Valk vs Deer

[Canuck]

Wow!  I can't believe the guy didn't see the deer until he came to a stop.

http://lifeisaroad.com/deerkilling.html

His angel was riding with him that day.

[Ferris Leets]

You can miss 999 out of 1000 by paying attention but there is that 1 that just "appears" in the road.  I've hit 2 deer while on 4 wheels anboth of them were 6" fom my bumper when I first saw them.  I had 1 run into my Vulcan Nomad and that is even harder to avoid.
    I know a couple of people that hit 2 or 3 deer every year.  Mostly because they don't watch for them or do the right thing when they do see them.
   That guy was not only a skilled rider but very lucky.  A little higher or lower and the outcome would have been much worse.

[X Ring]

Wow!  I can't believe the guy didn't see the deer until he came to a stop.

http://lifeisaroad.com/deerkilling.html

His angel was riding with him that day.

"The guy" as you called him is long time VRCC member Daniel Meyer.  He posted this story not long ago.

http://www.valkyrieforum.com/bbs/index.php/topic,31506.0.html

Marty

[Bodale]

There are two different stories. The first "Guy" is named Roy. Roy and Heidi are the ones pictured here.

[Ice]

All I can say is Holy Scheit Batman, that was some skill and luck...keeping that mess under control and the quick thinking....glad all were ok.
So far I have been lucky and the closest a deer came to me and the bike was last year heading to Joe's FCR traveling down the BRP one jumped in front of us and his hind hoof hit the windshield, not sure I would have stayed that cool though if it would have hit. Respect 

[Cliff]

All I can say is Holy Scheit Batman, that was some skill and luck...keeping that mess under control and the quick thinking....glad all were ok.
So far I have been lucky and the closest a deer came to me and the bike was last year heading to Joe's FCR traveling down the BRP one jumped in front of us and his hind hoof hit the windshield, not sure I would have stayed that cool though if it would have hit. Respect 

sounds like a pucker factor of 11  ( on a scale of 1-10  )

[old2soon]

Near as i can tell deer have mastered time travel. They appear and dissappear at will. Looking at the photos you can see how much of the impact was taken by the Valkyrie keeping the riders from harm. Skill and luck. Luck and skill. Most likely in equal portions in this instance. Thank God both of them came through this unscathed. This could have been really bad. Had a friend of mine on his H/D last year that had a close encounter of the worst kind with a deer. His right leg is still giving him problems. Back in 1984 had a BRAND NEW Kenworth cabover. On the way back from Colorado with a load of spuds a deer wandered up out of the fog on I-45. Tried to miss it but hit her anyway. Truck didn't look that bad but was around $3700.00 to get it out the shop. I have those sonic deer whistles on the side pods on my I/S. I DO NOT rely on them 100%-but they do appear to be helping. We have a lot of deer here in Missouri and i ride in daylight and night time hours. So far so good. Again-glad those folks are fine. RIDE SAFE.

[Jess Tolbirt]

we went thru this many years ago,, those deer whistles do nothing but look good if they are chromed,,,they must be 3 feet apart to even do anything at all and then its doubtfull,,,deer hear the same range as we hear only a lot better,,if we cant hear them they cant hear them

[Gryphon]

[q[/quote]sounds like a pucker factor of 11  ( on a scale of 1-10  )
[/quote]

Is 11 where you can actually spit out the tuck buttons from your upholstry?   

[bigguy]

It's no accident that deer are hard to see. They're designed that way. Not only in coloration, but in the way they move. In nature, an easy to see deer is coyote food. I spent most every day of deer season in the woods up through college. We had dogs running around to stir them up. I was sitting there in the woods looking intently for the deer I knew were there. I was still amazed at how many times I'd look up and suddenly there would be a deer or several deer just standing there in the middle of a clearing . I never saw, or heard them approach. The old guys always told me that for every deer I saw, nine more hand looked me over and slipped away without my seeing them. I have no empirical data to support that, however, there have been many times when I climbed out of a deer stand without having seen a deer, only to discover the ground chewed up with fresh deer tracks.
OK, I'm a bad hunter, But some of those old boys who'd been hunting before I was a gleam in daddy's eye, and filled all their tags every year said the same thing. I scan the shoulders hard while riding. I'll take every iota of added protection I can get. None the less, I still believe that you'll never see the one that gets you. Human senses are simply inadequate to detect something at a relative velocity of a mile-a-minute, that nature has designed to be virtually invisible standing next to.

[Daniel Meyer]

Wow!  I can't believe the guy didn't see the deer until he came to a stop.

http://lifeisaroad.com/deerkilling.html

His angel was riding with him that day.

"The guy" as you called him is long time VRCC member Daniel Meyer.  He posted this story not long ago.

http://www.valkyrieforum.com/bbs/index.php/topic,31506.0.html

Marty

To clarify, the story at the "deerkilling" link is not me, it's a story from the Colorado High Country Cruisers  Roy and Heidi and I posted it (with permission) in the interests of education.

The other story is mine, I've now hit 5 (five!) deer with the Valk...two of them on one night (the 'other' story above)...none of them direct/high impacts thankfully.

I've been really, really, lucky. Or not. Depends on how you look at it.

[RainMaker]

perhaps time for a new handle for Mr. Meyer -

"Deerslayer"

With 5 kills, you have become an ace.

[Daniel Meyer]

perhaps time for a new handle for Mr. Meyer -

"Deerslayer"

With 5 kills, you have become an ace.

Well, one of them was at least mostly dead already. Hadn't hit the ground though.

[3fan4life]

Another lesson, and one that I feel very strongly about, is clearly illustrated here...that is...until the bike is actually down, never quit riding it. Sure, luck played a part, but make no mistake. This bike stayed up and the rider and pillon walked away simply because the pilot never quit flying it. Good job Roy.

+ 1000

This is some VERY good advice. 

[Michael K (Az.)]

Another lesson, and one that I feel very strongly about, is clearly illustrated here...that is...until the bike is actually down, never quit riding it. Sure, luck played a part, but make no mistake. This bike stayed up and the rider and pillon walked away simply because the pilot never quit flying it. Good job Roy.

+ 1000

This is some VERY good advice. 

"So I had to lay 'er down!" is some of the stupidest claptrap I've ever run across! Period!

[highcountry]

Helluva story - - what a close call!  Glad to read that everyone, but the deer, was okay.  The Valk can be fixed or repaired easier than we can.

I was riding that exact stretch of road just last Saturday.  It is a spectacular ride in a beautiful setting with great vistas of the San Juan peaks to the south.  Colorado is thick with deer and I have had many close calls in my cage.  Deer are one reason that I won't ride my bike at night here although in the summer it is very tempting.

[musclehead]

not the first Valk to tangle with a deer, won't be the last. usually the deer ends up dead and the rider ends up repairing his/her valk. ( have the pic of F6gal's first bike somewhere, before and after. that was such a pretty bike )

our bikes can take a licking and keep on ticking