Thought I was going to dump it this morning

[marcusorelius]

I ran over a good size jackrabbit a few weeks ago on my DRZ, I was really suprized how I didn't even feel nuthin. (checked my rear mirror yhea he was centerpunched)

 

[wheatonFJR]

I forgot. It's pile on me friday. I hate it.

From Forum Guideline #6:

"Those who are easily offended should proceed with caution..."

 

[CAJW]

I've been riding for years, but I'm no pro. I'm just now getting comfortable finding out just how far I can lean this bike over after roughly 3,000 miles on my 09 FJR.

I ride it to work pretty much everyday, finally got my brainbucket and sena SMH10 working.

I ride pretty sanely and try to keep it under 100mph (it's not easy).

So this morning (about 30 minutes ago) I'm riding to a clients, which is about an hour from my house. I'm riding in the back country of WI, doing about 65 or so.

Nobody on the road to speak of, and I'm listening to the local talk station.

Coming up around sweeping right hand corner, I noticed a big ole country cat standing in the grass on the left side of the road. I think nothing of him, until he decides to start crossing the road. His angle and speed couldn't have been any more perfect (or worse, depending on how you look at it). He wasn't crossing straight across...it was almost like he was trying to attack my bike. I went to speed up and he changed direction more up the road, I then decided to let off the gas and he changed again.....

For a brief second, I KNEW I was going to hit him and I thought 'Well, is this really how you're going to dump it?'

Sure enough, I smoked the poor thing. I was bracing myself for wiping out, etc. I've never hit an animal with any bike before so I had no idea what to expect.

Sadly, when I hit him, my FJR made a 'THUD' and my bike barely moved. I looked in the mirror and he was rolling back into the other lane of traffic.

I'm quite certain he didn't make it, and as much as I can't stand cats (hate the little sh1ts), I obviously felt a bit bad.

I'm sure this story is probably a bit anti-climatic from what you all expected. I can tell you that in my close to 25 years of riding....I've never been that freaked out. I had no idea what to expect, and was very surprised at how little it affected the bike/ride.

Anyway, I don't know if anybody else here has hit an animal or not at 65mph, but it freaked the crap out of me.

Glad you are ok, but why do some people hate certain animals? Especially an animal as harmless as a housecat? They are only animals, and probably someone's loved pet. I never could figure that one out. How would you feel if that was your child's pet and you heard that the person who ran it over said he hated cats? Even if it was totally unintentional?

Years back, someone ran over one of our housecats. The person came to the door, explained what happened and said they were sorry it happened. That's class.

Was this the guy?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkaf4PYbtjw

 

[Bugnatr]

That was a good one John :lol: :lol:

Haven't hit a cat yet but I've killed enough gray squirrels to feed the homeless in San Francisco. The amazing thing is how many I've taken out with the back tire, just shows how suicidal they are when they try to run between your tires.

My new policy is to aim for them, therefor you will miss them and yes it works as I have not hit one since I started this action. My wife thinks I may be going to far when they are off the road .

 

[Fontanaman]

Haven't hit a cat yet but I've killed enough gray squirrels to feed the homeless in San Francisco. The amazing thing is how many I've taken out with the back tire, just shows how suicidal they are when they try to run between your tires.

A few years ago I was riding in Nor Cal and ran over a lot of squirrels. At first I tried to avoid them. Eventually I just gave up. Since then I don't recall a time so many squirrels were in the road, even on subsequent rides in Nor Cal. Just one of those things or perhaps there is a season where Nor Cal squirrels do stupid things?

 

[CAJW]

Haven't hit a cat yet but I've killed enough gray squirrels to feed the homeless in San Francisco. The amazing thing is how many I've taken out with the back tire, just shows how suicidal they are when they try to run between your tires.

A few years ago I was riding in Nor Cal and ran over a lot of squirrels. At first I tried to avoid them. Eventually I just gave up. Since then I don't recall a time so many squirrels were in the road, even on subsequent rides in Nor Cal. Just one of those things or perhaps there is a season where Nor Cal squirrels do stupid things?

Jim,

I'm sure the lack of squirrels you mention is due to them mistaking you for Bugnatr, who is feared by all little furry things!

 

[Granger]

Youtube of a guy hitting a deer. Impact at 32 seconds. He stays upright, and the deer is almost instantly killed.

 

[BLS]

I went back to the spot I hit the cat after my appointment with my client.

He was laying on the side of the road, pretty much where I remember hitting him.

There are no houses with 400-500 yards of the site; as I did want to go back and possibly notify his owner.

Honestly, it was probably a farm cat, and lord knows who's it was.

Thank you everyone for the well wishes, and don't be too hard on those who didn't necessarily share my 'values'.

I did inspect my bike and didn't find any hair, blood or damage. He must have hit the front tire and I simply ran him over.

I felt it in the front end, so I know it wasn't the rear.

 

[gixxerjasen]

Was driving my truck when a squirrel ran out into the road and froze. No time to dodge him on the back country road so I tried to straddle the poor guy between my wheels.

I did feel a little bad when I heard the "Thunk" and remembered the differential in the center.

 

[Goodman4]

Glad you're ok. Nothing like getting a little spooked by something and learning from it.

On the animal thing, I love and own both cats and dogs, but I have to admit to aiming for squirrels in my younger days. I often hunted for them in our woods but didn't have much luck seeing them very often. But it seemed like every time I drove by the woods one would run out in front of me. I never killed one but once a fox squirrel went between the wheels.

As to hitting a pet, it is kind of traumatic and I think it should be. It's a kind and good gesture to stop and apologize, but you've got to be careful because some people are crazy out there. I ran over a cat in my car on the way to work a long time ago and it really upset me. There was only one house nearby so I drove up to tell the man that lived there. He freaked out and threatened to kill me and come to my house and kill my animals. That was back in the 80's so no telling what some crazy person might do today.

 

[Redfish Hunter]

I strongly dislike killing anything with my vehicles. If I kill an animal that can't be eaten, it is such a waste. Obviously most of the creatures that wander into the roadway are not suitable for table fare, even down here in South Louisiana. I have made that long walk up someone's driveway to inform them that I killed their pet in the road. It is not a happy time, especially if the kids happen to be home. I was not treated like a murderer, I was thanked for my courtesy. If I had been confronted with anger my response would have been that they were responsible for their pet, not me. I am not being hypocritical, I have lost dogs to the traffic in spite of my best efforts. I have never been upset with someone for hitting my dog that should not have been in the road in the first place.

I remember a morning ride on the BRP that would have been perfect except for dozens of suicidal chipmunks. They dart back and forth so fast that Valentino Rossi could not dodge them all, to try would be disastrous. We all felt really badly about it, and none of us knew how many we actually hit. It only lasted for a few miles, just west of Little Switzerland but it did throw a dark shadow over our otherwise perfect ride.

 

[bucky]

In April of this year my wife and I were on the island of Moorea (near Tahiti). The island is quite small so we rented a moped for a couple of days. You can ride completely around the island in about 2-3 hours. Anyway, on the last day of the rental, late afternoon, we were riding along (me riding, wife passenger) about 30 mph and saw what I call the typical "island dog", thin, lanky, mutt-looking, lazily starting to walk across the road, looking my direction. I slowed down to maybe 15 mph. There was a car approaching from the other direction. The dog kept walking, walked right into the other lane of the oncoming car. I could see the driver of the car looking straight ahead and I know he saw the dog, but never slowed down one bit. By now, a hit was emminent. At this point I was maybe 50 feet in front of the oncoming car. The dog never saw the car, never looking that way. The car made impact with the dog about the middle of his front bumper. The dogs walking momentum and his trying to get out of the way instinct pushed him further forward and he went down. The poor dogs head, right under the right front tire. By this time, I was maybe 30 feet or so in front of the car and saw it all as the dog's head went under the tire, that last desperate attempt to get away and the tire rolling over the dogs head, crushing it. Saw it all.

We both stopped. The dog was dead, his head crushed in a puddle of blood. Both me and my wife just blew our tops at that other driver. I mean blew our tops. My wife was screaming at him. I called that s.o.b. every foul-mouthed four letter word I knew, about 6 inches from his face. Anyway, that was a tough one. I woke up a few times that night thinking of that whole episode. To witness something like that (granted, only a dumb island dog). I can still see it in my mind and in super slow motion.

Anyway, that's my story. Not a very pleasant one to witness.

 

[Redfish Hunter]

Not all cultures place the same value on a life.

 

[Geezer]

I hit a pheasant with my truck. It was standing in the middle of the road, it's head was just about the height of my front bumper. I straddled him and heard the thump. I looked in my mirror and saw him laying in the road. I quickly pulled over and got out of he truck to fetch him as I was thinking about my favorite pheasant recipe. When I got within 10 yards of him he hopped up and ran off into a hedgerow. Hot dogs for dinner that night.

 

[starsandstripes]

My new policy is to aim for them, therefor you will miss them and yes it works as I have not hit one since I started this action.

This did not work on Seinfeld for George with the pigeons.

 

[Fontanaman]

So this thread starts on Friday and is about a cat. Today I saw a cat nearly run out in the road in front of me. The cat thought twice and quickly went back the other way. It was close enough to give me a quiet a scare, despite knowing I would be fine if the bike struck the cat. I am glad the cat went the other way.