Bambi didn’t make it across the road.

[twowheeladdict]

Riding the V85TT today. I was probably going about 40 and accelerating when my peripheral vision picked up a brown flash.

What happened after that was pure instinct so I can’t tell you everything I did from that moment forward.

I believe I cut the throttle and that change in velocity allied the deer to get in front of me instead of running into me.

I know I braced every muscle in my body for the impact. I know I keep my eyes forward but was anticipating the deer hitting me elsewhere or going under the bike.

I must have hit it behind the shoulder because it went back the way it came and I was expecting to feel it hit my left side but somehow it didn’t.

I didn’t come to a stop until maybe another 200 feet or more as I was looking for a place to pull off and turn around.

Rode back through and didn’t see the deer. Pulled into a side street and noticed my Aprilia fender was gone. The wheel looked good.

Started traveling in the direction I was riding and no sign of the fender.

Continued on while trying to determine if the bike was riding OK. Soreness everywhere started setting in.

Pulled into a parking lot to have a drink and look over the bike some more. The forks looked bent. That was quite an impact to bend the forks.

I decided to head back towards home since I was 70 miles away. Bike rode fine so I must have hit it perfectly square to the front wheel.

Guess I will have to make my first insurance claim against my own insurance.









Front wheel is pushed toward the bike.

[bigbikerrick]

Oh My. You were lucky as heck!  Being able to ride home 70 miles after a deer strike is amazing!  Go and buy a lottery ticket!
Rick.

[Huzo]

Son of a mongoose…!

[twowheeladdict]

Oh My. You were lucky as heck!  Being able to ride home 70 miles after a deer strike is amazing!  Go and buy a lottery ticket!
Rick.

Or maybe today my luck ran out.  I have around 350,000 miles on two wheels and today was the day.  I've contacted vehicles twice in the first decade of riding, and injured myself dual sporting 10 years ago, but this is the first time the bike contacted an animal. 

[bad Chad]

Och, your still a lucky SOB.

[Ncdan]

Glad you were able to stay on the wheels👍

[cliffrod]

Wow- Glad you’re ok and posting.  I hope the pending aches & pains aren’t too bad.  Take care.

[tazio]

TWO! So glad you're still here to tell us about it!!
Somewhere there's a dear limping around with an Aprilia fender stuck in
it..

[wirespokes]

You're much better off than I was 19 years ago when I struck my first (and only) animal. My bike (R11S) needed a wrecker to pull it out and I got a ride to the hospital. Count yourself lucky the bike isn't totaled like mine was.

[kingoffleece]

All in all, not too bad.  Pleased that you're OK.

[kballowe]

DANG !  Glad you walked away.   

 

[Stretch]

WOW!

You are SUPER lucky! Glad you're okay!
The bike will be needing some front end bits and pieces, though.

Good thing it wasn't a moose, eh?   

                                       -Stretch

[bikeridertim]

Glad you are ok!! The bike can be fixed!   

[twowheeladdict]

WOW!

You are SUPER lucky! Glad you're okay!
The bike will be needing some front end bits and pieces, though.

Good thing it wasn't a moose, eh?   

                                       -Stretch

Or a large buck with a rack!

Still really sore through the shoulder blades / upper spine area and arms. 

The claim process with the insurance company requires a lot of people.

Call the insurance company and the person on the other end takes down information and the system assigns someone to the claim and sends an automated text so you know who will be calling.

That person calls and does a recording of them asking for the specifics of the incident.  Then they inform you that they use a vendor to come and take photos of the bike.

Get a call from the vendor who verifies contact information and says someone will be assigned to come take photos and they will be contacting me.

Then supposedly an estimator will determine the damage a parts needing replacement from the photos which of course doesn't consider any hidden damage.

I guess from there I decide where to take the bike for repairs and if they find any additional damage they have to contact the insurance company for approval. 


I could tell that the person assigned to my claim was just reading questions off a computer screen because I told her the bike didn't go down but she asked about damage to my riding gear, accessories, on and on.  Covering all their bases I guess. 

[vintagehoarder]

Wow scary glad you're okay!!

[kballowe]

Hang in there.  It's a royal PITA to deal with the insurance companies, but it'll all come out in the end.
The main thing is that you walked away from it.

Now go get a rifle and a deer tag for deer season.  I always do MY part !

 

[twowheeladdict]

So, I was rolling out the bike for the soon to arrive photographer which means the insurance adjuster is going to estimate based on photos. ???

I didn’t notice that the bead moved enough to trap deer hair before today. Lucky I didn’t have a sudden deflation during the incident.

[John A]

I was leading a small group on some back roads when a small doe ran out from the left. She was running alongside and she had wild eyes was spewing foam as I was deciding what to do as we ran along about forty mph.I hadn’t done anything when she suddenly jumped over the back of the bike. I heard one of her hoofs hit a saddle bag and she was gone. I stopped and one of the riders behind asked me how long I had worked with her to get her to do that. Glad you’re ok.
Check the steering neck at the bottom for deformation where it holds the lower bearing. I repaired a Jackal that I bought as a total that had crashed avoiding a deer and had to make a new bearing cup that I welded on after cutting off the deformed lower portion. Check the steering stops as well.

[9fingers]

Wow you are lucky not to have gone down! I hit one a mile from my home with only 1100 miles on my first road bike, my Royal Enfield 500. Unlike you I had almost no time to react as it was a narrow road and it came running full speed out from behind some trees and a guardrail. I hit him in the chest and he took out my front end and I hi sided. Separated shoulder, cracked rib, crushed  ankle and lots of skin lost......no protective riding gear..........I learned and now ATGATT. Enfield bullets are tough lumps of steel and I had minimal damage and cheap parts. The rigid footpeg and the bar end and master cylinder, right mirror,  and front fender took all of the grinding. I think that was about $215 for all the parts. Indian made parts are dirt cheap! The healing was another issue. Glad you survived upright......the bike can be fixed.
Scott

[drdwb]

Wow are you lucky. Glad to hear you made it. I hope all goes well with the repairs.
Last year I had 2 instances of deer coming at me from the side in both instances my wife riding her bike behind me told me ,via bike to bike communicators, about them. In both instances when I realized it I immediately let the throttle go and as usual on the 03 Ev the bike immediately backfired, resulting in both deer turning in their tracks going in the opposite direction. Backfireing bikes save lives. Had I been on the Norge no backfire would have occurred and the result may have been worse. I complain about the backfire and have worked to isolate the source and remove it. But After these 2 instances I decided to live with it.

[brider]

Still amazes me how fast something like that can happen. Glad to hear you didn't go down!

But the technical part of me can't understand how the forks got bent like they did, and how the deer-hair got trapped in the bead/rim interface if the deer went "back the way it came", as you said? Not questioning your account or disputing you at all, but for the forks to bend like that, they could not have been compressed (you hadn't hit the brakes yet), but what at axle-level could you have hit on that deer to bend the forks? Seems like you would have hit the deer's shoulder with your fender/headlight, and the axle would've gone under it. And there's the hair stuck in the wheel.....

[twowheeladdict]

Still amazes me how fast something like that can happen. Glad to hear you didn't go down!

But the technical part of me can't understand how the forks got bent like they did, and how the deer-hair got trapped in the bead/rim interface if the deer went "back the way it came", as you said? Not questioning your account or disputing you at all, but for the forks to bend like that, they could not have been compressed (you hadn't hit the brakes yet), but what at axle-level could you have hit on that deer to bend the forks? Seems like you would have hit the deer's shoulder with your fender/headlight, and the axle would've gone under it. And there's the hair stuck in the wheel.....

There is a definite bend in the forks indicating that they were somewhat compressed during the impact.   The center front of the skid plate is bent back from either the wheel or the deer. 

I wasn't really watching the deer because I was focused on controlling the bike while waiting for additional impacts, so I can only say what my periphery picked up.

All I can say that the deer was really stretched out and must not have been large for the impact to mostly be at the wheel. The part I find amazing is the force required to bend the forks didn't cause me to crumple forward. I am still very sore in all my joints.

[larrys]

Glad to hear you're okay. I had a deer pace me on Mt. Parnassus Rd in Moodus. I leaned on the brakes hard and just as I stopped she crossed in front of me. Damn, that was close...
Larry

[Vagrant]

I've been riding in deer country since 1973. There are way more of them now then ever before and for some reason they are out roaming around 24/7. They scare the crap out of me so that is one more reason I bought the Helite air vest.

[twowheeladdict]

I've been riding in deer country since 1973. There are way more of them now then ever before and for some reason they are out roaming around 24/7. They scare the crap out of me so that is one more reason I bought the Helite air vest.

I may look into those. A friend of my neighbor hit a deer in north Georgia this week resulting in a concussion and broken collarbone.

[Canuck750]

WOW!! You are lucky.
Many years ago I got a deer at dusk, it happened so fast I only saw the flash of the ho d legs striking the windshield in the small Chevrolet I was driving at the time. The deer swung around the passenger side, took out both doors and the rear quarter and the car was a right off

[hauto]

I hit a deer last year on my V85 travel. I went down for one long slide. Luckily I slid into nothing and just came to a stop. Deer was killed and there was a police report. I had progressive insurance and it was a painless experience. I've seen a few since then,but  had enough distance to react. This is something I hope I avoid the rest of my riding life. Glade to hear your OK.

[Dirk_S]

You didn’t even go down?? That is fortune flirtation right there.Glad you’re OK!

Good thing it wasn't a moose, eh?   

With a moose we always have the option to ride under it, ha.

[twowheeladdict]

I hit a deer last year on my V85 travel. I went down for one long slide. Luckily I slid into nothing and just came to a stop. Deer was killed and there was a police report. I had progressive insurance and it was a painless experience. I've seen a few since then,but  had enough distance to react. This is something I hope I avoid the rest of my riding life. Glade to hear your OK.

Gad you are ok.  Did they fix, or total it?  The dealer is telling me it could be a long wait for parts.

[egschade]

One of the guys in our local club did the same thing at 50 MPH. He wasn't so lucky. Doesn't remember a thing but his helmet was ground down badly in a couple spots as was his gear. EMT said he'd have been dead w/o good eqpt.

Wound up with 9 broken ribs, punctured lung, broken sternum and two pelvic fractures.

Yes, you WERE lucky to be able to ride it out. Get a physical / MRI / X-rays to make sure it's only muscle soreness and not any structural damage.