Birds are Dangerous

[MikeP1300]

A buddy was coming in from off shore when this sea gull committed suicide. Knocked the pilot out cold. The passengers were praying hard as they nose dived for the water. Fortunately, the pilot came to in time to pull them out.

And they say riding a motorcycle is dangerous.

[Toaksy]

ouch!! that looks like it sucked.

[Mark]

A lot of damage for a seagull!

Glad they made it.

Mark

[Blrfl]

And they say riding a motorcycle is dangerous.

Flying just adds a third axis in which you can screw up. :rolleyes:

--Mark

[dreddd2000]

Even on the motorcycle, those flying varmints can be dangerous. I have to duck several times this summer to avoid a bird that was too busy chasing a bug to notice something like 800+ pounds of steel, plastic and Joe.

I'm glad the pilot was able to get his wits back in time to pull it out.

[motomac]

My ST is the only motorcycle I have owned that I have hit a bird with. I have hit at least 4 that I know were birds for sure and some bugs I'm not so sure what they were, they were so big.

[TexTom]

Motomac, If you were riding in Texas those things that you don't know , were probably just average sized bugs for Texas. If you were in the Rockies those were probably 15lbs. mosquitoes:eek:
TexTom:06biker:

[motomac]

Motomac, If you were riding in Texas those things that you don't know , were probably just average sized bugs for Texas. If you were in the Rockies those were probably 15lbs. mosquitoes:eek:
TexTom:06biker:
I know in Alaska the mosquitoes are the size of baby hummingbirds!!!!

[StOhio]

A pilot friend of mine flies charters and he hit a red tailed hawk in a Cessna 421 last year. Didn't knock him out but took some surgery to get his face back to ugly like it was before the hit.

[KrazyKooter]

I hit a sparrow once. It was when I first started riding. I was wearing a leather jacket that had the collar fold over and button to the jacket. I was going about 50 mph and it hit right on the button. That didn't feel good.

Now, I have ran over a bunch of road runners in Big Bend that were running along the road.

[STBNE]

One time on my Yamaha Maxim there was a Turkey Vulture along the side of a road that was feasting on a carcass.When I came along it heard my bike and spooked.The bird had a10ft.wing span and was very slow to get airborne.Its flight path was on a direct intersect with my head.I had to tuck down to my gas tank to miss it.What an UGLY sucker it was too!:eek: :eek: :eek:

[killerST6]

WOW,
I hate it for the pilot, but can you imagine the thoughts going through the passengers head as there is a hole in the canopy, pilot out (or dead as far as they know) and the helio heading downward!!!

Not a fun day for the home team.

[MikeP1300]

WOW,
I hate it for the pilot, but can you imagine the thoughts going through the passengers head as there is a hole in the canopy, pilot out (or dead as far as they know) and the helio heading downward!!!

Not a fun day for the home team.

You shoulda heard the eye witness report. Freaky as hell.
I guess you all noticed the big bird to the left of the seat head rest?
Some of the pilots wear helmet and face shield. This guy will probably think about doing the same from now on.

[dustym828]

A buddy was coming in from off shore when this sea gull committed suicide. Knocked the pilot out cold. The passengers were praying hard as they nose dived for the water. Fortunately, the pilot came to in time to pull them out.

And they say riding a motorcycle is dangerous.

The windows are acrylic.
For a little more money, you can get polycarbonate windows and solve that problem (at HC speeds).
For some irrational reason, the OEM seems to be reluctant even to offer it as an option.
One incident like this probably convinved EVERYONE on board.

[Earache]

I hit a turkey while riding my Ducati - spun me around in the saddle, knocked my hand off the bar and my foot off the peg. Scared me to death.

Due to a rather large weight and speed advantage, I came out of it considerably better than the turkey.

Have some pics of it somewhere....


edit: pics added

[MikeP1300]

I hit a turkey while riding my Ducati - spun me around in the saddle, knocked my hand off the bar and my foot off the peg. Scared me to death.

Due to a rather large weight and speed advantage, I came out of it considerably better than the turkey.

Have some pics of it somewhere....

I haven't hit anything big enough to hurt, but I've had to duck and swerve to miss a few lately.

[SupraSabre]

I had an owl clip my left side of my windshield/fairing. It left scratches...I was lucky! :mw1:

These poor guys weren't as lucky! :22yikes:

23266

23267

[STBNE]

Damn this is beginning to sound like an Alfred Hitchcock movie "The Birds":eek: :eek:

[sirepair]

I've hit a couple birds in my travels, also caught one once! I was running about 50-60 with a group. Lil fellow came right across the road and I just reached up and grabbed him. He had a fairly stunned look about him.

Thought I would give him the ride of his life, so I cranked up to about 100 and tossed him over my shoulder. The feathers flew but he survived to fly away.

He probably had quite a story to tell while sitting on the wire!

[Kevin Powers]

They've got big birds in Texas. Vulture took out windshield, garnish, assorted plastic bits, broke dashboard and dislodged the instrument cluster. That's the bird on the pavement in the background - his buddies were just waiting for me to roll away.

[motomac]

Those Texas buzzards are goofy. They have to fly into the wind to take off, so if the wind is blowing across your path of travel, look out cause it takes them a while to get airborne.

[Ed_Grant]

I understand that John Denver's fatal airplane crash was caused by a collision with a seagull.