More lessons learned from the deer encounter

Rex D.

Rex D.

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Not trying to frighten my fellow riders but I'm an analytical person and just can't help but pass along what I've learned. This information can save lives. As a pilot I regularly read NTSB reports and try to analyze the scenario that led up to a crash or incident. This information only adds to the little voice in the back of the head that says "don't do this, slow down, is this a good idea?" Same here. If this information can save a life or save one from catastrophic life changing injury then I've done my job.

1. Late in the summer here the deer are out foraging for food in the dark
2. This is especially true during a full moon (which it was)
3. Deer are stupid and will stand there while you hit them
4. Deer can't be seen when some some fool comes at you with high beams on
5. I WILL always "gear up" even for the shortest rides
6. Pants and jacket with CE approved armor is an absolute must
7. Above the ankle boots as well (both boots ground down at the ankle hard points
8. Silly looking gloves with big knuckles and hard points......also a must (the deer's head came around and smashed the brake lever into my knuckles, then more grinding from the slide....
9. FULL coverage helmet....absolutely (my chin bar was ground down from my asphalt slide and my slide down the drop off, face down), my helmet was split up the back and the hard foam shell liner was crushed from landing on my back and head
10. Stuff happens really fast at 60 mph, the rider is a rag doll at the mercy of physics, the only variable the rider has any control of in the equation is to wear full gear= additional survivability and quality of life
11. Sure we can be hyper-vigilant, look carefully going through intersections, look at driveways, look ahead in traffic, but without proper gear....and something goes wrong...
12. I lost around $800 in just the riding gear that day, my only road rash scar is on one elbow
13. I was always concerned that my mesh gear wouldn't protect me all that well in a crash, certainly not as well as my leathers. I was wearing shorts and a tee shirt under the mesh gear! The answer is, yes the mesh jacket and pants do a reasonably good job.
14. I was concerned my HJC modular (flip up chin bar) would not hold up in a crash. All that face down asphalt sliding then whacking a curb then sliding down the embankment (face down) proved the flip up mechanism can take it. I just puchased another HJC identical to the crashed helmet!

I had been wanting to write about the crash for months now but I wasn't sure how to relate to others without sounding like Dr. Doom. This is a positive message that needed to be sent out all of my fellow two wheelers out there.
 
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Good info Rex! Glad you can share it. I never thought about the gloves that way before, but good thing I have them--in case. You are a tough dude sounds like!
 
Great feedback and excellent points. I too "dress for the crash, not the weather" and for every single ride. We worry about deer here all the time as well. On my regular routes, I know where they travel and the areas they cross roads so I am extra careful and aware of them. I'm always seeking those glowing eyes ahead of me.

Here, we have to worry about moose as well. What's even more dangerous about a moose? They are black AND their eyes do NOT reflect so it may as well be a brick wall in the road at night.

ATGATT and Rex just proved why. Heed it riders.
 
Moose?? I've seen them while on a fly in trip in northen Idaho. One particular moose would cross the grass runway to a watering hole in the morning and in the evening. I had my 7 year old son with me to do some camping. We wanted to see the moose but for the 3 days we were there it was nowhere to be seen. We packed up and took off and made a blistering fast low pass down the runway to say so long to the others and there was the moose, standing in the middle of the runway. With at least 10 feet of altitude there was no chance of hitting it, however if it had walked across just when we took off 2 minutes earlier................
 
Rex D. said:
9. FULL coverage helmet....absolutely (my chin bar was ground down from my asphalt slide and my slide down the drop off, face down), my helmet was split up the back and the hard foam shell liner was crushed from landing on my back and head

14. I was concerned my HJC modular (flip up chin bar) would not hold up in a crash. All that face down asphalt sliding then whacking a curb then sliding down the embankment (face down) proved the flip up mechanism can take it. I just puchased another HJC identical to the crashed helmet!...
Click to expand...

Great report, Rex. I ride with a modular helmet, Shoei Multitec, so it is nice to hear a report were a modular was in a real wreck and worked.

That was a bad wreck, glad you are alright and back to riding.

Dave
 
I have always geared up. Always buy gloves with excess protection and in summer when I take the padding out of my jacket I removed the back protector and wear a back protector vest so that it stays in the correct place.

Don't know about over your side of the pond but here in the UK we nod to other riders when we pass, if I ever come across a rider wearing shorts and/or t-shirt I shake my head from side to side instead.


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Member of the 1 litre club...
 
Deer are stupid dumb animals. Last October I was travelling at 4:30am in central TX in my car and came across a deer standing in my lane of a four lane road. I slowed down and just moved over to the oncoming two lanes (no traffic at that hour) and the dumb animal turns around and charges the car and hits me in the right front fender. Little damage and the animal got up and ran away. He was headed away from me when he decided to reverse direction and come at me. Be careful and always be on the lookout for them.....just because they are standing on the side of the road minding their business doesn't mean they won't decide to run across your field of view. Protection gear is meant to be used......never worry about the cost of destroying helmets, gloves, pants, jackets, you can easily replace the gear, but skin grafts, broken bones, or worse are hard and painful to fix. My main concern while riding is always stupid animals which are even more unpredictable than human drivers.
 
Good info, I was in a wreck as a youngster I laid my bike down at over 100 MPH wearing a full face bell star helmet and a levi coat and levi pants. I lost a lot of skin and spent many sleepless nights in pain. My clothes were in absolute shreds the only thing that probably saved a worse injury was that it was a cement section of freeway and not asphalt. Time heals wounds but it has stuck with me for years I dress a lot more like a rider now and not a tourist.
 
Another stratagy to consider is when you encounter that forest rat standing in the road is to sereve toward it's back end. If they decide to move at the last minute they still have to move forward a slight bit to turn backward or at least it will take a moment for them to turn around and this may be just the time you need to get by.
This is a lesson I leard the hard way when I tried to go around the front of one on my KLR.

Drop bear : http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...CiL2InnnlIdWjwNmg&sig2=-1FsspS6Nvd7CBKfkTfqZg
 
Drop bear!

I didn't think to google it. Ha, that's funny. I'm planning to tour Australia later this year and will be looking up in the trees to make sure I'm not a victim of one of those things.
 
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