fehren2800

Well it finally happened. Yesterday June 4th, 2009 I experienced my first deer strike on a motorcycle. I faired much better than the deer which was killed on impact. Needless to say I was not very happy about any of it.

The day started out like any other. I was milling around the house doing chores and trying to be productive. It was cool outside and cloudy, but not looking like rain. I decided to go for a ride. I went out into the garage and rolled my old CBR out, dusted it off and fired it up. While it warmed up I got my gear on, cranked up the tunes on the ipod, jumped on the bike and away I went.

I wasn’t planning to go for a long ride. I hadn’t ridden this bike in almost a month, so I just wanted to put 30 miles or so on it just to keep it running tip-top. Once I got on the bike all the feelings I have been having lately about being out of work etc. just melted away. I found myself not thinking about any of those things at all. I was physically smiling in my helmet and it felt great. I kept riding, and riding. I was going to turn back, but the bike was running sweet and I was feeling good, so I kept going.

I was headed north on PA state Route 8 coming from Barkeyville towards Franklin. There is a huge valley that crosses Sandy Creek that all the locals refer to as “radar valley” as it is known for catching unsuspecting travelers for speeding down the huge hill. I know this, so I paid close attention to my speed (for once!) I was headed up out of radar valley and was passing a PennDOT truck. I was in the left lane about 2 car lengths in front of the truck. The grass was waist high on the road side, and the deer came out of the grass on the left. She was about 10 feet in front of me and I was doing 65 or so and I had about ½ a second to avoid the impact, which I didn’t. According to the officer that took the report at the hospital, there was about a 3 or 4 foot long skid. I hit the deer square in the front quarters just where you would aim to shoot. I think I went over the bars and the deer, bike and I were entangled for a few feet. The deer and the bike both decided to ride me across the road to the right hand lane. I stumbled to me feet and made my way off the road surface to the ditch and collapsed.

I was laying there face down in the grass for about a minute. I rolled over and I had intense pain in my left hip. There were people standing around, but I couldn’t hear what they were saying, I had ear plugs in. I took off my helmet and took out the plugs and they were all asking if I was ok etc. There were parts of my bike all over the road and cars were smashing them to smaller and smaller pieces as they drove by. The paramedics arrived quick and started cutting stuff like they do. I felt great except for my hip which I could not seem to move. They put me on a board with all that head gear crap and hauled me off to the nearest hospital.

I got the full x-ray treatment and was cleared with no broken bones which was a relief as I didn’t want any backwoods doctor trying to set my broken pelvis bone. 2 hours later my wife came and picked my sorry ass up and hauled me home. I still haven’t seen my bike yet, but I’m guessing it is in terrible shape. I am really pissed about that. I was just thinking about how cool it was going to be to ride to Alaska on that bike. I am not sure of that right now. That bike is just a machine and can be replaced, but it is very, very special to me. I will bring it back to life, one way or another. I’m sure the insurance company will not be willing to fix it, so the expense will fall on me. Oh well, that will have to wait until I go back to work. For now I’ll amuse you guys with some destroyed gear photos.

I cannot say with 100% certainty that if I was not wearing full gear I would not have survived, but I can be about 99% sure that I would still be in the hospital being lined up for skin grafts, or suffering from severe head trauma. ALL THE GEAR… ALL THE TIME. I cannot stress this enough. I kissed my helmet this morning and thanked it for saving my head, now it can retire next to the other helmets that have done their job.

Here ya go;

Arai did it’s job beautifully.


Boots took a lot of abuse. Ground down the metal tag.


Jacket took most of the impact.


Shoulder armor held up.


Jacket wore through. I would be pissed about this, but with a deer and bike all tangled up on top of me I’m glad it wasn’t worse. The concrete surface was grooved as well, making it very, very abrasive.


glad it was chilly out. This was my outer shirt.


under shirt.


The cut from the paramedics.


I ground the zipper pull down nicely.


Hole in the pants. I don’t know about this one. I don’t have any marks or anything on my leg.


I ended up with 2 quarter sized spots of rash on my left shoulder. They just barely went through the first layer of skin, like a rug burn. Not bad at all. I also have some kick butt groin pain, which I assume is from slapping the boys against the tank on impact. Other than that I feel good. I’m pretty lucky to have such minor injuries. I declined the pain meds, but they gave me a bottle of vicodin anyway. I took 2 tylenol at the hospital and I took 3 advil this morning. So far so good. I am gimping around pretty good because of my groin pain, but I’m sure a few days will do wonders for that.

I’m hoping to go and get my bike today, but it is 2 hours from here so I don’t know if I’ll make it until next week. I’ll post up pics of that when I can.

Stay safe out there!

Fishfilet300

HOLY CRAAAAAAAAAP 65 mph and a deer strike and all you took was 2 Tylenol!!!!! Dude, you gotta play the the lottery.

Repeat after me, " I love my gear, I love my gear, I Love my gear........"

So glad this wasn't worse.

omaha_919

Holy crap!!

Glad to hear you're still in one piece. Great pics... hopefully a wake-up call to anyone out there not wearing sufficient riding gear.

sugs

Holy crap fehren! Glad you are OK and the gear did its job nicely as the photos show. Sorry about the bike, I know from all your other reports how special it is to you. Hopefully it can be salvaged. What's most important though is that you are alive and well. I'm sooo glad I live where deer are small and few. Your story just terrifies me.

hoosier919

Those are chilling pics for sure. Glad to hear that you are alright.

2ohno

Glad to hear your OK - sorry to hear of the incident -

fehren2800

I'm in some pain, just that I don't like pain medication. When I had toe surgery I took some percocet and they made me lose my mind. Never again, unless the pain is unbearable.

You are not kidding. I saw so many riders recently in shorts and tank tops. I would hate to think what I would look like today if that was me.

Lucky I hit a PA deer, they are way smaller than Ohio deer. I would say about 90 to 100 lbs. The bike WILL be saved.

Thanks.

Thanks for the concern.

montrealmax

Wow! Good to wear gear....lucky in your badluck, get well.

wisco919

Glad you are ok. Did you keep the venison?

Pacojerte

damn dude... really glad its all superficial bruises and nothing broken..

rest up.. lotsa ice... asprin...

marylandmike

Damn man, Sorry about your accident and glad you're mostly alright. Good job on the gear. Deer are one of my biggest fears when riding. Had a few run across the road, but never real close. I try to avoid areas where I have seen alot of them before or slow way down.

Heal up quick!

ratdog

Rats with antlers...that's what they are!

majorrager

Sorry to hear about your accident but glad you were able to mostly walk away from it unscathed. Good luck getting the bike back together.

Super Sneaky Steve

Wow, only 8 lives left for you.

I live in the sticks so I see deer cross the road all the time. One of these days I'll hit one too.

McCrimmon

Holy ###t!!! I'm very glad to hear you were ok and came out with such little scraps and bruises! I also can't stress enough...GEAR GEAR GEAR!!!

Glad you were wearing yours bud! I can only imagine what the 900rr looks like

HondaJim

OMG! Get the bike some aspirin stat! Make sure it is well tended to and not left outside or anything like that.

















Oh yeah, glad you're "okay."

imagepix

Dude we are so glad you are ok....

I showed my girls your pic and told them of your story and reinforced them that they need to wear the gear. They always complain to me and I say no gear no ride, we always dress for the crash. I am glad you are ok and thank you for posting your story. My one daughter asked if you had pics of the dear....????? She is my "I love gore" gal. I am alway amazed at what comes out of her mouth, I pity the fool that going to date or marry my daughter.....

GDJAM

If your boys keep hurting you punch yourself in the leg a buncha times till you forget about it

Dude glad you're alright coulda been so much worse for you and the fam so count your blessings, learn and move on.

Thanks for posting up, this is a good reminder for us all. That toasted gear tells quite a story

SuedeGopher

Oye, scary! Who knew a CBR could be used as a hunting implement??? Seems like Nugent should be deployed in such situations to harvest the meat for the motorist. May just help with the closure.

zookmor

glad you made it out of it relatively alright.

justintyme73

Dang!! Glad you are Ok dude. The gear looks terrible, it did its job well tho! Thanks for posting the pics of the gear, it definitely makes me want to wear mine!

Hope the bike can be salvaged, good luck with that and heal fast!

Igneale

Wow, that's incredible. Glad to hear you're ok. And as for the "First" deer strike, lets hope it's the last.

Did you get the deer? You should have the head mounted and put your helmet on it in the garage.
A. As a reminder
B. As maybe the most interesting conversation piece I've ever seen.

ideajones

Glad your ok and thanks for sharing, I'll bet ya 5 there are two dents from the tank slapper.

fehren2800

Thanks everyone. I am feeling pretty decent right now. I have some pain in the hip area still and general soreness all over. I went to pick up my bike today and the towing guys didn't believe it was me who was in the crash yesterday. They said they didn't expect the rider of that bike to come walking in to there shop the next day. I told them I have my ATGATT attitude to thank for that.

The bike isn't looking too promising. The radiator is pushed back into the exhaust headers. The upper, gauges, stay etc. are all destroyed. The worst of it all is that there is a dent in the frame from the bar end bending into it. That sux. I was really hoping there was no frame damage. The insurance co. will not want to put a penny into a bike with a damaged frame. sigh. Anyway here are the photos.

The deer did not make it;


the bike


the frame dent


the "good" side


road sweepings...


DAMMIT!!!

3dcycle

dude that sucks, sorry to hear about that.well you could always tell the insurance to cough up the dough, drag the bike up here and we can get you a new frame and do a swap.

fehren2800

At this point it doesn't matter who pays. I am willing to try most anything. What is involved in this process? I am doubting the existence of a new factory frame at this point. I had the chance to get one back in 99 for $800 and should have jumped on it at the time. Now I fear I am boned.

sbeau1960

Amazing story, you're a lucky man, glad you're all right! Beautiful bike, that's really too bad, I'd be bummed too but hard not to count your blessings when you walked away with only superficial injuries.

McCrimmon

WOW...That thing took one hell of a hit...I know you want to get the bike back together but the most important is the fact that your fine and walked away.

Good luck with the bike regardless though...Always liked the 900rr's

GDJAM

Nobody would encourage you to revive an old 900RR more than me....I love 'em. Got one meself.

That being said after a hit like that, and with the frame damage, I'd probably walk away. That bike has a bad aura now.

Take your money, and if you really love the genre, there are older 900RR's to be had, ya just gotta find 'em.

And if you really wanna get her back going parts are not much of an issue, you can fix her cheaply unless you insist on the exact same paint scheme.

Is the head stock OK?

RC51_CBRXX

WOW! Though it sucks ... you are doig well!

FXS

Glad you made it ! I'v x-rayed many rider vs deer patients. Most don't do as well as you did. The Road Gods were with you.

fehren2800

Yep. I am thankful to be still upright and mostly mobile. About 1/8 second before impact I figured I was gonna get mangled up pretty bad. I just put my head down and braced for impact.

It's looking grim for the bike, but I am still kicking. I'm both and at the same time.

It still fires right up and purrs like the day it was new. The head stock is fine. Most of the hit was directly on the front. The forks look good, the bike rolls fine etc. The dent in the frame is superficial from the bar end that got slammed into it.

As for parts. I have a brand new in box tank and upper sitting in my basement. All I need is the "other" parts. There is a guy locally selling all kinds of 900RR stuff on craigslist I'm going to go check out on Monday. Whatever the outcome is, it still bums me out. I guess I'll have to have GMD check out the bike to be sure.

Yep. The dreaded 2 days after pain is setting in. Mostly from little activity. My damn wife/mom/sister are all over me to lay around and take it easy. I feel better when I am up moving around. But you know how hard it is to argue with 1 woman, let alone 3!

No breaks, just bruises and scuffs. I took it better than the deer and the bike, which is the best outcome to have in this situation.

2ohno

Great idean on going to GMD - Just olling at thoes picks made my stomach roll - I hate to see that bike beat up like that --- Just keep telling yourself, your Ok and that all that matters !

edgecrusher4444

Fix it up...only 5 states to go!

Simpson

Wow, just seeing this thread today. Glad you were wearing all your gear! 65 is pretty fast. Good thing you were not on the 360, would not want to scrap up that little gem.

Lemonhead

Mother
Of
Pearl !
Glad to hear you're okay and you're another testimony to atgatt. Hope in 2 more days there's no pain. Did you kick that sob deer when you went back ?

dream

Woah! That's the biggest rat ever! Was that near TMI?
So very glad/impressed you survived that so well, what a testimonial for ATGATT! I ended up worse hitting an AK wolf at 60MPH without padded leather pants (yeah I was dumb back then!). Maybe your frame isn't actually bent and will track straight with a WT sticker over the dimple? Sounds like the worse part is having three nags! Get back on the road soon!

oak1971

Glad to hear you are ok. Maybe you should upgrade to a 919?

fehren2800

The relays in the front got ripped out of the harness and the gauges took some beating. The more I look the worse it gets..

I know! That's the worst thing right now. It will take me the rest of the summer to get this thing up and running again. I'll get to Alaska on this, even if I have to push it there.

I wish I was on the 360 instead. I have been looking all over Ebay for parts and there are more good parts for the early 70's Honda's than there are for my 90's bike. 65 is pretty fast, but I don't think it would have mattered if I was going 45, 30mph might have given me the time to squeak behind the deer.

Well, it is 3 days since the crash and the pain in my hip is getting a little better. Now the rest of my body is aching, but I think that is mostly from laying around on my butt. My wife won't let me do anything. I keep telling her that moving around makes me feel better, but you know how wives are. They want to take care of you, even if it kills you.

A wolf!! That would blow. That's a low kind of impact. I'm sure the frame is ok. The dent is small like a quarter or 50 cent piece in the left frame extrusion just under the tank. It is from the bar end weight. I may just fix it with a sticker and be done with it.

Ha, ha, ha.... Dude, I already have the same motor. I'm not letting this bike go for any kind of upgrade.

sbeau1960

Glad you're doing ok post crash, I bet you'll actually have fun putting your beloved bike back together.

And by the way, awesome lineup of bikes in your garage!