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Glad your ok.
not deer related My brother hit a car that was making a left that was a year ago last month still hasn't settled with the insurance company. Bike totaled. take care
Fourteen months ago, a deer tried to cross my path. It was 0620 in April so there wasn't much light out. I live in a very rural area so deer are always a threat and I had my antennae out for them. I was 20 miles from home and no cell service in this area.
It was a single lane in each direction with approximately 20' feet of grass on each side. The deer came at me from the right side and I never saw it until a nanosecond before the collision. I was doing 65 mph when the collision occurred. It's head hit my right passing lamp and it's leg caught my engine guard and highway peg. The deer swung around me and took out a strap on my right saddlebag. No engine or paint damage. I never went down.
I stopped to change my shorts and take in what happened. My right foot was sore. I continued on and assessed the damage at daybreak. My right passing lamp was bent and loose, the passing lamp bracket was bent and a strap on my right saddlebag was pulled off. When the deer hit my engine guard it bent the upper tab on the frame slightly. My foot was on the highway peg when it hit the peg. My sore foot was due to a broken bone.
As an FYI, the HD LED passing lamp still worked.
I was afraid the insurance adjuster would total the bike because of the bent tab. He said it really wasn't bent enough to total the bike which was fine with me. The problem was the engine guard wasn't stable because it was rocking on the bent tab.
So, I cut a piece of hard rubber the size of the engine guard mount from a rubber sanding block, drilled a hole in it and used it as an interface between the engine guard and frame. As it compressed, it formed to the tab on the frame side and remained flat on the engine guard side (see arrow in picture). Now I had a stable engine guard again.
I dodged a bullet that day. Glad you're here to ride another day, OP.
I hit a deer 2 months ago doing 55 on my heritage the insurance company called me 2 days later to say it was totaled before I even got out of hospital to see it. they said offered a buy back of around 3500 after seeing pictures I was better off with the whole amount and went shopping. glad your up and doing well.
I had a low speed crash with my 2001 fat boy. Tank was dented and a few other minor things. Insurance co totaled it. Fine w me as I got about 3k more than I paid and was able to buy my 2k Heritage (with 350 miles on it) and have some $ left to mod it. 🤗
Last week I was leading a ride with two guys behind me. All of a sudden I spot a deer on my right, I hit the brakes not knowing what he would do. He looked at me and then ran across the road just in front of my bike. Luckily the two guys behind me were far enough back that they didn't run into me when I laid on the brakes. I guess it just wasn't my time.
I swerved to miss Bambi on a blind corner in Montana 2 years ago and hit the ditch. Spent 5 fun filled days in 2 different hospitals due to the injuries. Insurance company said $6500 damage to my 07 Street Bob. HD appraised the damages around $14K. They wrote it off. The triple tree was forced back into the tank. With that, there was no way I wanted it back or would ever trust it even if it was fixed.
I am headed out on my first trip since on Wednesday. Going from Calgary to Phoenix through the mountains. A little nervous, but I need to get the monkey off my back.
Yikes, glad that you are ok. When I had my accident, the Insurance company took the estimate directly from the HD service department. They didn't even want to see the bike. I would imagine with the damage you described, you will be shopping for a new bike.
What's the old saying, when you get thrown from the horse you got a just get back on and ride it. When I crashed back in 01 I got back on as soon as the physical therapist gave me the OK. I was a little spooked when I first got on the new bike but that feeling soon went away.
