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Iron Butt
Posts: 600
Linwood, MI | A friend of mine at work has a Vision Tour Comfort. I saw him this morning at the dealer where he brought the bike in because he had hit a deer while riding this past weekend. He told me he and his wife were riding on a state highway at around 62-65 MPH when a deer jumped out from the side of the road. He said he had about enough time to yell "DEER!" and didn't even get to hit the brakes when they slammed into the deer. The deer hit them in the front on the right side and was slung around the right side upon impact. The bike came to a stop almost immediately, but he didn't dump it or even get knocked out of his lane. Damage to the headlight assembly and right side body panels is substantial, but that appears to be the only damage to the bike upon initial visual inspection. This could change after it more closely inspected by a qualified tech, of course.
My buddy told me he could not believe how well the bike handled the accident. He's a long time Goldwing rider and says he thinks they would have been toast if that had happened on his GW.
Rider was unscathed, but passenger got some bruises on her leg when the deer slung around into her. Sadly, the deer staggered off and collapsed several yards away and had to be put down by a DNR officer.
He says he'll have some pictures when I see him next week, so I'll try to post them up when I get them. |
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Cruiser
Posts: 72
Eden Prairie, MN | I heard an almost identical story from a guy at work. He and his wife were having a nice ride early one afternoon.They were going about 60mph when a deer jumped out in front of them. The head hit the headlamp and the body wrapped around the right side of the bike damaging the fairing and rear saddle bag. He brought the bike to a safe stop. His wifes leg was broken by the impact of the deer. He was unhurt. |
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Visionary
Posts: 1436
| Deer have to be the absolute dumbest animals on the planet. Damn near took one out on my trip doing 50 mph. Was beside a sheer cliff of some 600 ft plus in height and surely didn't expect anything coming off it. I caught some very slight movement in the upper corner of my eye and buried the brakes (I live in PA so I knew what was coming next). Sure enough a stupid doe came crashing down onto the roadway, legs all sprawling as she tried to get out of the way. Missed her by inches at most. I joked with a riding friend that she just saw the Vision and wanted a ride. Had I not hit the brakes she would have landed on the back seat, lol.
PS... Your friend got lucky and luck is good when riding. |
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Tourer
Posts: 562
SC, Bluffton | We think the Goldwings, and now Visions, can take a deer hit better because the
Fairing is not fork mounted. The fairings are frame mounted, and a hit to them
is not as likely to turn the handlebars on you.
Herb |
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Cruiser
Posts: 143
Sparta, WI | I have been dodging deer for years being that I live in Wisconsin. I figure the best way to avoid deer is to wear blaze orange and pack a 30-06. Gaurenteed you will not see one. |
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Cruiser
Posts: 64
Altoona, Wisconsin | Minnow - 2008-07-22 4:05 PM
I have been dodging deer for years being that I live in Wisconsin. I figure the best way to avoid deer is to wear blaze orange and pack a 30-06. Gaurenteed you will not see one.
I had the misfortune of riding nearly 200 miles in the dark last Saturday. Hwy 27 between Sparta and Black River Falls WI at 12:30AM is not a good place to be on two wheels (Vision or not), but there were no motel rooms to be found. Put on over 500 miles Saturday. The Vision was great, but really had to keep my head on a swivel between rain and deer. |
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Visionary
Posts: 1632
Jasper, MO | Minnow - 2008-07-22 5:05 PM
I have been dodging deer for years being that I live in Wisconsin. I figure the best way to avoid deer is to wear blaze orange and pack a 30-06. Gaurenteed you will not see one.
Now that's funny!! True though. Deer all over the place, but they all disappear on opening morning of deer season. I've hit three deer down through the years, but fortunately never with my bike. I did have a full-grown St Bernard dog run right in front of me which I ended up hitting at about 60 MPH on my 2000 SC. Wife was with, but we didn't go down. It bent my front fender and oil cooler and bruised both my wife's right leg as well as my own. We were lucky, and maybe all those years riding dirt bikes helped a little.
Ronnie |
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Visionary
Posts: 8144
New Bohemia, VA | StarChief - 2008-07-22 8:55 PM Minnow - 2008-07-22 4:05 PM I have been dodging deer for years being that I live in Wisconsin. I figure the best way to avoid deer is to wear blaze orange and pack a 30-06. Gaurenteed you will not see one. I had the misfortune of riding nearly 200 miles in the dark last Saturday. Hwy 27 between Sparta and Black River Falls WI at 12:30AM is not a good place to be on two wheels (Vision or not), but there were no motel rooms to be found. Put on over 500 miles Saturday. The Vision was great, but really had to keep my head on a swivel between rain and deer. Wow StarChief, you bring back memories. I was Army stationed at Fort McCoy for two years, '97-'98 and lived in Elroy. I'm familiar with 27, and though I didn't ride a motor then, I saw plenty of deer, but never hit one. The second to last night we were there before heading to Virginia, my wife hit one, or should I say, one hit her. She tried to avoid the bugger, but ran right at her and busted the headlight. I spent the better part of the next day trying to get the headlight to sit and aim right. There wasn't a week that went by in those two years that I did see fresh kill on the side of the road between Elroy and Sparta. |
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Cruiser
Posts: 64
Altoona, Wisconsin | varyder - 2008-07-22 8:44 PM
StarChief - 2008-07-22 8:55 PM Minnow - 2008-07-22 4:05 PM I have been dodging deer for years being that I live in Wisconsin. I figure the best way to avoid deer is to wear blaze orange and pack a 30-06. Gaurenteed you will not see one. I had the misfortune of riding nearly 200 miles in the dark last Saturday. Hwy 27 between Sparta and Black River Falls WI at 12:30AM is not a good place to be on two wheels (Vision or not), but there were no motel rooms to be found. Put on over 500 miles Saturday. The Vision was great, but really had to keep my head on a swivel between rain and deer. Wow StarChief, you bring back memories. I was Army stationed at Fort McCoy for two years, '97-'98 and lived in Elroy. I'm familiar with 27, and though I didn't ride a motor then, I saw plenty of deer, but never hit one. The second to last night we were there before heading to Virginia, my wife hit one, or should I say, one hit her. She tried to avoid the bugger, but ran right at her and busted the headlight. I spent the better part of the next day trying to get the headlight to sit and aim right. There wasn't a week that went by in those two years that I did see fresh kill on the side of the road between Elroy and Sparta.
If you're familiar with 27, then you can understand why I said it's not a good road to be riding on late at night. Like I said, there were no motel rooms to be found and I was heading home to Eau Claire. No intention of trying to do 500+ miles that day, but that's what happened. Eau Claire to La Crosse, Great River Road to Dubuque, into Illinois, back to La Crosse, Sparta and Eau Claire. It would have been a lot more enjoyable over two days and in the daylight. |
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Vision vs. Deer
