| Author | Message | ||
     Kmbuell |
Joe, glad to hear you will be ok. RR no fun, but way better than bone breaks and surgeries. Hope the S2 can be patched up. Lots of us here can help with parts. If the frame is ok, it can roll again. Heal fast! | ||
| K12pilot |
Holy Sheet Joe, Glad you are OK, Heal fast, I have a frame with title up here & an S2 roller | ||
| Ratbuell |
Well just went and measured the crash site with a surveyors wheel. The deer went 210 feet. I went 300. The bike went 600. No wonder the neighbors heard it. | ||
| Zac4mac |
Well I hope you got some venison out of the deal. I prefer a high powered rifle instead of clubbing them to death with a perfectly good S2 | ||
| Pwnzor |
Well, shit. Glad you're all right. | ||
| Ratbuell |
Still haven't seen it but I'm going to assume it is no longer a perfectly good S2. Just a hunch. | ||
| Ebutch |
Joe:Glad your relatively ok hope S2 is too. Butch  | ||
| Big_island_rider |
Happy that you survived, sad the bike most likely will not. One of the things I like about living on The Big Island is that there are no deer. Tourists on the other had just might be the death of me. (Message edited by big island rider on May 08, 2018) | ||
| Ratbuell |
I damn near killed a woman at the bike store earlier. Took my mountain bike in for a tune-up since - with a sprained ankle - I have some time I can't exercise on the MTB. Talking with the guy, he asked about my ankle and I was telling him about the accident with Bambi. Dumb bimbo waiting behind me chimes in "well, the deer didn't suffer, did it??" Wait. WHAT?? Did you REALLY just ask that question?? I'll have to apologize to the clerk for leaving so abruptly - it was so I didn't slap the bitch. Human being. Hits a deer. On a motorcycle. At highway speeds. Walked away - near miracle in itself - and you're worried about the ••••••• DEER??? | ||
| Hootowl |
Doesn't surprise me a bit. She probably donates to no-kill shelters, is pro-abortion, and doesn't recognize the dichotomy. | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
A lot of people have empathy for those damned critters. One of my neighbors at my old house had an army of stray cats that she fed. She called them "Homeless cats". They got everywhere and marked all the territory they could. I ended up having to kill one that got into my house under a crawl space and burrowed up between the inner and outer walls. I was raised with pet cats and it sucked to have to do it but the vermin wasn't coming out. Growing up in the northeast, I never NEVER saw a deer. Now we are infested with the bastards. I hate them. They are just big rats that carry lyme disease. They infiltrated our 'burbs because you can't hunt them there. There really needs to be a serious cull. Deer populations are too dense for safety. Sorry about the rant but HUMANS FIRST!! | ||
| 86129squids |
Dingbat. Good on ya for your restraint then Joe, but I AM surprised you didn't give her the what-for, given all you've been through. I can actually say I have a friend who herds cats. She's moved back to Michigan, but when she lived here, she looked after several feral cat colonies around the county. Trapped/spayed, otherwise dealt with the critters as best she could. Doing a similar job now... we worked together at the HD dealership. Tall as me, former Marine, glad to call her a friend! | ||
| Airbozo |
I deal with the deer all the time. Flea buses the lot of 'em, who eat my roses, apples and other plants to the ground. Nothing more satisfying than seeing one dragged across the road by a mountain lion (who have never bothered me or my neighbors). I would have told that lady that as you were bleeding on the road, struggling to breath and limping badly, you noticed the deer writhing in pain and convulsing across the road until it let out a screaming gurgle and died on the spot. Get graphic. Look for tears. Yes I am a bastard. | ||
| Sifo |
Slightly off topic, but back in IL some years back, the Crook County forest preserves were getting really over run with the deer. They discussed culling them with sharp shooters. Liberals screamed about that. Plan be was to catch them in nets... Then club them to death. | ||
| Aesquire |
Local city park is over run with deer. They tried birth control drugs in deer feed, fail. Imported "professional hunters", quite the outcry on that one, also fail. My suggestion to the City that they offer $200 season tickets to Bow hunters with NYS licenses got no reply, even thought EVERY bow hunter I talked to said they would pay that much to hunt there, and it would actually work. My usual suggestion is to release a pack of Timber Wolves in the park to cut down on excess deer, stray cats, dogs, children, and the elderly.... There are more deer than people where I live, they bed in my back yard, and if I don't see a deer while driving at twilight & night, I assume I just didn't see them. They are there. I've hit a couple, with massive auto damage, and just been lucky, slow, and paranoid on my bike. My buddy lives next to a county park, no hunting, and a huge deer population. I ride at 35 all the way between our houses, and see deer every time. Every Time. | ||
| Ebutch |
I Came Upon a Roadkill Deer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IknKVWnFnI (Message edited by ebutch on May 07, 2018) | ||
| 86129squids |
So, Joe- if the bike's in too bad shape, are you gonna do a Redneck Chopper custom with it??   | ||
| Crusty |
There's an S2 for sale in Ft. Wayne, IN for $2600: https://fortwayne.craigslist.org/mcy/d/1995-buell- s2-thunderbolt-1205/6565390030.html | ||
| Rick_a |
A guy I used to work with hit a cow on his Harley and stayed up on two. Another killed a family of deer in one shot on a Triumph Scrambler. He broke a collar bone and the bike got scrambled. Good you're relatively okay. Around here there's a lot of snakes and spiders, both of which I quite like, yet people kill them with glee. Whatever. People must like bugs and rats. They'll make more. I'm on a busy road and there's roadkill of all varieties. I save a turtle or two from time to time but it seems rather pointless. It's the only area I've lived where dogs are ran over and nobody cares. Deer are uncommon. Too many men folk around, I suppose. | ||
| Ratbuell |
Not sure if I'll rebuild, replace...or just focus on my others. Maybe use some S2 bits to get my Defender S3 back on the road. Just talked to Progressive - time to document farkles, aftermarket parts, and riding gear. Jeez, this'll be a list... S2T touring peg drops aftermarket sideplates Works Performance rear shock EBC front brake Thunderstorm top end - pistons, heads, cams S2T luggage - narrow lids, custom-reinforced brackets S2T fairing lowers Hella H4 headlight with HID lamp PIAA aux driving lights Kuryakyn voltmeter Gerbings heated clothing controller and wiring Corbin Gunfighter seat custom LED taillight with brakelight flasher Buell accessory race ignition Shoei Neotec helmet Klim armored jacket Buell adventure pants Sidi touring boots Buell GPS and that's off the top of my head. ....if anyone has links handy for any of those, fire 'em my way and I can send them to the adjuster. I'm going to dig as well... | ||
| Hootowl |
Custom plates: http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/476 23/733394.html | ||
| 1313 |
So, Joe- if the bike's in too bad shape, are you gonna do a Redneck Chopper custom with it?? HELL YEAH!!! Call it 'The Deer Slayer'! PERFECT! | ||
| Airbozo |
Drove the cage in today (customer meetings) and almost wiped out an entire rafter of turkey's! They were all standing in the road as I came around a blind corner. Damn that ATS stops on a dime! Not even an out of place feather... I did notice a feathery lump on the side of the road though. | ||
| Ratbuell |
Well...I had to go to the state police barrack to get a copy of the accident report, for insurance. Stopped by work on the way since it's a mile from the barrack. My boss saw me walking around for the first time and I think realized that despite the CSI-level blood spray and debris field at the accident site when he went and collected the pieces...I'm OK. So...he finally turned over the photos he took when they loaded it up.     Not nearly as bad as I expected. I expected NO fairing, NO light, just bare trees, bent forks, a front wheel shoved into the oil filter, no bodywork at all, and a basically unrecognizable lump. The company owner was with my manager (father and son), and said they stood it up, he thumbed the starter, and it fired up instantly. Shifted down from 5th to 1st, and they used the engine to help walk it up onto the trailer. Un. Real. Our only guess is, speed saved as much of it (and me) as possible. If I'd been going 35 or 40, I'd have hit the deer like a cinderblock wall and likely started to flip and flop. 60? I literally sliced the deer in half - more like a sand pit on the trucker emergency braking spots on the mountain downhills. I also TRULY believe that my father reached down from the heavens, and put me as gently on the ground as he could get away with. I never felt an impact - deer, earth, nothing. Simply...sliding. | ||
| Ebutch |
Wow  | ||
| Chauly |
It'll buff out... | ||
| Chauly |
Joe, you'll appreciate this: "Tinkling Brass Casings - Posted 5/29/2001 - By Warchild This is your first, last and only warning: Following story describes my 60mph deerstrike in great detail. Graphically, too, so delete now if you are sensitive to language, squeamish about gore, or are a tree-hugging, card-carrying member of the SPCA (while I'd like to say no animals were harmed in the production of this story, that wasn't quite the case). Executive Summary: ================= Place: East-central Oregon, HWY 395, south of John Day, north of Burns, Oregon Time: 5:04 AM PDT, Thursday, May 24, 2001 Conditions: 55 degrees F, clear, bright daylight, completely dry, outstanding road surface Speed at impact: 61mph Damage: Massive bodywork damage, upper and lower fairings smashed, fairing pockets cracked, inner front fairing gone, front fender destroyed, radiator severely dented (but serviceable), both FIAMM horns destroyed, right wingtip cover missing, left wingtip cover cracked, windshield valance crushed. Final Score: Warchild = 1 Bambi = 0 Night Train = -1 The Story: ========= See why I HATE these ••••••• deer so much? So there I was, riding to Gerlach and the infamous MASS GOLD endurance event. I had departed well after midnight, cruising down HWY 395, one of THE FINEST motorcycle roads to be found anywhere. I was just coming down a hill to an incredibly flat valley that stretched perhaps 1-2 miles before the next series of hills. This valley was flat, Flat, FLAT, with nothing but sagebrush that was only 12-18" high. I looked long and hard for any range cattle or other furry critters that could cause problems. Nope, not a thing on this prairie but sagebrush. I relaxed and descended into the valley floor. I was approximately halfway across the valley when I went into another instrument scan. I checked the tachometer, looked up at the Sigma, then down to the temp gauge, then looked up to see the 75-lb doe looking right at me, standing directly in front of the bike, about 50 feet from impact. The Sigma revealed I was traveling at 61 mph, which means I had about a half a second to do something. However, there was nothing to be done. I knew I was going to strike the deer, and even the deer looked like she knew she was about to die. As my brain realized that an accident was imminent, the classic perception of "time slowing down" kicked in, allowing all the following to happen prior to impact: The first thing I did was silently scream at the deer, "Now, just where in the •••• did you come from?!" This was just too unbelievable.... it's not like this deer emerged from a forest, and it's not like it had any place to hide!! [Note: surveying the crash scene afterward, I saw a somewhat more sizeable sage brush that the doe was (obviously) sleeping/hiding behind; it was about 24" high, immediately next to the point of impact] I began an attempt to swerve behind the doe, started to push the right grip downward when (again, given that perception of "slow time") I realized it wasn't going to do any good, and I had better not be leaning when we struck, so I stood the bike up so I would have a "clean" impact. By now I was about 10 feet from the doe, and looked right into her eyes. Two thoughts flashed "Man, is my bride ever going to be pissed at me if I die like this...." and a second thought: "well, it's lookin' like there will be one less rider at MASS GOLD...". I tore into her body at 61 mph. The doe had decided to take another step before I hit her, so the front wheel split her body roughly mid-section, such that the forward 2/3's of the deer fell along the left side of the bike, the rear 1/3 of the carcass went down the right side. It was like you could feel and hear the sounds of cartilage, bone and sinew being snapped and torn asunder. My right lower leg was smashed with the rear hindquarters of the severed doe. But what got to me was the shit. Literally. Shit! Deer shit.... lot's and LOT'S of deer shit! The ENTIRE RIGHT HALF of the forward fuselage area was no longer Honda red.... it was brown and green!!! DEER SHIT!!!! I could not believe my eyes! Not only was there a massive amount of deer shit on the road, but my bike front and right side were AWASH in deer shit!! How can a creature hold this much shit in their bodies AND STILL BE ALIVE?!!! What, do these deer have to "shit on demand" for a living, or something?! There was an UNBELIEVEABLE amount of intestinal matter in every single crevice of the bike. Lovely aroma...... Since I had begun a right swerve, I was pointing slightly right when we struck, and after severing the animal, the bike was now pointed to the far right, and into the ditch beyond. I stabbed both brakes and start leaving fresh Dunlop and Metzeler on the road. My speed starts to bleed off, but I see with crystal clarity that I am fast approaching the edge of the road..... and snow-melt sand is *inside* the edge of the white line! "Guess I'm done bleeding off speed", I think to myself. Just before I reach the sand, I release the brakes as I look at the Sigma. It says 53 mph as the ST1100 leaves the road, and flies airborne into the ditch. As we leave the road, I get up on the footpegs and assume my best Jeremy McGrath riding stance. The front tire slams down into the ditch and the rear end bounces up to try to pop me off the bike, but I'm ready for it, and hang on somehow. I bounce and hop all over the ditch, which is roughly 7 feet wide and three feet deep. I keep looking for the drainage ditch that will end my off-road adventure (and probably my young life) in an instant, the very same way Jack Baird got his serious injuries. First order of business, however, is to avoid the telephone pole that is fast approaching on the left. I manage to sneak past the pole, even though it knocked off my left mirror housing (amazingly enough, the post-accident inspection revealed not a single mark on the mirror housing... go figure!) By now I am down to 30 mph, and I'm beginning to believe I might live if no Jack Baird drainage-ditch surprises me. About that time, I realize, hey, I'd better do something about getting the bike out of the ditch while I am still moving, or I'll be in this ditch a long time. So I gently apply a little countersteering, and amazingly, the ST "walks up" the side of the ditch, trading speed for elevation. I am almost to the top of the ditch, and am only going 5 mph!! I finally come out of the ditch, and roll onto the paved shoulder just as I came to a gentle stop!!!! I slowly put the kickstand down. I stepped off the bike and immediately ran around to looked at the front end damage. •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• The front fairings are all smashed. The fender is barely hanging on. The lower gray fairing has major holes torn all through it.... and there is a hoof in one of the holes!! The left middle fairing is cracked from top to bottom. The inner middle fair is..... gone!! COMPLETELY GONE!!! The right middle fairing is severely damaged with razor-sharp jagged edges that did most of the deer-slicing, along with the right tip-over guard. The force of the impact buckled and cracked the right (lockable) fairing pocket. Both side maintenance panels took impact damage. The right FIAMM electric clamshell horn is flattened and looks like a frisbee. The other FIAMM horn looks worse. The radiator has a sizeable dent in the right side, but appears intact. I expected to have radiator fluid everywhere, but the cooling system remained intact. My Night Train was hit hard.... but still serviceable. As I surveyed the damage, the adrenaline from the near-accident started to wear off, and was being replaced by a seething, raging anger. That ••••••• deer..... just LOOK at the mess it has made! Then, the final straw..... I discovered that the deer had cause me to lose the PIAA 910s! When I discovered this...... all my attention turn to the deer, still 250 feet back. Shaking with rage, I reached for the Browning, pulled back the slide, chambered a round, and started walking back to the carcass. As I slowly walked back to the point of impact, I looked over to the left to see the deep, long furrow the ST1100 had made as it ran through the ditch and back up onto the highway. I walked past by the telephone pole that knocked off my mirror housing. As I approach the deer, I have to step around various organs and deer splatter to make my way around to the front 2/3 of the carcass. I lean over the head of the deer and look into her soft, brown eyes. I gently whisper "•••• you", then empty the clip into her. There's nothing like the sound of brass casings tingling on asphalt. Oh, yeah. With the post-accident mental therapy complete, I reloaded the Browning and put it away. I walked back to the bike. Jesus, what a mess! I could not - could NOT - get rid of the stench of deer shit.... and no wonder, IT WAS EVERYWHERE!!! I dig into the Ventura bag for my Polaroid, and almost retch as I noticed that the entire right side of the bag is also encrusted with deer shit. I turned back and face the carcass, "HOW MUCH SHIT CAN YOU DEER *POSSIBLY* CARRY?!!!!!!! I was just stunned at the amount of deer feces distributed about the bike. When I get to the Polaroid, I see that it has no film. Damn, I REALLY wanted to get a few pictures of the carcass, but it was not to be. I got back on the bike, and slowly made the 30-ish miles to Burns. It was completely un-nerving to look down through the opening of the triple-tree area (normally covered by the inner middle fairing) and see asphalt whirling by! And, DAMN, the smell emerging off the exhaust lines was INCREDIBLE!!! Upon reaching Burns, I rolled into a Texaco and dashed inside to buy one of those disposable cameras. I shot about a dozen pictures of the bike at various angles, then rolled over to the car wash area and borrowed their hose. I scrubbed and scrubbed for 45 minutes, and STILL couldn't get rid of the deer shit stench that came from the engine bay. I walked 200 feet away from the bike, and could STILL smell that deer shit! DAMN, that's some lingering aroma... or so I thought. Later on that morning, I stopped in Lakeview, Oregon for some gas. Went to the restroom, and as I washed my hands, I took a brief look in the mirror. There, in my mustache, under the right nostril, was a nice dollop of green deer shit, all crusty and hard. ••••••• deer...... - Warchild" | ||
| Ratbuell |
So much for "doesn't look as bad as I expected". Progressive just called - says the frame cracked in 2 places at the neck. Not surprising given the impact, but still sucks. I was starting to get hopeful about maybe rebuilding... Oh well. Definitely buying back. Too many good parts on here to toss in the bin. | ||
| Aesquire |
Bikernet used to build a new chopper every year for the run to Sturgis from LA. Every year a story of poorly tested choppers breaking down every few miles. Jesse James touring chopper that was so low when you changed lanes it'd tear the bots dots out of the pavement. Great stories of human foolishness. One year the chopper just wasn't going to be ready, so they grabbed the Cyclone they'd been customizing & took it. "Building a Buell for the Badlands blast" Flawless. Zero problems. No break downs. Most comfortable, fastest, best handling bike ever. They stopped to party at a friend's house in S.D. And on the way from the party, hit a deer, cut it in half, trashed the bike, and sent the rider to the hospital, badly injured, covered in deer shit. Only zero problem run, no drama, no mechanical fails..... Deer strike. I'm not sure if it's still there in bikernet. They've changed the site many times since. So as I ride, that story is in the back of my head, and I stay in a state of righteous paranoia. Putt putting along at 35 between buddy by the Park's place & my house. This is not an exaggeration. Not hype. I have had deer run in front of me on every single road between our houses. AND between work and home. Not every road every day, but I've hit the brakes to avoid a deer on Every road. Some stretches multiple times. If it's after the Sun sets, I just know the deer are there. If I don't see them, it's just because I did not see them. They are there. In the fields, just waiting to cross the road. I saw a light gizmo on "Dirt Every Day" that has a high powered led array and radar, to mount on the roof or good of an off road vehicle, that will sense a critter, or kid, or dirt bike, moving sideways off to the side of the trail and illuminate & TRACK the moving object as it crosses in front of you, or not. I want one. Two. | ||
| 86129squids |
 , +1000!! Heck, with all the over-the-top tech being built into vehicles nowadays (most of which kinda creeps me out), Patrick, maybe THAT would actually be a great one. Wonder if GoPro or a similar outfit could figure that one out. Do post up if you track down that gizmo. |
