I'm interested in close call stories. Anyone have a brush with death only to have your guardian angel step in? I have about ten really close calls over my 18 years of riding all types of motorcycles. Here's my most recent:

Driving along a rural Oregonhighway going just over the posted 55 limit, and I hear this wierd popping noise under my 2007cbr600rr. I slow to 30 and notice that it is gravel kicking up under the fairing. At that same moment three deer come bounding out of the brush and run right in front of my bike. I passed right between two of the large females, with about 1 foot to spare on each side. I didn't even have time to apply much brake before they were gone. Had I not slowed to figure out what the noise was, I surely would have hit one of them at 60. Go figure. Those deer cause damage. I hit one with my truck once (dodge ram magnum 1500) and busted up the right front bumper, headlight and the deer just ran off like it was nothing. Every once in awhile the papers here run a story of a motorcyclist killed by hitting a deer. That's one live down on my nine I guess.

 

Hit 3 deer with my car when I was in PA. First was bad, killed the deer and the front of the car was messed up pretty bad. The second a deer kind of ran into the side, Im not too sure what happened there. And the third I hit and when the cop came he had to shoot it because it was still alive but not going to make it. All 3 would have been bad news on a bike. One of those things that people feeling the need to open up their bikes to insane speeds have to think about, you cant control that kind of thing.

 

Last time I went up 74 I had a close call. Prompted me to do tracks only. So much better and worth it.

Long story short, came around one of the left handers and some dick was in my lane. I straightned up, braked, and went right. I didn't run off the road. It scared the living **** out of me.

Pic of road.

 

I lowsided at 80 mph exiting the highway several years back (whenI was youger and dumber) some how or another I landed on top the bike as it slid sideways toa stop. I ripped my jeans and busted my knee up pretty good, but was able to pick up the bike and drive away. know I only speed on the track. But more recent, I had a care pull a left hand turn in front of me. The car saw me at the last minute and stopped right in my lane, I swerved and and thank God there wasnt a car next to me, I didnt look just paniced. The was just just three days ago, Tuesday night.

And and for the record, I let emy new (4 week old 600rr) take a nap on me today when I got home. The stand wasnt all the way down, when I went to get off. I kept if from hitting th ground but tweeked my back as it slowly layed down. After getting it back up, beside me telling everyone, you would never know. Not one scratch... bit i am limoing around like a beaten dog.

 

I've had a few "holy s'!" moments. Three weeks ago I was riding from Portsmouth towards Hampton and took the MMBT across the James. There is a steep dip down where the road transitions from "bridge" to "tunnel" and as I peaked over the crest of the dip I saw two gigantic, sunken manhole covers followed by a huge pothole directly in my path and had no time to react other than stand up a little. Keep in mind the speed limit on this highway is 55 or 60 mph. I hit the manhole covers and then the hole and got tossed so hard my vision blurred a bit and my head got tossed around really hard. I couldn't believe the bike wasstill upright when I landed on the other side, I had an adrenaline dump but had nowhere to pull over since I was now in the tunnel. That was when I decided to go to Busch Gardens and ride someroller coasters that night for the first time ever.

Last week I was riding down a small road I wouldn't ride normally. I came up to an intersection with traffic signals and was pulling into the left turn lane to turn onto a major highway. As I was slowing down, some douche in a pickup rounds the corner making a rightto go the opposite direction from me and a freaking treadmill slides off the side of the truck, directly into my lane right in front of me. A lot of the people stopped at the light ahead of me had their windows open and looked around because I yelled, "Holy F'in' S'!" as Iswerved arounda few feet from the treadmill, the dumbasses got out of their truck and nearly caused a pileup accident as people who didn't see what happened now were turning left onto the street.

Yesterday Iwas riding home from work and decided to do some "exploring" even though it had rained earlier in the afternoon. I turned down a road that ended up leading nowhere interesting and had a lot of construction on it. It seems the cable crews had torn up strips of the road perpendicular to the path of travel and all but the last one had been filled in with macadam, there was only soft gravel that my front wheel sunk into as I crossed it. I was only going about 25 so no biggie. I got to the end of the road and pulled a u-ey and there were even more patches on the road going the other direction, except these were parallel to the path of travel and about three feet wide. I didn't want to ride right on it since the patches were uneven and the road was pretty twisty, so I cheated and ran with my wheels just to the left of the patch and two feet from the double yellow. The road curved to the left and I noticed I was leaning into the other lane. I saw some cars approaching from the opposite direction, so I crossed the patch to the other sideof the lanewhich I thought was muddy asphalt. Turns out the whole right side of the patch was just MUD! I was going slowly enough not to drop the bike, but it was another of those "holy s'!" moments.

The only advice I can give is, "Keep your vision elevated" and "Don't get caught off guard".

 

2 of them...........

First one.....

I took a trip to the Gila Mountains about a couple hours outside of town. GREAT roads, weekday, so NO ONE was on the roads. I had the mountain to myself. (which was actually quite surreal). On the way back, I was doing 65 mph on a long straight road exiting the mountains. Two deer jump into the road to cross. I immediately slammed the brakes HARD, skipping the front wheel a little. It was slow-motion as I flew right between the two of them (which were still in motion crossing the road, they never stopped). I remember cringing when I first saw them, and thought I was done for.

I pulled over, thanked God and my guardian angel for protecting me on that one. WAY TOO CLOSE of a call.

Here's the link to the thread showing pics from that day...............

https://cbrforum.com/m_389298/mpage_.../tm.htm#389298

Second one.....

The very next day from the "two deer attack", I was riding along with my roommate to White Sands (where the opening scenes to Transformers was filmed to simulate Qatar) Anyway, I was in front, he was following. It was dusk, and the sun was just about to set completely. I get into the turn lane/slow down lane to cross the highway, still doing about 70 mph (posted speed is 75) The INSTANT I touched the brakes, I was sliding. I don't remember actually hitting the ground at all. I just remember thinking "OH S**T! I'M CRASHING!" I slid for about 70-ish feet, the bike for about 100 feet. I was wearing all my gear, so it wasn't that bad at all.

Here's the link to the thread for that crash, the very next day from the Gila Trip (DAMN GRAVEL TO HELL!)

https://cbrforum.com/m_391156/mpage_.../tm.htm#391156

 

i've had a few close calls, 2 minor low-speed falls, 5 red light drops. sadly, if you're really paying attention, most close calls remain just that - close calls. some really are unavoidable - if a storage container falls from a bridge and lands 10 feet in front of you, yeah, you're screwed. the really important thing is how you handle those events. we were tearing up the highway the other night and there was a big filing cabinet or desk or something in the left lane and my buddy almost hit it. if he'd looked down at his gauges, he'd be pretty torn up or dead right now. i've had a few people try to block me from passing, but nobody's pulled out in front of me yet. came within inches of a possum while riding twisties today and realized it could have been a deer, and remembered hearing about the huge road rash ordeal a couple regulars at the restaurant i work at went through. sometimes reality checks are good, because you think everything is going fine, and then you come to remember time and again that you're only safe while you're in control, and you're not invincible. that was what my little stoppie spill did for me - good thing i was wearing my helmet :-)