Well it finally happened. I live in deer country and I knew it was only a matter of when not if I will hit a deer, and today was that day.
She was a pretty big doe, and for all you nature folks out there, I'm pretty sure she's okay. I'm alright too, just a banged up leg, but nothing broken. My '97 vt1100 is a little worse for wear, but I was able to stay on two wheels, so it's not as bad as it could have been.
My left crash bar saved my leg, but is bent enough that I should replace it.
Does anyone have one they care to part with?
Of the two bolts that hold the left floorboard to the frame, one sheared off completely, and the other is very bent.
Could anyone tell me what size bolts these are?
Lastly there's a broken lower wind deflector. On that I might try to diy one out of lexan.
I consider myself very lucky, but it just goes to show that even 15 years of riding experience can't prevent all accidents.
I'm not sure if it's an illusion in the first picture, but you might want to get the front forks checked. Something doesn't look quite right, but maybe it's just the angle of the picture.
I believe your floorboards use M8 and M10 bolts. Not sure which one sheared off.
Beena ridin` since 1971 and that experience is behind me...
As each Day is a new day!
I`m Glad to read the mishap wasn`t unexpected and your damage was minimal...
I hit a Chevy!
Runned into the rear bumper of a pickup, last night...
At a yield sign, he stopped for NO TRAFFIC!
I only took my eyes off him for a half second to check traffic further down the road, to see that I had time to go with NO Traffic coming...
SO did he!!!
Less the 3MPH impact, it Cracked the front fender mounts is all the damage to mine...
Beena ridin` since 1971 and that experience is behind me...
As each Day is a new day!
I`m Glad to read the mishap wasn`t unexpected and your damage was minimal...
I hit a Chevy!
Runned into the rear bumper of a pickup, last night...
At a yield sign, he stopped for NO TRAFFIC!
I only took my eyes off him for a half second to check traffic further down the road, to see that I had time to go with NO Traffic coming...
SO did he!!!
Less the 3MPH impact, it Cracked the front fender mounts is all the damage to mine...
Take a bolt from the other side to the hardware store for a thread match thats the best way to get the right size and thread.
I have no lead for you on the but then I dont even have them on my bike.
As for the lower wind deflector, is it a flat piece or curved? I may be able to help here.
@"Captain D" Glad your ok too Cap, watch those guys, I always assume a pickup on the 4th of July is a Drunk Driver @Xmigo@jwinker is right, but its not the forks, upon second look your wheel looks bent.
The wind deflector is flat. What did you have in mind?
I'll take more pics of the front end. I was able to enlist the aid of a farmer and his 5 foot crowbar, and bend the crash bar forward enough to shift and this get to work. I was wary of the forks or wheel bent, but didn't feel any shaking or anything up front up to 55mph.
Glad to hear you are mostly okay! I also live in deer country...spotted about 4 yesterday while we were riding, but they were pretty far away. *knock on wood* I've only had one close call with a deer in an SUV and I couldn't have missed it by more than an inch or so.
Whoa, was this just this morning? When I read today was that day I generally think of it narratively, like a thought at the moment kind of thing, I just assumed this was over the weekend.
Glad it worked out for you. I am in a part of NY with a lot of deer too and I am always on the lookout for them. I was going down a back road yesterday and a doe crossed the road about 50 feet in front of me. Knowing what was probably going to happen next I slowed down to a crawl. Sure enough, at that point 10 feet in front of me a fawn jumped out and followed the doe. I always anticipate this happening because deer rarely travel alone. Good thing because I would have hit the fawn for sure.
Yessiree, the Crowbar works good for straightening out those bent engine gaurds...
I used a prybar made from an axle...
I`ve straightened mine twice, from "Close encounters" with deer, bending it back so far I couldn`t brake with the pedal until I straightened it...
I`m not as vain about my Bike as some folk, so I just got the engine guard """Adjusted"" to perfect" and I`m good to go...
You have the recipes our Gurus prescribed...
I`m sure you can get her fixed,
D
Yessiree, the Crowbar works good for straightening out those bent engine gaurds...
I used a prybar made from an axle...
I`ve straightened mine twice, from "Close encounters" with deer, bending it back so far I couldn`t brake with the pedal until I straightened it...
I`m not as vain about my Bike as some folk, so I just got the engine guard """Adjusted"" to perfect" and I`m good to go...
You have the recipes our Gurus prescribed...
I`m sure you can get her fixed,
D
I'm wondering if I should replace it even if I can get it bent back correctly. I was late for work so I just moved it enough to be able to shift, but I can do more once I get home.
I was shocked at how hard it was to bend back, because it seemed to fold like paper on impact.
Deer are solid little guys. A friend hit one on my bike in the 70s. Wiped the whole side of the bike out. He got torn up some as well. Deer are the thing i fear the most around here. On certain roads here, I will not ride on at night because of how many I have seen. Glad you came out ok.
I used to live in deer country? Now I don't? They are so rare here if you see one you can kill it any time of year. They are bad for native moose, but I still miss the tasty bits from my smoker?
So I knew it was only a matter of time: my ride to work is about 75 miles round trip of back country roads. I have a high level of car insurance because of deer too, but this was my first time hitting one.
I'll have to take the car tomorrow (SO insisted anyway) because I have to buy an easy-out, or reverse threaded machine screw or something in order to get the floorboard reattached.
I don't know how much I trust the crash bars now, but it's free to just bend them back. It'll be just time plus some bolts to reattach the floorboard, then all that's left is to replace the lower wind deflector which @Nuh_auni has so kindly offered to assist with. This is an awesome community!
Thank you so much for your words of support; I really was quite lucky today.
Hey if people think were nice they'll talk to us at lunch, keep it down.
Nothing to see here folks just a page full of gruff unbathed bikers with foul mouths and whatever other things you tell yourself to compensate for the lack of joy you feel by not owning a bike.
As I mentioned, I`ve "readjusted" my crashbar a few times from hitting deer...
Check to be sure the welds and brackets didn`t break and You`ll be O K...
Any crash you come out of with as little damage to you and the bike as that one is a good day. Scary, but hey , even the deer came out good ! Thank the Lord .
I'm going to etch a small arrow into each one, kind of my stamp.
Is there anything you'd like etched in? Words, symbols, logos, username, plate number, date, etc. The only thing that doesn't work is a photo, it just doesn't come out clear enough it would essentially just frost the deflector lol
That looks very nice! If you can etch "xmigo" in one, and "Amigo" in the other, that would be sweet. Maybe smaller font so it's not readable unless you're up close?
But very excellent!
Thank you so much!