Close call with an Owl (2016)

Dam vivid reliving r-scholar and everyone else's events. Bird scale is crows, rather larger than song birds then much larger impressive buzzards then awesome Bald Eagles much larger than buzzards, then frighting massive Great Horned Owls, mystical level encounters.

A funny close buzzard encounter on open hwy a few on opposite side feasting on road kill, so let off 60's to give time to clear off but one stood its ground to face me protecting its meal, till see's my size zooming in a dozen yrd away, freaks into flight still aimed at me for jerk fear reflex sharp lean away - swinging my head over L shoulder to see if going to collide at about 70 combined mph for a Tom Cruise like instant of bird wings on full banked turning trust, with its head fully turned over its R shoulder = eye / eye contact in identical angry exclamations FUCKYOU!
Ah to be one with nature - short of imitate blood and guts

I was pillion on my friend Ians t140 on the way to get my commando from somewhere. It was summer, he had his open face on. A bee flew in his nose and got stuck, stung him on the inside of the nose. We almost dropped the bike.

I had not ridden for a while. About 5 miles from home something was walking around in my helmet with visor down. I put my hand in and tried to get it out but squashed it. A few miles later felt weird. Had to pull over. Took my helmet off and my wife who was passenger luckily found the remains of the black widow spider that got me. I had to be taken to emergency. That was a bad experience. I think the spider might have got into the helmet in my garage. I always check the helmet before i put it on these days.

I once felt what seemed like a bit of road grit lodge between my inner thigh and petrol tank. In a few moments it felt like a red hot wire was poking into my thigh. I got off, found it was a bumble bee. Man that hurt.

Came around a blind mountain curve in New Mexico, cranked over and railing, and a free-range bull ran across the road in front of me. Slid a big, black "S" in the road to avoid hitting the bastard. Later, we got flashing headlights from an oncoming pickup. Thought there was a cop trolling up ahead and slowed down to meet a whole line of free-rangers crossing the road, shitting as they went. Would hate to encounter a pile of that in the road at full lean. The owner of the motel we stayed at in Chama told us a friend had collided with a bear while riding at night and the crash killed him and the bear. Another good reason to not ride after sunset.

Few years ago riding the bike I saw a wasp was crawling across the inside front of my visor, instead of just flicking the visor up, I pulled over pdq and took my helmet off. Didn't get stung but I still don't understand why I chose that method !
sam

While following a friend somewhere out west, it became apparent that his pack was on fire. I had to pass him and get him to pull over as he did not notice the smoke behind him. Someone had thrown a cigarette and it landed on his tent which was strapped to the back of his seat.

hehe, can relate to the pack smoking pilot's double take confusion annoyance seeing you pass and frantically waving over. On our travels if I did not let Wes lead he'd always slow down till far out of sight, often below other slowish traffic - so on 2004 return from Ohio rally in summer heat we hit a long straight cement slab hwy with big swollen tar seams jarring through seat, so passed Wes doing 60's to hit 90's standing full upright with hi bars ease in the breeze, feeling like Titantic bow movie scene, Wes way out of sight, till few moments later he flashes past me at least 110 mph waving me over!!!?? I pull over behind him - with him pointing behind us, to turn seeing 1/2 m long blueish heavy smoke fog - leading right to Peel rear tire, axle broken, wheel twisted to rub swing arm raw, and tilted R so mudguard edge cutting deep groove close to cutting in half. This delayed us a weekend till could rent a truck to finish trip.

90 mph, standing with only finger tip effort to hold single miki carb open - over heaved jarring slabs, weaving a bit for boredom breaking, implies to me alignment is mainly for chain/sprocket life not much about control.

I've hit a deer and gotten bees in my helmet, all of which caused various amounts of hilarity and chaos but one experience I will never forget was crashing my 250 enduro into an electric fence. The wire broke and coiled from memory, around me and my bike! As long as I balanced on the tires I didn't get shocked but I couldn't untangle the wire without using my legs to brace. It was a friggen mess that took what seemed like forever to get out of. My cojones where numb for a week!

trident sam said:

Few years ago riding the bike I saw a wasp was crawling across the inside front of my visor, instead of just flicking the visor up, I pulled over pdq and took my helmet off. Didn't get stung but I still don't understand why I chose that method !
sam

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Had a similar experience when I was a very new rider. Two lane road and a bee in my bonnet. Pulled off the road and as quick as I could got the strap off and the helmet off. The bee flew away. I was telling my son when I got home. He just reached over to my modular helmet and lifted it up. I felt a little foolish for not thinking about it.

Early in my N-V career, I was out on one of the prototype Commandos one superb Spring morning. Bombing along a really good country road and singing a Beatles song, I picked up a wasp. Before I had chance to think about it, I'd swallowed the damn thing! I guess the impact killed it, since I didn't get any internal stings. Don't sing on a bike unless you're wearing face coverage or are behind a fairing!

Bombing down the freeway on one of my first outings on the Norton ('76?) and something went down the front of my heavy leather jacket. Before I could think, I was getting stung repeatedly on the chest! Throwing out the anchor and pounding on my chest with my left fist (that must have looked pretty funny), almost missing the kickstand, there were red welts all down the front of my sternum. The yellow jacket hornets we get around here are brutal!

Nathan

frankdamp said:

Early in my N-V career, I was out on one of the prototype Commandos one superb Spring morning. Bombing along a really good country road and singing a Beatles song, I picked up a wasp. Before I had chance to think about it, I'd swallowed the damn thing! I guess the impact killed it, since I didn't get any internal stings. Don't sing on a bike unless you're wearing face coverage or are behind a fairing!

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How do you recognize a happy motorcyclist?

He has bugs in his teeth.

rvich said:

How do you recognize a happy motorcyclist? He has bugs in his teeth.

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Although there can be too much of a good thing...

I have a great horned owl that lives on my road that swoops in front of me when I come home late after dark. ntst8, I had that experience with a helmet visor full of mayflies during a hatch riding a river road.
On rare occasions I have had to dodge wild turkeys an deer and I have caught a bee or wasp in the lid or inside the jacket. What really irks me is when you just finish cleaning your visor to perfection and drive ten minuets down the road and a big bug's flight path aims right for your vision spot. Its like a kamikaze attempt for the bug to aim for your eyes before it goes splat just to hear you swear under your breath.
T

Mark Twain said humor is based on ongoing tragedy. Hard shell insects can hurt like the dickens blurring vision/control while the soft juicy ones smear annoying slime. If helmet/shield or wind screen don't look like a splattered head light then only a fair conditions has been. Deer=Death PTSD disorder almost to level of Brother and Wes lost so not for polite public. Just know to always aim at them on hi throttle as they bust apart before bike/pilot, usually. We are in quickly accelerating 6th major extinction event so noticeably less bug splatter about everywhere but backwards Ozarks. Seriously - my canned stock joke to Hog squadrons is how clean their fronts are - lucking out to miss our bug seasons.
http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/05/where-have-all-insects-gone

Anyone care to hear about large snake road tripping gone wrong to force heel/toe clutch throttle brake tank slapping Commando rally car handling lesson with barbed wire/trees as strict lesion graders?

A Hog rider out here had a young bear run into R side to snag ankle so far out green stick fractured lower leg angle but got pulled over w/o crash watching bear run back into woods.

Lost a loved famous local when a deer leaped off bluff to land on his head, tossing him and wife off allowing wife to watch him choke to death like I almost did too.

Spoke with a few locals that deer struck over 65 to say the deer blew apart so imagine evidence based behavior feeling safer at 80's after dark!!
Then Ozarks armadillo speed bumps are harder to avoid.

Now that... you really don't want to tangle with. Or a Moose...like
Bullwinkle! ...I can deal with Rocky.
Cheers,
Tom

I have ridden right through the middle of a herd of bison (with calves) on our way to Beartooth Pass. Several motorcycles and some cagers. You just hope that no one does anything stupid to spook them. Definitely a pucker moment.

Oh my oh my the buffalo and wild turkey torpedo flashes me back on my hunches.

Picture this, young lonely woman Ms Peel, cold weary timidly creeping home at night fearing deer strikes on THE Gravel come to single lane no sides bridge 25 ft over creek to see a black 'cattle' at far end, head towards fence, to slow to stop before end of bridge to give it a polite 'bee under bonnet' beepbeep alert to move all the way off road - YIKES!!! big black bull snapped around so fast stirred dust cloud as lowered horns at me 10 ft away, pawed groove in gravel steam jets out nose neck/shoulder muscles rippled in hi beam tensing for the charge to lift us up over the brink, reflex WOT open megaphone redline baLASTT that startled bull enough its jerked back on its hunches and I dropped clutch and rooster tailed past it before it recovered footing. When I got Peel i asked owner why the shot gun in the truck, told aw its for the bulls and sometimes take a couple hits before they change direction.