RTRay Posted June 21, 2007 Share Posted June 21, 2007 As I was riding home from work last night out on a lonely country road I had the closest encounter with Bambi I have ever had so far. As I crested a small rise I saw a car coming the other direction with his brights on. Just as he dimmed his brights I saw Bambi coming up out of the right ditch heading across the road. Doing 65 mph I braked very hard and swerved slightly to the right and just missed her hind end-by less than a foot I would guess. The other fellow wasn't so lucky-he hit her. As we passed I heard the strangest loud impact noise as he hit the deer, and I thought I had hit her but I felt no impact. It turns out he hit Bambi and threw her back over into my lane right behind my bike. She died a quick death and left no mess on me or my bike--THANK GOD!! She really messed up the guys car though. What did I learn? I will NEVER ride fast at night--EVER! I will NEVER ride at night without my extra driving lights which illuminate the ditches. Without the extra lights I wouldn't have seen Bambi until she was right in front of me and I would have hit her if I hadn't slowed VERY quickly. THANK GOD FOR ANTILOCK BRAKES!! Drive Safe! Terry Link to comment
OoPEZoO Posted June 21, 2007 Share Posted June 21, 2007 good thing you have those pink training wheels I feel your pain......thats the #1 reason I really don't ride after dark around here. between southern PA and northern MD, we have A LOT of deer who like to play chicken. On average, I would say I see 3-4 dead per week on my daily commute. Glad you missed him/her Link to comment
Fugu Posted June 21, 2007 Share Posted June 21, 2007 THANK GOD FOR ANTILOCK BRAKES!! Amen. Mine kept me from tangling with an SUV earlier this week. I don't see owning a bike without them. Glad you missed the suicidal deer. Link to comment
pokorskij Posted June 21, 2007 Share Posted June 21, 2007 What bike were you riding? What lights do you have mounted? Can/do you use them all the time or are they only for high beam use? I also live in deer country, in fact, my nephew hit (with a truck not on a bike) a deer leaving my subdivision a couple of weeks ago at 10:30 am. TIA for info on lights you are using. Link to comment
RTRay Posted June 21, 2007 Author Share Posted June 21, 2007 I was riding my trusty 1997 R1100RT with the brightest headlight bulb I could find and a set of 55W driving lights from the local Autozone mounted on PIAA mounts above the front fender. They work great for illuminating the ditches. Riding with the bright on and the driving lights is like having both a bright and dim on at the same time. I really like how I can point the extra lights at the ditches to show me the suicidal little vermin just waiting to ruin my day! Terry Link to comment
Fugu Posted June 21, 2007 Share Posted June 21, 2007 I put Trail Tech SCMR16 self contained HID spots on EMP mounts above my mirrors. They are angled out a tad to illuminate ditches. The PIAAs under the oil cooler do a good job on the road. I run the PIAAs all the time, and the Trail Techs during the day with the silicon covers on (makes the light more diffuse and less blinding to oncoming cars) for extra conspicuity in traffic, bad weather, bad light conditions. The extra set of lights up high gets down the road better and can be tweaked while underway to compensate for ride height (alone, 2- up, 2 up and loaded, etc) Link to comment
Carnadero Posted June 22, 2007 Share Posted June 22, 2007 Not very familiar with deer, as I live in an urban area and don't venture into the wooded areas much (let alone after dark), but do deers' retinas reflect light like dogs, cats, etc? Link to comment
Lawman Posted June 22, 2007 Share Posted June 22, 2007 Not very familiar with deer, as I live in an urban area and don't venture into the wooded areas much (let alone after dark), but do deers' retinas reflect light like dogs, cats, etc? Yes, but generally speaking any deer that looks at you at night is not the one you will hit..The one that gets you is the one that has his sight fixed on some point across the road and runs straight across the highway heading from point A to point B without ever looking down the road..The difference is that the second deer is traveling while the first deer is browsing. Link to comment
Lineareagle Posted June 24, 2007 Share Posted June 24, 2007 Correction lawman, the deer is usually bounding not running. That means it can enter your travel lane from above AND from a long distance away. My deer strike was an absolute surprise as most are. One minute a clear road and ditches, I was in deer country, the next a deer's head is in my headlights. Bang! Personally I think there is only one way to avoid a deer strike, don't drive between dusk and dawn. If you do, lots of light and slow speed will help but only in preventing a horrific accident, those damn deer will jump right into the side of you. I have several friends who have had deer jump into the side window of their vehicles! Any wildlife can wreak havoc, local rider was killed when he hit a goose that lifted off the road in front of him. Don't get me started on moose! Link to comment
Paul Mihalka Posted June 24, 2007 Share Posted June 24, 2007 Personally I think there is only one way to avoid a deer strike, don't drive between dusk and dawn. Wrong. I have two deer strikes on my record. One was at 9am riding to work in a urban area, the other at 11am in back-country West Virginia. The only way to avoid a deer strike is to stay at home. Today on my Sunday ride I saw 5 deer carcasses and 3 times running across the road in front of me. Link to comment
RTRay Posted June 25, 2007 Author Share Posted June 25, 2007 You're right, they do bound out in front of you going full speed and not stopping for anything. The one I almost hit was going full speed and jumped over a fence row right into the ditch and out in front of me. It looked a lot like this video from You Tube, except it was a little farther in front of me and I was able to just miss its hind end. They usually are also traveling in groups, so the one you miss can be followed by several others--those are the ones that run into the side of your bike. http://youtube.com/watch?v=zdroLghaYWQ Terry Link to comment
Lineareagle Posted June 25, 2007 Share Posted June 25, 2007 Yep, thats what happens all right. Even after viewing it a couple times I still cannot see the deer coming! Link to comment
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