While riding down a hill this morning, just after a left hand sweeper, something was up over my head. I turned and looked up to see a hawk with wings back descending over my right shoulder. The thing was matching my speed at 55 mph as it was dropping. It was focused on something on the left shoulder of the road up ahead and would not change its approach. I looked at the road and beck up at the bird, it was descending rapidly and starting to over take me. When it was just about ready to hit me I ducked and it went barely over my head.

My head was down against the tank and when I looked back up to see the road I saw a car that had crossed the center line and coming at me head on. I swerved hard right and missed the car. I glanced in my left side mirror and saw the bird flash just in front of the car that was still in my lane but swerving back.

I guess the moral of the story is that some people would rather hit a motorcycle head on that hit a stupid bird.

 

Scary stuff, lucky you are all right!!

 

I pray that birds of prey stay off the road...all birds for that matter. Two bird encounters for me, but not as scary as yours Chris. Following a pickup down a two lane at 55 or so, two locked together fighting birds fell out of a tree just as the truck passed under them and hit his windshield breaking it. He slambed on the binders and skidded to a stop right in front of me. We may complain about brakes on on bikes but they were enough that day. The second was when out riding with my son, he on his R6 and the Mrs two up with me. The boy was out in front and took a crow to the chest. Do the jacket armor testers check for this? The bird spit out under his elbow and spun across the pavement in front of us. I just motored thru with a WTF and out load laugh as we paired back up. Wierd, jus wierd.

 

Very happy that you're safe Tim, but it shows just how quickly things can go pear-shaped when on your bike.




Remember - If it flaps and is coming towards you, DUCK, alway DUCK

Cheers, SB

 

Sorry Seb; whilst I will happily acknowledge your skills in insect identification, that is clearly a seagull, not a Duck.

Kill one, cook one, eat one. The difference is immediately apparent.

 

Two bird strikes for me over the years. One a black crow and the other a sulphur crested cockatoo. The latter smashing my screen on the way to Phillip Island one year and the other striking me on the helmet on the way home from Phillip Island another year. Lucky I wasn't going to hard either time or it would have been far worse. At least with a smashed screen I could continue but the wind was ****ing terrible.

 

Makes you realise just how good a screen can be eh Bordo!?

When Joy and I went to Cairns last year (on the Kawasaki GT1000) a couple of birds failed to lift off with enough time to clear helmet/bike and I would instinctively and quickly duck leaving my darling pillion wondering WTF

I know I laughed - she didn't.

Cheers, SB

 

One I always steer around here is crows chewing on roadkill usually squirrels
- those ******* never rise until the last second - had a few near miss's with
them last spring

I seem to remember Hawkwind had a major hit with an owl at one point too
and he was bloody lucky - those things can be heavy like a howitzer shell

 

Remember this old one.....?

 

Back in 1997 when I first went out west to work one of the very large grain trucks that got around the area went over spilling tonnes and tonnes of wheat. Most of it was recovered but some wasnt and just remained on the side of the road for many years which the birds loved. I was going through that particular area one day not long after the truck went over, at speed to a bad car accident and took on no less than 100 cockatoos, crows, magpies etc. They heard me coming but some were a little slow off the mark and smashed into the lights on the roof of the car and tore them off smashing them to pieces. Bird guts everywhere. In the radiator, cooking nicely I might add and in the grill etc. Smashed the windscreen but it did hold together. It was a total mess and wrecked the car. Their bodies are so dense its like having bowling ***** thrown at the car.