silly poll on flying objects

Logoman · 08-23-2008, 9:16 PM

I've been hit by almost everything, too.

Almost hit an eagle and a vulture. That would have left a mark. Plus the vultures will loosen their bowels on you in fear. You don't want that.

Had a wasp get into my helmet somehow on a corner and it was walking around on my faceshield. I nearly wrecked. Very lucky it didn't sting my face. Love bugs are here in spades at times, too, and they will coat you solid with acidic goo. Nasty.

Once a handful of us were riding behind a semi truck pulling a trailer full of oranges and suddenly about 30-40 of them fell off the truck right in front of us. It was like bowling and we were the pins. Lucky none of us wrecked.

Worse thing that hit me was a 4' X 6' piece of aluminum sheeting. It was kicked up by a dump truck just as I was passing it and came spinning at me. I ducked and it hit the front of my bike like a big razor blade and got wedged between the nose and front fender. I managed to slow down, pull over and wrestle the thing free. Luckily it just scratched the crap out of my fender and didn't mess up my upper cowl. Very scary moment.

Snake...was riding my old Bonneville out in the boonies one day and saw a queen palm frond casing in the middle of the road. Thought about riding over it and went by it instead. As I passed it I discovered it was a massive rattle snake about 6 ft. long. Crap!

Boganator · 08-31-2008, 5:17 AM

This is hilarious, who would ride after reading all this?

I had a snake have a go at my leg, I knew what it was immediately and swerved around it but unfortunately picked the pointy end. It reared up and had a go but missed.

There's a road nearby where cockatoos swoop out of the trees through the traffic all day, I'm sure they do it for fun. It's an 80km/h zone so usually I'm doing 90. I've hit a few in my car and had to duck a few on the bike but no hits yet. They're not a small bird.

Riding near the beach in shorts a gust of wind blew a heap of sand over the road, that was pretty nasty, left hundreds of little red spots all over my legs.

JohnS · 08-31-2008, 8:58 AM

So far I can score all of the choices plus a few extras.

Magpie attack at low speed
Bee sting on cheek with visor open
Serious insect sting and subsequent bad poison reaction inside jacket and shirt (suspect spider)
Snake at high speed, hit footpeg and boot
Stink bugs (hard body bug that flies and sounds like a machine gun when hi at over 100k resulting in another severe reaction

The scariest of all was a hornet that appeared on my visor. I thought leather gloves I'll just wipe it off. Didn't happen it was on the inside. Took a lot to keep my cool, slow and stop and carefully open visor to let it out.

Thats not counting the non venomous things that I don' keep score of.

JohnS

Banshee · 09-04-2008, 12:21 AM

I'm just glad I'm not an arachniphobe. Had a huntsman* wander across my sunnies one morning... Inside the closed visor, after I'd been riding for almost an hour already.

* Think local version of a tarantula, up to a handspan across the legs. This one was mid sized.

GrahamcUK · 09-14-2008, 11:00 AM

Was slapped in the face by my ex girlfriend once after taking her out on my blackbird and not understanding that her saying "I want to go fast" ment not that ****ing fast.

firenspeed · 09-14-2008, 11:51 AM

Mine encounters have been pretty tame to some of these. I was riding hard in twisties and had my visor down, but a bee bounced off my chest and was swirled into my helmet by the wind. He was walking calmly along my visor as I closed in on a corner. It's hard to focus 2" from your face and prepare for a corner at the same time.

Had I not been white-knuckled at the time, I've come close enough to a deer to slap it. It froze in the left lane (U.S.) and in the only rolling-stoppie I have ever achieved (and never tried) I flew right by it. Cripes!

I did hit an entire semi tire (no rim) once. It was a night ride. and I was at the tail end. The staggered bikes in front of me split in opposite directions and hit their brakes. I didn't know which way to go and held on. Jumped it.

The one that really still gives me chills though was having a gnat inside my ear in my helmet. I was punching my helmet and shaking my head like mad. I finally swerved to the side of the rode and tore my helmet and gloves off. God, it was maddening.

Mabeita · 09-14-2008, 2:13 PM

Mostly bugs, but seem to catch the big ones on my throttle hand for some reason, happens a lot. Back when I had my Hurricane 1000, a friend and I were out on a Sunday morning ride. He was on a Hurricane 600 and we were settling the question of who was faster, big guy on a 1000, or scrawny guy on a 600. Well we were on this long straight and I was pulling away from him at 165 MPH, watching the dashed road lines become one, when I noticed a rather large Jackrabbit sitting on the side of the road. In the split second it took to notice and pass the rabbit, I wondered what would have happened if it had run out in front of me. Then I took a quick look in the mirror and found out. My friend Bill, hit the rabbit with his wheel and kept on coming after me. All I saw was a puff of fur and rabbit bits explode as it was hit, then my eyes were immediately back on the road ahead. When we pulled over to stop and talk about what just happened Bill said that he didn't even know what had happened because his sight was fixed on the road and me pulling away from him. So I showed him the bits of fur and blood that were stuck to his fork and lower fairing.

Strek · 09-14-2008, 11:37 PM

That reminds me of that rabbit that Randy Mamola hit in that one race where he was tailing after Lawson. It was curtins for the rabbit that time too.

Catenaccio · 09-15-2008, 1:24 AM

I have a friend in New Mexico who had a deer jump out and hit him on the left shoulder. He stayed upright and stopped. When he turned in the saddle to look back, the deer was still spinning (break dance style). Me? June bug at 70 per. (We call them B-12 bugs locally.)

Hillbilly4eva · 10-10-2008, 11:06 AM

Anyone realize that all the US riders have hit bugs, and all the Aussis are dodgin big birds and friggin snakes!

I have taken a Sparrow to the chest at moderate speed, but the worst was a June Bug right between the eyes on the forehead with no lid on. Bout knocked me silly. Most entertaining dodge was in traffic and luckily I always ride on the center line. The car in front of me swerved ever so slightly and out from under him popped a full 24 foot aluminum extension ladder.

dunedain · 10-10-2008, 11:54 AM

I have taken several bugs, rocks and such. I’ve had some narrow escapes with birds and deer. Most recently I was running 55 +- and watched as a hummingbird came right at my head but before I could move my head I literally saw the hummer drop his tail and back pedal diving to my right in almost slow motion as it adjusted to my speed BACKWARDS! And went from full on in my face to hauling ass backwards and off to one side to just miss my head and his death. After I saw that I just had to shake my head as it was the most amazing animal move I've ever seen.

Conversely, I came upon a squirrel crossing the road at about 45mph and he was doing just fine until the insane little rodent's brain kicked in and he went all woman on me. Could not make up his mind. He stopped and went back and then stopped and again and ran back across my path. Back and forth, left and right until I did not know what he was going to do. He was the fookin little kamikaze squirrel form hell as he was determined to play chicken with me. At the last second and with just enough time to save his skin he decided to leap at me with a suicide leap right into my knee. I swear he almost dislocated my kneecap. Of course, he lost that battle but he made me feel him for the rest of the day and left a bruise for a week.

Strek · 10-10-2008, 6:10 PM

Sounds like those squirrels in that Geico commercial where they cause the accident and then go through high five routine with each other. I think its a Geico commercial.

Frosty · 10-26-2008, 4:17 AM

I hit a couple of birds, had umpteen bugs hit me when my visor was up, have had stinging insects not only in my visor but have had heaps sting me after going down my jacket.

Steve

StuckinBaghdad · 11-04-2008, 12:07 PM

I was riding through Dallas heading to Tulsa last year, the truck in front of me had a refridgerator box in the back that had been flattened. I didn't realize the box was back there until if flew out of the truck and I rode under it. I wondered the rest of the ride if it would have killed me at 70 if the edge of the box had hit me in the neck.

When was home on leave a couple of months ago I ran over a rattlesnake east of Tulsa. The blackbird won the snake was cut in half.

sv61 · 11-04-2008, 1:46 PM

Have hit deer (plural), birds(s), bugs, rodents, sidestands (my apologies to the Harley owner AND my friend behind me, as it helicoptered into kneecap, at better than 100), rocks, etc.

Most memorable bug? A dragonfly at about 80, right into the vent in front of my mouth. Did NOT taste too yummy.

Most memorable bird? Two actually, one being a Roadrunner, who augered his beak into MY kneecap. The other, a luckless little humminbird, who looked like an Egyptian wall drawing, as I plucked him (??) from my radiator some time after hitting him.

Have had a rock thrown up at me so hard, I had the great experience of carting my leaking steed home (about 70 miles away), pulling the radiator, and having the leak welded shut!

As for deer, each collison with them is memorable in it's own way!

Had a piece of plywood (like a 4' x 8' piece!) fly over me once.

As for a Gator, I had a tire go off about 100' to my 2 o'clock on time, and thought that a cannon had gone off. It was "fun" dodging all the crap comin off that trailer!

Other than that, been pretty uneventful!

Not really.

firenspeed · 11-04-2008, 3:29 PM

SV, you just reminded me of an event I had forgotten. I was on the super-slab cruising along at 70 when I noticed cars dodging this way and that. A truck up ahead was pulling a trailer that had those giant rolls of 4" diameter corrogated plastic pipe for drainage. The rolls were blowing/rolling off the trailer and tumbling all over. If something hit them, they'd get punted down the road. I got to juke and jive my way through that. It was like something out of The Matrix.

Slowcoach · 11-04-2008, 8:21 PM

Just this weekend I was hit by a flying rabbit. The bike in front of me hit it. This threw it up and straight onto my bird. Not pretty. He was cleaning his bike and finding bits over his left boot, side stand, fairing etc. I have had to remove my fairing and clean out the intake. Not pretty. Since it was done on Saturday and I only got home last night to clean it. Seemed to take for ever.

diveroger · 11-16-2008, 2:14 PM

I've run into bees twice the last 2 months. Each time I get stung I swell up more, doctor prescribed stuff to carry in my jacket. It's always between my helmet and jacket collar, guess I need to wrap a scarf around the neck, hate to because it's hot in Hawaii. Have to watch out for cig butts, frecking idiots don't know how to use an ashtray.

Banshee · 11-16-2008, 7:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Strek

That reminds me of that rabbit that Randy Mamola hit in that one race where he was tailing after Lawson. It was curtins for the rabbit that time too.

The one I recall, is a guy in the 250 GP in Malasia several years ago. One guy came around a corner to find a cobra slithering across the track & his line meant he ran over its tail. It reared up & flared its neck as the next guy was coming around. He took it's head off with his kneeslider...

Strek · 11-16-2008, 10:43 PM

So it was curtians for the snake too. Maybe someone sould make a video. One where only critters are hit on the race tracks.