also digging into the ground (you can imagine the contortion necessary for that), all weighed down by the bike. Skidded with the bike 10-15 feet. Luckily no one was behind me or coming from the opposite direction, nor did they for almost 25 minutes. After gasping in pain for a minute, I managed to wiggle out from under the bike and stand up. After getting my helmet off and testing my leg a couple of times, I managed to lift the bike and roll it off the highway. I knew at least the big bones in my leg weren't broken. Turns out I only had a small chip off a bone in my left foot and another bad sprain, plus road rash on both knees. Weird thing was the only scuffs on my leather jacket were on the *right* side.

I had my phone with me and a flashlight, and I managed to get hold of a friend who came to pick me up. Bike was chained to a utility pole until the next day when I could come back with my truck and pick it up. Engine starts and it still rolls! Has lots of cosmetic damage, have to fix the headlight, left front blinker, speedometer/odometer, gearshift lever, and handlebars before it's roadworthy again. Forks look good, maybe some minor adjustment. Windshield is broken and will have to be replaced, but I figure that will wait for next fall. I'll be able to handle the warmer weather by the time I get everything else fixed.

When I was a kid I fell off a 3.5' high chain link fence and broke upper bones in my right arm in half. Looked like I had two elbows on that arm. Considering how little it takes to break a bone, I consider myself *EXTREMELY* lucky that I was not injured more severely, and I will absolutely not be riding without some kind of minimal protection in the future. I don't know if my helmet impacted the ground. Head and neck feel fine still today. I had a set of x-rays and some range of motion tests done, everything is OK.

Deer are not so endearing anymore.

01-23-2010, 11:43 AM	#9
grimjaw Junior Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: central Arkansas Posts: 10	Re: Deer me that was close I wasn't so lucky with my 'deerly' departed. Happened 1/19/2010, just this past Tuesday. http://www.flickr.com/photos/another...7623138526213/ I'm really to blame for this one. I should have laid on the brakes as soon as I saw the first deer. It was very late at night on a county highway, after I came around a short bend. Heavy tree cover on both sides of the road, but if I'd applied brake as to stop as soon as I saw the first one (without locking it up) I would have only been doing about 5mph by the time I got to where they were crossing. Since I saw the first one already halfway across and still moving, I only slightly slowed initially and kept my eye on the first deer. Headlight on my GZ just isn't that great, so I didn't see the second deer trotting across behind the first until too late to stop gracefully. The second one slowed down in the middle of the road (stupid forest rats!), WHAM, into its rear half. The bike went down on its left side with my left leg pinned underneath. It's hard to say since it happened so fast, but I'd guess I was going 25-35mph. My left arm took the brunt of the impact, I think. I had leather covering upper body and and was wearing a helmet, so other than a bad sprain to my left wrist and a bruised right torso, that's OK. The inside of my left foot was driven into the asphalt while the top/front of my knee was also digging into the ground (you can imagine the contortion necessary for that), all weighed down by the bike. Skidded with the bike 10-15 feet. Luckily no one was behind me or coming from the opposite direction, nor did they for almost 25 minutes. After gasping in pain for a minute, I managed to wiggle out from under the bike and stand up. After getting my helmet off and testing my leg a couple of times, I managed to lift the bike and roll it off the highway. I knew at least the big bones in my leg weren't broken. Turns out I only had a small chip off a bone in my left foot and another bad sprain, plus road rash on both knees. Weird thing was the only scuffs on my leather jacket were on the right side. I had my phone with me and a flashlight, and I managed to get hold of a friend who came to pick me up. Bike was chained to a utility pole until the next day when I could come back with my truck and pick it up. Engine starts and it still rolls! Has lots of cosmetic damage, have to fix the headlight, left front blinker, speedometer/odometer, gearshift lever, and handlebars before it's roadworthy again. Forks look good, maybe some minor adjustment. Windshield is broken and will have to be replaced, but I figure that will wait for next fall. I'll be able to handle the warmer weather by the time I get everything else fixed. When I was a kid I fell off a 3.5' high chain link fence and broke upper bones in my right arm in half. Looked like I had two elbows on that arm. Considering how little it takes to break a bone, I consider myself EXTREMELY lucky that I was not injured more severely, and I will absolutely not be riding without some kind of minimal protection in the future. I don't know if my helmet impacted the ground. Head and neck feel fine still today. I had a set of x-rays and some range of motion tests done, everything is OK. Deer are not so endearing anymore.
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