I interrupted your meal, then killed you. Im sorry.

[claine650]

Soooo. im on my way home last night around 8:00. I'm half way through my favorite 2 mile super twisty local road (old Colerain road) and as I come around a bend going approx. 60 mph, I see a fucking huge turkey vulture eating a dead opossum I confirm after the ordeal. So naturally the bird tried to fly away, we make contact, im guessing I broke its neck. I'm so thankful it didn't take me down with it because for a moment I thought for sure I would loose it. Luckily the bike didn't suffer any damage, just obtained a few new feathers and the headlights got turned down and loosened.

I guess I should really be happy it wasn't a damn goose or I could have ended up in prison or something lol.

Rest in peace Mr./Ms. Scavenger.

I posted pictures in my gallery, to much of a pain to resize and attach to this post. why only 32.5K limit on these posts? that's tiny.

[DAC]

Glad you made it through. On going to prison, July 2nd I almost hit a female bald eagle in on SR36 near 206. Same thing - it was coming in for a landing on a fresh road kill. It came down fast and I hit the horn, clutch and brakes. It pulled up hard and we almost collided which would have been bad since it had about a 6 foot wingspan. The size means that it was probably female - the thing literally filled my vision - Wikipedia says the females run 25% larger than the males.

Edited July 17, 2014 by DAC

[Bubba]

Definitely potential for death--yours!  There's a thread on ADVRider forum about a rider who was killed hitting a vulture at speed.  Even hitting a bird at 50-70 MPH leaves a mark right thru gear.

[TwiztedRabbit]

Took a turkey vulture to the helmet in 09.. I was riding 536. Must a spooked it .. I honestly never saw it I was looking left through a turn and it hit me in the head on the right... I never had a chance me and the bike went down.. vulture dead.. bike well wasn't pretty had to be towed.. was going about 40

[mojocho]

Wow. Glad u made. I knew a guy who had a similar situation. But as he veered one way so did the vulture take flight in the same direction. The end result was he hit it straight on. It rolled over his front fairing and landed in his lap... Dead from the first impact. And apparently they do shit themselves... Sh!t all over the front of the bike and his lap. He kept the bike up somehow and pulled off the road. Don't recall but I think he had some bruised ribs, helmet was a mess, busted fairings, etc.

Always ride expecting the worse. I feel like I ride at about 50%-65% just because I'm always expecting a deer, car, gravel, Wayne Newton, to just appear on the road. I guess that's what track days are for... WOT.

[Gixxus Christ!]

A guy in front of me whacked a gull once at about 70 on an ultra classic something or other. Looked like someone shot a feather pillow with a 12 gauge. He had a 4 piece dinner stuck in his lower fairing vents.

[claine650]

Yeah I had my visor up, and when I was about to hit the thing I thought it was gonna be in my face, so I closed my eyes and turned my head for a second, a second later i was just shocked it didn't go so badly. Don't think it crapped on me or the bike lol, probably left its last bowel movement on the pavement. Those birds sure are ugly as hell.

[Bubba]

They love to lighten the load when they take off in a big hurry.  If they ever do 'paint' you with the full dump, you'll wish you WERE DEAD!!!

 

BTW, nice pic of the front of the bike.  Sooo…..do you end up having nightmares and visions of corpses if you use the feathers from a turkey vulture to make a dream catcher?

Edited July 17, 2014 by Bubba

[Tpoppa]

I rode through a flock of Turkey Vultures last year.  1 was eating roadkill on the road, 6-8 more were a few feet off the road behind bushes hidden from view.   They all flew right into my lane when I got close.  There were feathers and flapping all around me.  I hit 2 or 3 wth my helmet. 

[conn-e-rot]

Just be glad the damn thing didn't puke on you