Deer me that was close

[alanmcorcoran]

Glad there's no permanent damage. They do seem to travel in pairs/groups. I think I posted on here about my encounter with three corssing Highway 1 in Big Sur in front of me. Fortunately, it was daytime, I had plenty of time to slow down and could see all three (and the roadside) pretty clearly.

Take care of your foot. Riding is optional but walking is somewhat more mandatory.

[Water Warrior 2]

Glad to hear you came out relatively undamaged. Forest Rats should only come in day-glo colors so predators, riders and hunters can see them better. Just a thought, do we see armored riding pants in your future ?

[BusyWeb]

Good to hear that you O.K.
I had a Deer incident last year, that's really scary moment for me.
Fortunately, my speed was very slow at the corner of mountain road; otherwise I would had serious damage.
Dear, deers, they even didn't move out when I was passing through them (a couple I guess); they are either don't think or challenge the vehicles...
Anyway, I hope you get well soon.

[alantf]

Originally Posted by grimjaw

The bike went down on its left side with my left leg pinned underneath.

Like I've said before, I won't EVER ride without an engine guard (what we call "crash bars" in England) A while back, someone (can't remember who) tried to say that the guards might cause more damage to a body than if you didn't use them. Well ......... The guard certainly saved my leg when the bike went down (when the 4x4 I was overtaking turned left into me) & I suspect that a guard would have saved your leg too. PLEASE, get one fitted before you ride the bike again.

[dhgeyer]

I don't ride at night anymore if I can possibly avoid it, for exactly this reason. The risk goes way up at night, actually for a lot of reasons. You can't monitor the road surface as far in advance, people can't see you as well from the sides and rear, and, of course, deer. And it doesn't really matter how skilled a rider you are. It's just the luck of the draw. I had one jump out from behind some trees in 2004, and it landed in the road right in front of me. Luckily I was going very slowly, looking for a house number. But, 10 mph faster and there would have been nothing I could have done. My daughter hit one with her car this past Summer. She never saw it till after the collision, as it ran out of the brush into the right front corner of her car.

The frequency of this is increasing all the time. As we encroach more and more on the wild habitat, and don't hunt the deer in populated areas, they are adapting. In the village of Williamsville, NY, where my in-laws live, there were 14,000 deer strikes in one year, and there is very little open, undeveloped land there. They are living among the houses in any patch of green they can find, and eating people's shrubs and gardens at night. My father in law has had to give up gardening after doing it for over 60 years! I have so many photos and one video of deer grazing on our lawn. They have virtually no fear of me. I've stood on the back deck 25 feet from them clicking away. They look at me, and go back to eating grass. They didn't bother Sue's garden much until last Summer. Now we're going to have to put up an electric fence. A neighbor down the road did that years ago, and it has worked for him so far.

I, like Alan, used to love to ride at night. I'd still love to do it, but I can't justify that level of risk.

[mrlmd1]

I see small deer very frequently on the road leading down to the area where I live on the gulf coast of Florida. There are usually one or two of them, standing on the grass between the road and the trees, or they just run out from the trees across the road to disappear in the brush on the other side. They scare me more than any other road hazard down here, because when they jump out in front of you at the last minute, there's almost nothing you can do to avoid them. They are pretty animals, but also pretty stupid.

[Easy Rider]

Originally Posted by alantf

PLEASE, get one fitted before you ride the bike again.

I agree with that 100%.
In addition to possibly minimizing rider injury, it can also minimize the damage on a 0 speed drop......depending on the design of the guard.

I have "rediscovered" something I had forgotten with my "other" bike though. That is, watch out for curbs when rounding corners. I don't think it would be a problem with the GZ due to the shape of the guard but on the Shadow it would be very easy to catch the crash guard on a curb if you cut a corner too close. That could result in a NASTY crash.

[grimjaw]

Thanks for the well wishes, and to the OP for bringing the subject up. Never hurts to have it revisited.

I'd say that among the lessons learned for me are:

1. Get some freaking knee/shin guards. I had another wreck doing only 5mph on my scooter when the back tire slipped on a train track, and ended up with road rash on one knee. It happens to easily, that leg protection is worth it.
2. For that matter, wear more armor all the time.
3. My night riding days on roads like that one are probably going to be few and far between. I will have to admit that the ride up to that point was exhilarating, but I knew that deer were going to be a possibility on that road. If nothing else, I'll have to limit speed to something where a sudden stop can be accomplished very quickly, and be extra-observant.
4. I already knew this one and I paid heed to it on this ride. Carry a phone! A first aid kit isn't a bad idea, either, as well as something like a flashlight or other signaling device. If I hadn't had the phone that night, it was a ~10 mile hobble into town, through unfamiliar terrain, with a thunderstorm coming on. By the time my friend showed up, lightning was flashing regularly in the sky and rain was coming down heavily.

I'd be considering the engine guards already. I'm on a limited budget, though, and lots of things end up waiting.