BMW GT vs Deer, or I fought the deer and the...

[rivercreep]

Originally Posted by BeniciaRT_GT

Well, my GT days are over, at least for now. I hit a deer in Utah a couple of weeks ago, and it is official, the bike is totaled!







I'm a VERY lucky boy!

No, I mean I gotz MAD skillz!

...

It's all a matter of perspective.
Looking at the pics, seems you managed to keep it straight up until the moment of impact and not "lay'er down"...I'd say you do have "mad skills"...
Only thing I'm left wondering, is just how much speed you WEREN'T ABLE TO SCRUB OFF, after the ABS kicked in which might have resulted in even less damage.


All the "mad skillz" or awareness in the world can't prevent every accident but, can help you come out better than if you had no skills at all.

None of us who constantly extoll our skills are saying we are perfect and IT can't happen to us. We're just trying to get the point across that you can deal a whole lot better with fate and sometimes change it, when you have an ace up your sleeve.
(we know our clock can run out too)

Needless to say, your jab at us (if that's what "mad skillz" was about), and the results of your accident (if not for your "mad skillz", you might have fared much worse)...contradict each other.

F.W.I.W. I'm glad you came out ok. (the bike is replaceable)

Now go play the lottery and heal up!

[StudlySteve]

The real question is did you go back and field dress what was left of the deal so you could have venison later.

So did you?

Glad you're ok.

[CoFloW]

Suppose someone or something was watching over ya? Atta boy for riding away..... Curious to know if you accelerated right before impact or?

[Rick G]

Glad to hear you were not hurt in your deer strike. I wasn't so lucky last year when a deer landed on my back and put me in the hospital for a week totalling my Ducati in the process.

Good luck with your new bike search.

Rick G

[BeniciaRT_GT]

My ride out to Torrey ( A BMW Sport Touring.com biannual event)September was one for the books.

Since most of yo from here weren't there, and since I can't seem to find the time to write up a proper long winded version, here is a short version:

I started in the early afternoon after working the night before. I figured on getting a good start from somewhere closer on Thursday and arriving Thursday afternoon.

So I found myself on the east side of the Sierras in Bridgeport as it was getting dark. I got a room, a bite to eat and collapsed into bed. One of the wonderful things about my schedule is being in a constant state of sleep deprivation. So I'd been up plenty long enough that I slept nice and late the next morning. So much for an early start.

So I left about 4 hours later than I had hoped...

As I was crossing the desert (trying to make up some time) I came across a familiar looking GS:



Paul (Old Fart)

This was in the afternoon, and I debated stopping for the night, but decided I'd press on. While pumping gas Paul passed by, so I decided I'd stop and say hello. He was getting a room (in Caliente, Nv.) and when I told him I was pressing on, he looked at me for a long pause, and said, "Very well, but be careful." I knew exactly what he was thinking, and it was tempting to get a room also, and have a nice relaxing dinner with Paul. However, I felt since I was so close, and WIDE awake, I decided to press on.







As it got dark and I was grabbing gas and food in Cedar City, I decided to ignore my GPS and take a longer way around, since I thought that would be the shortest exposure to deer country. Well, it was a plan anyway...

I stopped one last time In Richfield for gas and to put another layer on. It was getting chilly.

So on 24, just about 30 miles from Torrey, out came 3 deer, crossing from right to left. I didn't swerve, heck I'm not sure I could have anyway! I hit the deer square in the middle, twice in about .01 seconds, and then through my oil/blood covered visor realized, I was not only dragging it, but was getting pushed towards the right edge of the road. I actually gave it a little gas, and once the deer rolled under the bike and I came back down, the bike seemed perfectly controllable. (We paced it off, and I drug the deer about 180 feet) However, the ABS light was already flashing. I tried the brakes, and did a few, VERY gentle swerves, and decided in light of being in the middle of nowhere, to press on.

The next light was the water temp light. Press on.

The next light was the oil waring light. Press on.

Next the temp went to 0, and I knew I was out of water in the radiator, so I decided to stop on a hill, hoping my phone would work. I was also within walking distance of Koosharem by now. Overall, I went about 8 miles after striking the deer.

I will hold off posting pictures of the deer, as I think these are bad enough. (If you honestly feel the need to see more pics, the gallery can be found: Here .)










I could not have been any luckier! There are about a 1000 ways this did not work out with a happy ending!

So, hopefully this is a good reminder for folks to LISTEN to that little voice when it says stop! Tired/deer/dehydrated/etc. the results can be the same, and you can't always take another swing at getting it right!

As usual, folks from the BMWST board were amazing in both the rescue and awesome offers and suggestions of how to get me home! Special shout out to Eddddddddddd!


I was very happy with the way Progressive insurance treated me and I had a check in my hand in just a little over 2 weeks!







So without further ado, ADV folks meet Bambi...

Bambi, meet the board:



2011 Triumph Sprint GT

[BeniciaRT_GT]

Originally Posted by rivercreep

Needless to say, your jab at us (if that's what "mad skillz" was about), and the results of your accident (if not for your "mad skillz", you might have fared much worse)...contradict each other.

My comment was strictly an attempt at humor... I'm sure there is something to be said for some skill (I've got about 400K on bikes,) but I'd say it was just about 99.9% luck.

[bquinn]

holy shit those photos are NASTY! i've posted about it here before but I t-boned a deer in Santa Cruz at about 50mph and after all parties had stopped sliding, there was a perfect square pile of deer innards exactly equidistant between the nighthawk and the deer.

what I want to know is why why why are deer so stupid??? when a wolf is charging at them, do they jump sidelong into its jaws? "oh, here's a big loud scary metal animal flying down the road, I think I'll cross now..." NO. somebody needs to start a traffic school in the forest for these idiots.

very glad you're ok. you might as well post photos of the deer, looks like a third of it is smeared all over the bike anyway...

[bob393]

That's just nuts!

I'm glad your OK and everything worked out OK with the bike and insurance company.

WOW

[TH]

Damn fortunate! Glad you are OK.

[TheRoss]

Damn glad you're alright.

Very nice looking Brit you've got there!

[Nevada]

Originally Posted by BeniciaRT_GT

Thanks Y'all!

I got out of it without a scratch or bruise! I am beyond lucky!
The insurance has already paid me for the bike.

So I'm out shopping today!

hah!!! You just wanted a new bike, so you snuck over to a deer farm, rustled up a fawn, and then beat it to death on your front wheel! Definitely a more creative solution than sneaking your bike behind a semi that's about to back up.

Well, as a now Utah resident, I will thank you for taking out one of those damn forest rats for us, and hope that your next set of wheels is the bee's knees for you, and that your MAD skillz don't desert you.

[jgas]

I've hit a dog and gone over the bars, totaled my helmet and had major road rash, hit a cow on a dirt road but got slowed down to about 20 or so, still hurt but not serious. Then the cow tried to jump up, got tangled in my bike, broke 3 spokes and stomped a big dent in the gas tank. Hit a huge buck, but my front tire slid up between it's hind legs, and it kicked both feet at my head like a mule would, but just hit the bars with a hoof. I was almost stopped when I hit it, but fell over from the shock and the buck was trying so hard to run away he tripped over his own feet, (hooves)? and fell once before taking off. Now THAT was too funny! Only time I've seen a deer be clumsy. I hit a 4ft by 4 ft cardboard box on the interstate, yes those dimensions are correct. 4 feet tall and wide! I just grazed it and didn't crash. It was empty but still probably weighed 70 lbs or more being so big.If I had hit it head on it would have been bad. I've been hit by a car from behind at a light, didn't get hurt. Had a bat fly in my mouth! One wing went inside my mouth, and the bat was stuck in the side of my helmet for a second or two. Hit a crow at about 90mph, it exploded on my faceshield which was half way open. I had to stop and wipe off the bird blood and bird crap from outside and inside on my face. I've had 3 head ons with Quads on off road bikes, no one got seriously hurt. Hit a 6ft long black snake on a dirt bike, which the front tire flipped up into my lap. I crashed from fear alone,which just put me closer to the snake! I saw a competitor hit a cow so hard the cow had to be butchered, the poor guy flew about 30 feet over the cow and landed hard but got up and finished the race in 3rd place! I hit a spectator during a race with my bark buster and broke his hand. Idiot was trying to lean out over the race trail and take a close up picture! My helmet grazed his face just barely, but he had dropped his camera which was on a lanyard on his neck or the camera would have hit my helmet.

But I've never seen, heard of, or imagined that someone could hit a deer so hard that it would do THAT to a bike or the deer! I've seen deer hit by cars that didn't do that much damage. You are indeed lucky to be alive. Do they make cattle catchers for bikes like they used to put on freight trains?

[YOUNZ]

When a vehicles headlights light up the road, that's an invitation to cross, in the deers mind. Makes sense to me.

[TxLoneRider]

Originally Posted by BeniciaRT_GT

So without further ado, ADV folks meet Bambi...

Bambi, meet the board:



2011 Triumph Sprint GT

Congrats on the new bike!

My longest lived bike (well, the one I put the most miles on) was a '01 Sprint ST. ~26,000 miles in 18 months.



Hopefully you will love your GT more than I did my Sprint ST.