Redbone
Well-Known Member
My brother and I were riding home on Lakeshore drive last night and the bugs were thick! The road runs along the shore then runs up the ridge then runs along the top for a while then back down next to Lake Superior shoreline. It does this in a couple places in about 28 miles through senic (read curvy) roadway in Hiawatha National Forest. This road is known for deer and we had seen a couple already. We have traveled this road and other deer heavy roads throughout our lives so we were alert.
We had just reached the top of the ridge with my brother in the right hand part of the lane (2 lane road) and I was about 20-25 feet behind him in the left hand part of the lane. We were doing about 60 mph when I saw this doe is in the ditch on our side of the road feeding. As our lights hit her she picks her head up and takes a step toward the road and stops. I close the throttle as soon as I see her trying to figure out what she is going to do. My brother must not have seen her as soon as I did and didn't immediatly slow down but by this time he is right on her but she is still 5-6 feet off the road. Well, she bolted forward at the last possible second and her head hits my brothers FZ1 headlight area with her head, neck then hits his handlebar, shoulder glances heavily off his knee but he still keeps the bike up with nary a wobble! I am hitting the brakes thinking the worst is going to happen but it dosen't! So this deer is spinning through the air and now that I have slowed down it is headed towards me! I let off the brake in a attempt to get past her but her head lightly clips my foot peg/ foot then either my r exhaust pipe or wheel, not sure which. It does nothing to uspset my balance so I turn to see what my brother is doing. He raises his hand to say he's ok and we get stopped in about 70 feet or so.
We both turn to look for the deer but it is up and running off into the woods! I have seen many deer get hit and get up and run off so I guess I wasn't too surprised. My brother was fine, said his knee hurt a little but could walk with no problem.
I check out the damage: Vmax - zero damage, FZ-1 - broken r headlight, but that is all we could see in a quick roadway inspection. We headed up the road a couple miles to a paved turn off and I pointed my headlight so we could inspect the damage more closely. The r headlight was broken, the plastic around it had cracked but not broken completely, and a small dent in the exhaust. That was it for damage! We smoked a couple of cigarettes and were still amazed what just happened.
Today, after better inspection of the FZ1 in the daylight we found one of the support bars for the fairing was bent pretty good too, The Vmax, a spot of blood on my footpeg, a tuft of hair and a whisker on my radiator side cover.
The motorcycle gods were looking out for us last night for sure!unk:
We had just reached the top of the ridge with my brother in the right hand part of the lane (2 lane road) and I was about 20-25 feet behind him in the left hand part of the lane. We were doing about 60 mph when I saw this doe is in the ditch on our side of the road feeding. As our lights hit her she picks her head up and takes a step toward the road and stops. I close the throttle as soon as I see her trying to figure out what she is going to do. My brother must not have seen her as soon as I did and didn't immediatly slow down but by this time he is right on her but she is still 5-6 feet off the road. Well, she bolted forward at the last possible second and her head hits my brothers FZ1 headlight area with her head, neck then hits his handlebar, shoulder glances heavily off his knee but he still keeps the bike up with nary a wobble! I am hitting the brakes thinking the worst is going to happen but it dosen't! So this deer is spinning through the air and now that I have slowed down it is headed towards me! I let off the brake in a attempt to get past her but her head lightly clips my foot peg/ foot then either my r exhaust pipe or wheel, not sure which. It does nothing to uspset my balance so I turn to see what my brother is doing. He raises his hand to say he's ok and we get stopped in about 70 feet or so.
We both turn to look for the deer but it is up and running off into the woods! I have seen many deer get hit and get up and run off so I guess I wasn't too surprised. My brother was fine, said his knee hurt a little but could walk with no problem.
I check out the damage: Vmax - zero damage, FZ-1 - broken r headlight, but that is all we could see in a quick roadway inspection. We headed up the road a couple miles to a paved turn off and I pointed my headlight so we could inspect the damage more closely. The r headlight was broken, the plastic around it had cracked but not broken completely, and a small dent in the exhaust. That was it for damage! We smoked a couple of cigarettes and were still amazed what just happened.
Today, after better inspection of the FZ1 in the daylight we found one of the support bars for the fairing was bent pretty good too, The Vmax, a spot of blood on my footpeg, a tuft of hair and a whisker on my radiator side cover.
The motorcycle gods were looking out for us last night for sure!unk:
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