Author Topic: Smacked a buzzard yesterday...Birds birds birds (Read 4991 times)

Luap McKeever · « **on:** March 19, 2018, 07:21:51 AM »

2nd buzzard in 200,000+ Guzzi miles. The first one was on my 98 EV in 2002 and it busted the windshield of my swanee, a blinker and broke the headlight.

Yesterday I smacked one at 70-75 MPH and only a scratch. I hope I'm good for another 100K. Those boogers put off quite a "THUD" when you smack them at speed in a slight lean on a long sweeping curve. Seen it coming, nothing I could do but brace for it. Was lucky to only smack one as there were several feasting on a deer. Earlier in the ride, I ran into a pack of sparrows and took one of them out, and then about 30 seconds before the buzzard I smacked a robin with my left shoe.

Yesterdays ride was for the birds.

Zoom Zoom · « **Reply #1 on:** March 19, 2018, 07:28:17 AM »

Only 2 in 200K?

You're not trying hard enough............. .....

John Henry

Sasquatch Jim · « **Reply #2 on:** March 19, 2018, 07:33:29 AM »

So how did the buzzard feel about that ?

Luap McKeever · « **Reply #3 on:** March 19, 2018, 07:36:37 AM »

Quote from: Zoom Zoom on March 19, 2018, 07:28:17 AM

Only 2 in 200K?

You're not trying hard enough............. .....

John Henry

Hehe

Quote from: Sasquatch Jim on March 19, 2018, 07:33:29 AM

So how did the buzzard feel about that ?

I'm pretty sure he didn't like to leave the dinner table for some motorsickle.

radguzzi · « **Reply #4 on:** March 19, 2018, 07:53:04 AM »

Never been a good time.

We have Big-A$$ turkeys that roam the back roads here in Maine and often travel in huge flock and once in a bit one will take flight right in front of the m/c...! Man, the thought of colliding with a fifteen pound feathered bowling ball is Not appealing.

Glad you are ok Luap, be careful out there gents.

Best,
Rob

mechanicsavant · « **Reply #5 on:** March 19, 2018, 07:59:12 AM »

Flying dinosaurs, no wonder all the rest are EXTINCT..

Triple Jim · « **Reply #6 on:** March 19, 2018, 08:19:07 AM »

A couple weeks ago I smacked a dog with my right shoe, while riding my bicycle. He ran right at me and didn't stop in time. I was really glad he didn't get into my front wheel. Since then he just watches me from his front yard.

Kev m · « **Reply #7 on:** March 19, 2018, 08:28:29 AM »

So which one tasted most like chicken?

kballowe · « **Reply #8 on:** March 19, 2018, 08:32:25 AM »

Buzzard bait.....

Sheepdog · « **Reply #9 on:** March 19, 2018, 08:32:47 AM »

My brother hit a buzzard with my Suburban a few years back. It took the right side rear view mirror right off. A friend hit an Eastern Wild Turkey with his truck and it went through the windshield and embedded itself into the rear window. It�s probably a good idea to give them a wide berth...imagine what this bird might do if he could actually lift his 50lbs off the ground...

yogidozer · « **Reply #10 on:** March 19, 2018, 09:06:23 AM »

trying to horn in on his roadkill?

twowings · « **Reply #11 on:** March 19, 2018, 10:53:45 AM »

I hit a pheasant out on the Kansas prairie, but he was crossing my path at only about 25 degrees and I managed to slow to 45 so just a hard thump and colorful explosion of feathers and just a bit of bird poop...glad he didn't hit me in the helmet!

Glad you're OK and hopefully that will buff out...

Guzzi Gal · « **Reply #12 on:** March 19, 2018, 11:01:20 AM »

That's crazy!

I'm very happy to see you came out the other end unscathed. We have suicidal doves here but luckily they've avoided us thus far.

Luap McKeever · « **Reply #13 on:** March 19, 2018, 11:13:20 AM »

I'm just thankful that nothing like this happened to me from the days I rode without a fairing/windshield. Had I hit this thing doing that fast without protection, I have to think the outcome could have been nasty...

Darren Williams · « **Reply #14 on:** March 19, 2018, 12:09:33 PM »

Quote from: twowings on March 19, 2018, 10:53:45 AM

I hit a pheasant out on the Kansas prairie, but he was crossing my path at only about 25 degrees and I managed to slow to 45 so just a hard thump and colorful explosion of feathers and just a bit of bird poop...glad he didn't hit me in the helmet!

Glad you're OK and hopefully that will buff out...

Remember on Saturday you had a hawk that didn't give you too much room to get by. I'm thinking he didn't judge your speed very well.

rodekyll · « **Reply #15 on:** March 19, 2018, 12:36:51 PM »

^^^ All of the above is why they call me rodekyll.

oldbike54 · « **Reply #16 on:** March 19, 2018, 12:39:24 PM »

There is a saying in Texas .

"Aren't you glad armadillos can't fly"

Dusty

Shorty · « **Reply #17 on:** March 19, 2018, 01:12:14 PM »

As my Okie father in law used to say, "He won't have the guts to fly into me again."

JohninVT · « **Reply #18 on:** March 19, 2018, 03:53:39 PM »

A few years ago I was driving on rt 12 towards Keene, NH. I was several cars back from an older rider on a Honda CB900 with a plexiglass windshield. A turkey flew off a bank to his left and he hit it dead center, going 60mph. I watched it happen 100ft back and he never saw it coming. It went through the windshield like it wasn't there, hit him right in the chest and ripped him off the back of the bike. Everyone stopped(obviously) and eventually the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Hospital Advanced Response Team helicopter came and took him away.

20lbs x 60mph + your chest=no damned good.

wheaties · « **Reply #19 on:** March 19, 2018, 04:34:33 PM »

Glad to hear you're okay!

A few years back, I was out for a morning ride and disturbed a turkey vulture perched about ten feet off the road. It was a residential area, so I was already going slow, about 35mph. This crazy bird decided the best way to get away from me was to get right in front of me. The next thing I know, I'm looking at the ass end of the bird, not five feet in front of me, while he gathers momentum and lift. Which he did. So next, I had a big ungainly bird flying about ten feet in front of me and ten feet above me. Knowing that birds tend to jettison ballast during takeoff, I was watching and waiting for the bomb bay doors to open and the load to drop. It never happened, but I was having a serious conversation with myself about how to get out of the zone without making any sudden, unsafe moves. It just wouldn't do to over react and get myself killed avoiding a little bird shit, even the substantial discharge of a turkey vulture. But then if it did crap on my visor, would I be able to stop in time before I ran off the road?

Judicious use of brakes gave the bird more room to climb, but I still felt trapped in the zone. Eventually, his path intersected with a big dead branch reaching over the road. He stopped there, and I rode on past.

I certainly don't want to take away from Luap's story, and it definitely doesn't qualify as a bird strike, but it was one of those moment you can only have on a bike.

Matt

Sasquatch Jim · « **Reply #20 on:** March 19, 2018, 05:20:03 PM »

I am sure that some large birds intentionally take aim before dumping ballast. I know that seagulls do this to people in boats and on ships.

LowRyter · « **Reply #21 on:** March 19, 2018, 05:55:28 PM »

I guess cracking my EV Plexifairing by hitting a songbird don't count?

Gotta be careful here with the buzzards and turkeys too. The turkeys have literally come out of the closet over the last 5 or 10 years. They just gaggle around. The buzzards are always an issue in wooded areas with roadkill. The Cimarron River road here being a prime one.

Luap McKeever · « **Reply #22 on:** March 19, 2018, 07:45:27 PM »

Turkeys are not really much of a problem around here, thanks to efforts from hunters and their love of smoked wild turkey

In fact, living where I do my whole life, I can count on 1 hand how many wild turkeys I've seen in person. But, now that I've jinxed it, I'll probably whack one of them on my next outing...

LowRyter · « **Reply #23 on:** March 19, 2018, 10:23:53 PM »

Quote from: Luap McKeever on March 19, 2018, 07:45:27 PM

Turkeys are not really much of a problem around here, thanks to efforts from hunters and their love of smoked wild turkey

In fact, living where I do my whole life, I can count on 1 hand how many wild turkeys I've seen in person. But, now that I've jinxed it, I'll probably whack one of them on my next outing...

I never saw a wild turkey until a few years. It used to be quite a feat for a hunter to bag one. I have eaten them fried.

But now, they are common in my neighborhood and just as stupid crossing busy roads.

oldbike54 · « **Reply #24 on:** March 19, 2018, 10:44:03 PM »

You guys need to watch the documentary "my life as a turkey" , they are smarter than you might think .

Dusty

tris · « **Reply #25 on:** March 20, 2018, 02:45:37 AM »

Quote from: twowings on March 19, 2018, 10:53:45 AM

I hit a pheasant out on the Kansas prairie, but he was crossing my path at only about 25 degrees and I managed to slow to 45 so just a hard thump and colorful explosion of feathers and just a bit of bird poop...glad he didn't hit me in the helmet!

Glad you're OK and hopefully that will buff out...

Don't know if the same animal but I hit a pheasant with my wife's Citroen DS3 the other month and took out the Day Light Running light and spot light on one side resulting in a trip to the body shop on the insurance.

The galling thing though is when I came to insure the B11 they nailed me for an additional £69 because I had an insurance claim in the past 5 years ......... Grrrrrr

NHMike · « **Reply #26 on:** March 20, 2018, 09:04:30 AM »

Quote from: radguzzi on March 19, 2018, 07:53:04 AM

Never been a good time.

We have Big-A$$ turkeys that roam the back roads here in Maine and often travel in huge flock and once in a bit one will take flight right in front of the m/c...! Man, the thought of colliding with a fifteen pound feathered bowling ball is Not appealing.

Glad you are ok Luap, be careful out there gents.

Best,
Rob

I had Turkey fly into me last spring on my Monster at low speed. I saw it on side of the road, didn't think it would decide to take flight right at me... It hit my right side handle bar, mirror and pretty much exploded on impact. It felt like a bowling ball being thrown at me. I turned around and pulled over and moved the carcass out of the road, then went back home to clean the shit off my bike. Wild Turkey's are everywhere in southern NH, becoming a problem I would say.

Mike-

LowRyter · « **Reply #27 on:** March 20, 2018, 10:29:01 AM »

Quote from: oldbike54 on March 19, 2018, 10:44:03 PM

You guys need to watch the documentary "my life as a turkey" , they are smarter than you might think .

Dusty

My point is that turkeys were wiley and difficult to hunt. Just as Luap said, seldom seen. But in the last few years, the fear of humans has been bred out of a large population of these birds. They gaggle around and wander across roads in the Spring and Fall. Before these birds started hanging out in the neighborhood, the only time I'd ever seen one was when I was riding around Deal's Gap. Previous to that, I knew several hunters that told me how difficult it was to find and bag one. So it appears to me that there has been a definite change in their population behavior.

rtbickel · « **Reply #28 on:** March 20, 2018, 12:14:13 PM »

Its a good thing you were only struck a glancing blow. Nothing much nastier that buzzard guts all over the bike, helmet and jacket from a direct hit at speed. They also tend to "evacuate" at that point also.

John A · « **Reply #29 on:** March 20, 2018, 12:19:50 PM »

A big bird would take you right off the bike. Some kind of smaller bird hit me in the face shield at night. My wife who was following on her bike said it just looked like my head exploded.

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Author Topic: Smacked a buzzard yesterday...Birds birds birds (Read 4991 times)

twowings

oldbike54

oldbike54