Deer strike.

[flynrider]

I thought I'd post this separate from the upcoming post on my weeklong Colorado trip (still processing pics for that one), to avoid clutter.

On day 3 of my trip I'd packed up my camp near Silverton, CO and headed north to have breakfast in the picturesque mountain town of Ouray. This stretch of US 550 is called the million dollar highway and much of it is carved right out of the rocky mountainside.

It was a beautiful Wednesday morning and I was thinking how great it was to be riding this road with almost none of the usual weekend traffic. Halfway to my destination, I stopped for a photo op at Red Mountain Pass. This is the last photo of my pristine undamaged bike.



About 15 min. later I was rounding a sharp curve about a mile from Ouray when it happened. Just as I was exiting the curve at about 25 mph, I caught a flash of brown out of the corner of my left eye. I was a bit confused because there had been nothing but a guard rail and a steep cliff in that direction. Before I could really process this info, I was face to face with Bambi, who had made an impressive leap into the left side of my windshield. The impact knocked the handlebar full lock to the left and down we went.

In this pic the impact point was about where you see the shadow of the trees on the road. Since the right side of the road is mostly a rocky cliff, the deer was headed for those trees for cover.



I had maybe 1/2 second of braking before the impact and estimate I was only going 15-20 mph when Bambi hit me. The windshield shattered and the bike went down (with me still on the seat) and slid about 15 ft. before coming to a stop in the middle of the lane.

One weird thing was that when the bike stopped sliding, the engine was revving high. There was nothing touching the throttle and I was stumped at what would cause that? Maybe some quirk of the FI system? Anyway, I quickly slapped the kill switch and all was quiet.

A couple of guys in a Jeep coming in the opposite direction stopped and helped me lift up the bike and get it to the side of the road. As we moved it, the trees began to rustle and Bambi popped out to have a look. She had a gash on her right hindquarter and was limping a bit, but it didn't look like anything was broken and she hobbled off towards the forest. She'd probably live if she could heal up before any predators found her.

I was very surprised at the relatively light amount of damage to both myself and the bike. I wasn't wearing any protective gear, other than my helmet (which didn't even get scratched). The only noticeable damage on me was a 1/4" scratch on my pinkie and one of my favorite airplane t-shirts had evidently received some road rash.



The bike came to rest sitting on the left crash bar and handlebar. Major props to the designers of the OVER Racing crash bars I got from Samurider. With the bike on its left side, nothing to the rear of the crash bar received a scratch. The peg, shifter and even the rear turn signal were completely untouched. The crash bar was bent a bit toward the engine case, but didn't touch it.

Here's a rundown of the carnage. The NC Plexistar was, of course, a total write off.



Probably the most expensive damage was to the gauge package. Everything still works and I was able to duct tape all the cracks and holes to keep water out (looks really sharp!). The headlight trim ring also got rashed. The clutch lever end (no RLET) was scraped up, but the lever remained intact.



The mirror got a good scraping, but didn't break and was still usable.



Lastly, the fabulous OVER engine guard did what it was supposed to do. Although there were several mm scraped off the stainless tube, it protected the rest of the bike admirably. Best farkle money I ever spent.



Overall, I'd say both the bike and I were quite lucky to survive this encounter with so little damage. After calming down a bit and readjusting my gear, I was back on the road in about 20 min.

Total damage to the bike was the windshield, headlight ring, mirror, gauge plastic and left crash bar. What really hurt was that this was the first time I've put a scratch on a motorcycle in 27 years of almost daily riding. It was a nice streak while it lasted

I continued on with the rest of my 7 day trip without a windshield and an embarrassing amount of duct tape holding the gauge plastic together. I really missed that windshield. The bugs were thick and a few days later I got caught in a hail storm and had nothing to hide behind. Later that day, a bee flew up my sleeve and stung me on the upper arm.

I'm still working on the pics and maps for the rest of the trip and will post it soon.

[JustPassinThru_imp]

Welcome to the club. Except for not going down, that was my story of two years ago...in Nowhere, Wisconsin, a mile from my jobsite. Fog flow over a dip in the road; slow to 25; and of course that fogbank is lousy with deer. I hit one on the head; watched my fairing explode; felt the front wheel let go and slew for a nanosecond...a wobble...and over.

I'm sorry you had it happen on a good bike. In Ouray, yet...I have done the Million Dollar Highway by bike, three years ago. It's worth the price of the ticket.

But not this.

You're right about one thing: You NEED a windshield to tour on this ride. I hope it all comes together that you can salvage the vacation ride.
One common thread, seems to be the SHATTERING of the instrument housing - anytime anything bad happens.

Seems someone could cobble a guard - or even a cast or even stamped aftermarket housing, that would dent but not bust up when bad stuff happens.

[veech_imp]

That is a HORRIBLE STORY! Thank God, you are AMAZINGLY lucky you weren't hurt worse.

A close encounter with a deer is my biggest fear while riding. Up where I typically ride I pretty much see deer almost every single ride, especially during peak season. I have hit them with my truck. They have an amazing ability to jump out of NOWHERE and seem to be incredibly stupid as I think they are attracted to headlights. Hit one of these you you can easily total a vehicle, on a bike it can be much much worse.

Wow, so glad you are alright.

[flynrider]

Welcome to the club. Except for not going down, that was my story of two years ago...in Nowhere, Wisconsin, a mile from my jobsite. Fog flow over a dip in the road; slow to 25; and of course that fogbank is lousy with deer. I hit one on the head; watched my fairing explode; felt the front wheel let go and slew for a nanosecond...a wobble...and over.

I'm sorry you had it happen on a good bike. In Ouray, yet...I have done the Million Dollar Highway by bike, three years ago. It's worth the price of the ticket.

But not this.

You're right about one thing: You NEED a windshield to tour on this ride. I hope it all comes together that you can salvage the vacation ride.
One common thread, seems to be the SHATTERING of the instrument housing - anytime anything bad happens.

Seems someone could cobble a guard - or even a cast or even stamped aftermarket housing, that would dent but not bust up when bad stuff happens.

Yeah, the Million Dollar Highway is my second all time favorite motorcycle ride, just behind US 12 between Lolo and Kooskia. As a matter of fact, I first rode it almost 30 yrs. to the day of this event.

The windshield was sorely missed for the rest of the trip. I did press on and finished the rest of the trip without too much discomfort (other than the hail and bugs mentioned above).

[Pauley]

Glad you're ok and could continue on! Great story and thanks for sharing it!

[Motogeezer1949_imp]

Karma bell. Must be received from someone anonymously. Glad you are ok

[username_imp]

As I read this, I'm just about to take a very early morning ride. The last two times I've done this, I've had close calls with deer.

[flynrider]

That is a HORRIBLE STORY! Thank God, you are AMAZINGLY lucky you weren't hurt worse.

A close encounter with a deer is my biggest fear while riding. Up where I typically ride I pretty much see deer almost every single ride, especially during peak season. I have hit them with my truck. They have an amazing ability to jump out of NOWHERE and seem to be incredibly stupid as I think they are attracted to headlights. Hit one of these you you can easily total a vehicle, on a bike it can be much much worse.

Wow, so glad you are alright.

Now it's mine too. I've been riding in the mountains all my adult life and this is the first time I've hit one. I spent the rest of the week suspiciously scanning roadsides whenever I saw one of those yellow jumping deer signs.

At least crazy drivers are somewhat predictable. These deer seem suicidal and completely unpredictable.

[Cormanus]

Flynrider, In Australia we'd say "what a bast*rd, mate!" Bad luck—and I fear it is bad luck; you can't really control deer. I'm really pleased you and the bike came through that hideous experience with relatively little harm. It's even good that you were able to get back on the bike and continue your ride. Even better, you're going to ride about it.

Normally I'd say deer aren't a problem in Australia, we just have to worry about kangaroo, but someone's erected a deer warning sign not far from my home. I guess someone's breeding them and they get out occasionally to torment motorcyclists. I suppose I'll have to start being very careful indeed.

I've had a bee go up the sleeve of my jacket and sting me. It was alarming when it happened and very uncomfortable for a time afterwards.

Glad you're OK.

PS, when you guys mention roads you really like, I often try to look at them on Google Maps. Both the ones you mentioned in the foregoing tragedy look excellent. I wish I could've had a lot more time in the US!

[the Ferret]

Buggers.Glad you came thru relatively unscathed. Deer are a menace everywhere. Out here in the country I see them everyday and have fairly close encounters regularly. It's bound to happen one of these days.

At any are glad you are ok and were able to finish your trip, because it sounds like a fantastic one ( minus the deer encounter of course),

PS Larry Grodsky, motorcycle safety expert, who wrote the Staying Safe series for Rider Magazine, told his wife if anything was going to get him, it would be a deer. In April 2006 his prophesy came true. he was not as fortunate as you were, he died.