tigers eat deer

[dancope]

Am I the only one this has happened to?  I was riding the bike on the highway last Sunday am. and a 100 lb. deer ran full on into the side of my Tiger.  Her head hit just about the right headlight.  My turn signal is gone from the cockpit out, and my saddlebag was ripped off.  The deer hit my lower leg as well as my girlfriends (ouch).  The thing is the impact was so hard, she was running full out, that it pushed the gas tank over and cracked a plastic fitting on the left side.  This cracked fitting left the bike immobile.  As we did not go down, I am fairly mifted at this week design.  We were doing about 70MPH, and gas was pumping out all over the left side of the bike.  One spark and it would have been Flaming Okies.  Is this a problem others have had?  Is there a good fix? thanks

[apache]

I feel your pain. I gotta admit thats one of my daunting nightmares is wacking a deer at 70 mph. Round here there in rut and all over on my commute and where I live. It scares the hell out of me to see several standing on the side of the freeway eating grass when cars are flying by at 70-80 mph. Other than crash bars whats left for protection? I invested in a pair of the animal/deer warning whistle deals that who knows if they even really work. I figured for $5 bucks I couldent go wrong. after passing one the other day at 70 mph and he (big buck) was about 10 feet from just staring at me I now assume they dont do squat.

 At least you and your gal are OK and you didnt go down.

[whoa]

Hell yeah, congratulations on keeping it up, so to speak.  Deer strike is a major concern, and frequent occurance.



I can't fault the manufacturer for a hose coming off, but you'd think the pump might shut off with the loss of pressure.  But I'm not a systems guy, so who knows?

[NortonCharlie]

Sorry to hear about your run in with the deer, all said and done it could have been alot worse.  As far as the plastic fuel fitting breaking, if it was the fitting on the end of the fuel lines and not the one screwed into the tank, it was recalled and should have been replaced with metal fittings.

[Aussie Tiger]

First of all, I'm glad you are both OK.  Hitting any animal at speed, even a rabbit or cat, can have fatal consequences.



As to the damage and what you call a "weak design", don't forget that bikes aren't designed to hit animals or anything for that fact.  The designers assume, and hope, that their bikes never have accidents, never run into anything and are ridden responsibly (I'm not saying that you weren't by the way!).  



However, as you and I know, in the real world, things do happen, especially on an "adventure" bike like the Tiger.  With 4WD's there are plenty of people manufacturing items like roll bars and bull bars to provide extra protection beyond what the vehicle designers had in mind. As mentioned by Apache, the same is true of motorcycles. These will give you added protection but may not have given you the amount you needed to avoid the damage you incurred.



So this brings me back to my first point, bikes are NOT designed for collisions.  I'm not surprised at all at the amount of damage you recieved, in fact, i'm surprised there wasn't more!  At 70 mph, with a dear running flat out and with two up, its nothing short of a miracle that you weren't seriously hurt (or worse) and that you managed to keep her upright. If I were you, I'd buy a lottery ticket!



While a little bigger than a deer, look at what happens when a moose hits a car!



 

[MarkF]

This cracked fitting left the bike immobile.  As we did not go down, I am fairly mifted at this week design.  We were doing about 70MPH, and gas was pumping out all over the left side of the bike.  

Weak design?  You were doing 70 mph and were hit broadside by a 100 lb animal running at full speed and you did not go down.  Sounds like a reason to buy a Tiger not complain about it.  Hope you heal fast.

[dancope]

Luck, my skill, bike, or God.  I've been told all of these apply.  My insurance man says that this time of year at least half the  collision claims are deer related.  anyway it was the plastic fitting which screws into the tank.  I still think it should be metal.  Don't get me wrong, I love the Tiger, I have over 25,000 miles on it.  But it would have been nice to ride it home, instead of watching it go away on a tow-truck. Later

[NortonCharlie]

I replaced my plastic fittings in the tank with metal ones I got from Baxter Cycle.  The plastic ones were getting so they didn't seal completely when disconnected.

[dougahole]

Hey dancope, a couple of co-workers of mine bagged two bucks last week in your area. Of course they did it with rifles and not tigers. My next door neighbor got broad sided by a doe in his mini van right in the middle of OKC on I-40 and it totaled the side of the van two weeks ago.Your tiger came out pretty good considering. As for the fuel fitting, mine also had the plastic ones on my 01 when I bought it last summer and I had them warrantied by the local dealer just last month and I put them on myself. Good luck and stop riding on those cool mornings when those deer are horney and running with there nose :D

[dancope]

Thanks for the info on metal fittings, that is what I need to do as I go back together.

[Onedownfiveup]

You were real lucky. Especially with two up and you still maintained control.



Deer and old ladies are our worst enemies.



If you see one deer next to the road, there are most likely others waiting to jump out in front of you.



I am glad this wasn't a much worse story. Sounds like you have may have made it home if you had the service bulletin fuel fittings. That is one tough tiger, IMO.



I am just waiting for the Brits to chime in with some stories of Bulls in the road in Baja.    I know you chaps saw some on your recent trip down there.

[apache]

He,he,he, Insane diego. How true, almost as bad as Lost Angles any more. How bout some stories of "tigers in TJ" .