I've run over two squirrels over the years. One would think hitting a squirrel with a car is almost expected, but two-wheels? Damn things panic in the middle of your lane and there's not a thing you can do but to just keep heading the way you're going and not wrecking by trying to out-maneuver a squirrel dodging back-and-forth in the road, lol. I still say the cagers are far worse and far more numerous than any critter, so I don't worry about even deer...it's the cagers...the one that T-boned me two years ago and messed up my left calf so that now I have a metal rod in the bigger of the two bones from knee to ankle (both bones were compound fractured and the larger (still) with a 'butterfly' fracture, and screws and braces all over the ankle), all ribs on left side broken, punctured lung, split open left elbow got 8 stitches. Half helmet didn't have hardly a scratch but the chin strap broke where it attaches to one side...not sure how that didn't mess my jaw or head up, but I'm happy with it and got the same model helmet again.

 

Damn. I guess I am just damn lucky to have ridden since 1982 and not hit a deer. Only been down three times, but never more than some light road rash because of gear. I still get off work at 4PM, leave by 5PM and ride 300-500 miles. Sometimes to Florida from NC. Other times it is to the NC/TN/WV eastern regions.

 

My accident occurred in NJ. Here's something interesting I found:

"As of June 2023, New Jersey's white-tailed deer population is estimated to be over 125,000, which is more than the state's full-time teachers and nurses combined. The current population is considered overpopulated, with some areas reaching densities of 210 deer per square mile, which is well above the biological carrying capacity of 5–15 deer per square mile."

Thank you, tree huggers. NJ also has way too many bears, because they banned bear hunting for several years. They just recently reinstated it.

 

One more and 5-kills makes you an ace!

 

Damn that was a hard watch. One of my fears of riding but luckily here in SF Bay Area we don't have too many deer. I hope your heal up quick.
On a positive note, I clicked subscribed on your Youtube channel, AND you could be in the market for a NEW Low Rider/S/ST.

Stay safe out there . . .

 

Sorry to hear about the accident but I'm very glad you were able to walk away from it. This is definitely just another reminder of how quickly things can take a turn out on the road. It sounds like you'll recover well so take it easy til then.

 

...in before someone posts that if your bike had RDRS you would have missed the deer...

 

Last fall deer hunters in Ohio took about 213,000 deer. If they would double that number the herd would still be viable and the roads a lot safer. When I was a young kid there weren't any deer here. My dad had to go to Pennsylvania to hunt them. I came back from the service and we had all these deer running everywhere. My late brother had a ball hunting them. My ex-wife totaled my truck hitting one. Beautiful animals we could use a lot less of.

 

OP....question?

did you almost keep it up? it kinda seemed like it, but I'm curious...was there no chance at all, did you lose control immediately or did you have a bit of hope for a part of a millisecond?

 

With the initial strike, it felt like there was no front wheel, completely uncontrollable. It felt like the rear of the bike was fishtailing, but I think I was just feeling the wild oscillation of the front wheel. A picture of the front wheel shows that it is cocked to the left, which make sense because in the video the bike was going that way. It was starting to lean left more when I got off the road, It felt like I was on a mechanical bull. My last sensation was being thrown off of the bike and slamming onto the ground.
I know in the video it looks like I just let go, but that wasn't the case. I never felt like I had a chance of stopping it. Keep in mind it was 2 seconds from deer strike to me on the ground. I've run out of adjectives to describe it.🤦‍♂️