Stupid, dead deer

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One bambi down, a gazillion to go. At least that's one Iggy won't have to watch out for on his IBR ride!

 
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Sorry to hear of your mishap; glad you made out relatively unscathed phsyically. Best of luck with repairs or replacement.

 
Keithaba will be along shortly to tell you "that's easy to fix"
Child's Play!!! Doesn't even look like your front sub-frame is bent. That saves a lot of time and $$ alone. :D

Let's see here...

Front fairing - little over $100

Upper left fairing - about $80

Can't tell if you need an upper right fairing or not from the pic. if so, another $80

Headlight Assy- about $160

Lower left fairing - about $275

Glove box assy - little over $60

Upper left dash panel - $34

lower left dash panel - (can't tell it it's cracked where it hooks to glove box assy) - $18

Radiator damage - :dntknw:

My guess - around $750-850 worth of parts with shipping.

Labor not too bad since no sub-frames. You should be able to do it all yourself in 3-5 hours, depending on how many beers you drink during the process....

Good luck, let me know if you have any questions as to what it entails to replace any of those parts!

Glad you made it relatively o.k., I'm still debating as to weather or not this qualifies you for entrance to crash club?? :dntknw:

 
Glad you stayed up and you're ok. And thanks for sharing the experience. I have not hit a deer yet, but I was dive bombed by two wild turkeys - but that is anothe story.

Now that you have had a chance to replay the event is anything you would have done differently?

Thanks again for the post.

 
Thanks for the info. and well wishes... FJR riders really are great folks. There's a guy in town that does most of the crash repair work for all of the Yamaha dealers. I'll be leaving out the dealers this way. He has the equipment to check the frame and forks. He's very good and even does custom jobs and takes them to Daytona (not choppers).

Now that you have had a chance to replay the event is anything you would have done differently?
I think anyone that has experienced something like this plays out "What-if?" scenarios. And, as fellow riders we kind of owe it to each other to try to learn from them.
Should I have tried to stop? Traffic wasn't as close behind me as I thought, so I MAY have been able to just stop and wait for the idiot deer to decide. I really didn't have time to check my 6 and take my eyes off of the deer. But how long do I sit there?, there was no pull-off lane and I was on a bridge. So, even with the benefit of hind-sight, stopping wasn't a good option.

Should I have tried to swerve to miss the deer? If it was a left-turner in a cage, yes, if I could have stayed out of oncoming traffic. But deer don't seem to do anything predictable. And if I were to hit it without being straight up and down, I would most probably have gone down.

The option I chose was to scrub off speed, stay in the lane farthest from the deer, and keep it dead straight up. The whole problem is the unpredictability of the dumb ass deer. My ultimate decision was that hitting the deer while leaned over, or getting rear-ended by a cage, had much more serious consequences than hitting a deer straight up.

To answer your, question, I don't know what I could've done differently. Some days, it's just your day. I guarantee you there are some on the forum that feel they could've avoided it. I sort of felt that way until 6:45 AM on Monday, August 13th.

Oh, I did have a 4th option that may have worked. Right before impact, I could've sprung up and forward out of the saddle. If the deer stayed up and the bike went down, I could adjust my flight and land on the deers back and ride it to work. If the deer goes down and the bike stays up, I simply land back in the saddle. If they both go down, I, uhmm, never mind. :biggrinsmiley:

 
looking at the pictures of the deer, i think she had a fawn somewhere...

looks like her teats / udders are full...

deaddeer1.jpg


maybe you got a two-fer-one deal...

dead mom, starved fawn...

 
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Trying to make HIM feel bad for not dying?
Around here 2 for one is a good deal, one to be proud of. Not enough darn hunters anymore. I think I'll go find me an 'ol 30/30

Really glad you are ok!
Where's PETA when you need them? Too Bad Walt is dead, he could re-do Bambi and make the villan an FJR pilot instead of a silly hunter! :clapping:

LC

 
Trying to make HIM feel bad for not dying?
Around here 2 for one is a good deal, one to be proud of. Not enough darn hunters anymore. I think I'll go find me an 'ol 30/30

Really glad you are ok!
Where's PETA when you need them? Too Bad Walt is dead, he could re-do Bambi and make the villan an FJR pilot instead of a silly hunter! :clapping:

LC
Have you ever read the ride report by that guy that broke the Canadian Vancouver to Nova Scotia record? You ever need free meat, he points out a few good highways to find it. :)

https://www.saltlakemotorsports.com/news/12...istrada-1100-s/

 
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Wow! So glad you're okay.

After reading your write-up, I realize that hitting a deer isn't the "instant death" I've always heard it was.

-=Chris

 
Dang Steve!

Just found this thread.

Glad you came through this experience unscathed--relatively speaking, and a better rider as a result. Such experiences rattle your psyche, but in the long run you will learn tons of stuff from this experience and it will make you a better rider...............after the shakes wear off.

Glad your here with us bro! :yahoo:

 
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Thanks for the info. and well wishes... FJR riders really are great folks. There's a guy in town that does most of the crash repair work for all of the Yamaha dealers. I'll be leaving out the dealers this way. He has the equipment to check the frame and forks. He's very good and even does custom jobs and takes them to Daytona (not choppers).
Now that you have had a chance to replay the event is anything you would have done differently?
I think anyone that has experienced something like this plays out "What-if?" scenarios. And, as fellow riders we kind of owe it to each other to try to learn from them.
Should I have tried to stop? Traffic wasn't as close behind me as I thought, so I MAY have been able to just stop and wait for the idiot deer to decide. I really didn't have time to check my 6 and take my eyes off of the deer. But how long do I sit there?, there was no pull-off lane and I was on a bridge. So, even with the benefit of hind-sight, stopping wasn't a good option.

Should I have tried to swerve to miss the deer? If it was a left-turner in a cage, yes, if I could have stayed out of oncoming traffic. But deer don't seem to do anything predictable. And if I were to hit it without being straight up and down, I would most probably have gone down.

The option I chose was to scrub off speed, stay in the lane farthest from the deer, and keep it dead straight up. The whole problem is the unpredictability of the dumb ass deer. My ultimate decision was that hitting the deer while leaned over, or getting rear-ended by a cage, had much more serious consequences than hitting a deer straight up.

To answer your, question, I don't know what I could've done differently. Some days, it's just your day. I guarantee you there are some on the forum that feel they could've avoided it. I sort of felt that way until 6:45 AM on Monday, August 13th.

Oh, I did have a 4th option that may have worked. Right before impact, I could've sprung up and forward out of the saddle. If the deer stayed up and the bike went down, I could adjust my flight and land on the deers back and ride it to work. If the deer goes down and the bike stays up, I simply land back in the saddle. If they both go down, I, uhmm, never mind. :biggrinsmiley:
I can see you now, leaping onto the deer, Buck knife clenched between your teeth...anyway, good riding!!!

 
Glad Your Okay Man!... We who ride need to consider the the other spiritual release of BowHunting. It commands the same dedications and respects as riding. And man its great to watch the sunrise in your tree stand, climb down about 11:30, Ride till 3 o'clock and climb back up for sunset! You want Zen do this for 6 weeks every fall and remember when you slide an arrow through the beast your helping on all fronts. Conservation,MVA's, Hunger Pains. Ride em hard and let em Fly!

>>>>>------------------------------------------->

Nuthin' Like It!

:bow_arrow:

 
:blink: Can't believe how many of the board members are having accidents or meetings with the forest rats, just glad you had some minor contusions and didn't go down hard. The bike can be replaced, you can't. Glad to have you still around.

 
First of all, also glad you're unscathed man.

First thing I thought was you were lucky to hit a baby deer... turns out it's an adult. If you had hit an adult deer at speed like the ones we have here in the southwest (like the one Larry Grodsky hit), no way in hell you can keep a motorcycle up.

And yes, there's something we all can do to avoid hitting one for the most part: DON'T RIDE early in the morning, and late in the evening (and at night), when they're most active.

In your situation, I'd probably have done the same thing as you, but with a bigger dear, I'd have definitely slow the hell down, and pull over to the right of the lane, leaving plenty of room for a car to pass if needed.

One last advice I read is to honk your horn as soon as you see a deer. The supposed reason for their erratic behavior is when they're invaded their 'personal' space by surprise, like a predator. Honking the horn makes them aware we're coming. But I honestly don't know if the creeps know how to calculate speed. I honk anyway, and so far has worked on the few times I've made eye contact with them. Good luck in your recovery.

JC

 
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