Deer - ST written off

Might just take up hunting.
For all the sorted details the full story is at http://motocanuck.ca/?p=548



I managed to keep the rubber side down. Alas the shop where I took it has advised me it will, in all likelihood, be written off. Several thousand in cosmetic damage.

Wow glad you keep it on the road. Looking at the damage I would get the parts and repair the bike myself. Good luck.

Over $6000 in parts alone to rebuild the front end. Plus the rad is heavily damaged and that would likely be the easy part. You should see the schematic drawing. Dozens of parts and dozens more screws and push pins. The parts list is unbelievable. I'm pretty handy but wouldn't even know where to start.

Wow, that forest rat took the whole front end off your bike and lived to tell the tale to his buddy's..:

That is exactly what my bike looked like after my deer hit. I fixed the bike up for about $1500 and so far this year over 16,000 miles no problems. I might even have some parts for you and you are not far away. My parts are silver but you can paint them. PM me if you are interested.

Wow...glad you are ok! Take up hunting and plenty of us here will help you eat the venison.

TourNut said:

what the H makes them go from safety of a natural setting into an unnatural situation / closeness to a noisy , to them , any vehicle ?

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Its the Rutt the bucks just put their heads down and look for does 1 track mind! They throw caution to the wind this time of year.

If you kept it upright (and glad to hear you did) then it is probably repairable.
Nice to hear it's not your body that needs the repair.

The dealer repair list will include probably every fastener and sub part they can find on the list to help maximize their profit. But most likely the majority of the parts you can re-use. Of those that you can re-use you can find a bit of them on e-bay for a 1/10 of the price.

Painted plastic is not cheap, but also not as expensive as the dealer will quote.

Glad to hear you didn't get hurt.
I am kinda on the lines as you are about jumping into the repair. I am fine with taking it down to parade rest and rebuilding it but I would be reluctant to do it not knowing what it needs.
However, with the more than expert advise from this site I would consider it.
Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

Bummer, but good job staying up. Good luck looking forward.

Forest Rats! :rocket1:

Sorry to hear about the deer hit, just glad you kept it on the rubber and didn't go down too!

As far as fixing a bike by yourself goes, it's not as bad as one might think. Yeah, the shops are great about ordering parts that aren't needed. The easiest way to figure it all out is to section the bike off.

Once it is torn down, you'll see the parts that need to be replaced. Just make sure you save all the nuts, bolts, washers, clips and anything else. Don't throw anything out until you know you no longer need it.

In your case, I would start with the upper cowl stay, check the bolts at the rear, they connect to the frame to make sure they aren't bent or broken. Check the front wiring harness for broken wires or connectors, etc. New headlight, upper cowl, windshield cowl, pockets, lower fairings, etc. You can probably pick up most of your parts online and avoid the dealer charges.

Good luck, if you need any advise on putting it back together, just send me a message.

Glad you're okay, great job keeping things under control the beST you could. Hope things work out smoothly for you.

Sorry to hear of your encounter and thankful you weren't seriously hurt. Great job of keeping it all together.

John

Al Gully said:

Wow, that forest rat took the whole front end off your bike and lived to tell the tale to his buddy's..:

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Well, he may not have lived that long, judging by the description of his condition...

Hit a deer in 2012, two up and did keep the rubber down. The shop had the bike for 3 months, $4200 parts and $1200 in labor. Bike has run great since. Bike had 60,000 miles on it at the time and has 97,000 now. Bought another bike while the St was being repaired and sold it the next spring.

Great to hear your OK.

Wow...what a mess! Nice job staying upright. Glad you're ok.

Thank you for all the comments.
It'll go the insurance company. There are no parts recovered. What you see missing is .....errrr....in wee pieces all over the forest floor along Wykoff Run in PA. It requires everything from the rad to every fairing part right down to the screws and fasteners.
A bigger project than I care to take on.
I'm a rider ....not a wrencher....that's why I ride a Honda and not a Harley.

Aust88 said:

Thank you for all the comments.
It'll go the insurance company. There are no parts recovered. What you see missing is .....errrr....in wee pieces all over the forest floor along Wykoff Run in PA. It requires everything from the rad to every fairing part right down to the screws and fasteners.
A bigger project than I care to take on.
I'm a rider ....not a wrencher....that's why I ride a Honda and not a Harley.

Click to expand...

Get the bike back from the insurance and sell it to someone who can fix it up in your area. Good luck.

My son and I were riding in Mississippi about 1/4 mile behind one of my riding buddies. The area around this road were clear cut of timber. There was a slight rise on the right that ran up to the ditch next to the road. We saw my buddy suddenly start swerving for what seemed no apparent reason. When we got close enough we could see he had high sided and slid off to the left. About 20 feet in front of his Kawasaki Voyager was a doe, probably no more than 125 pounds. He had hit that doe dead center pinning the animal around the forks.
The doe had appeared from behind the rise. He never saw the doe; the doe never saw him before she jumped the ditch.
My bud had 3 broken ribs, broken scapula, and collar bone. And a lot of road rash.
Over $3,500 damage to the bike.
Sooooo after healing and getting the bike repaired he installed deer whistles. He swore he saw more deer after he installed the whistles. He told me they must have imitated a deer mating call. Took them off his bike.

Nice write up, and very happy you came out so well from what could have been a much nastier situation!
I'd be surprised if insurance totals your ST, as the book value is pretty high. The damage looks mostly cosmetic; doesn't appear that your forks got bent, so structural damage may be nil. Last fall a deer totaled my 07, but I had a lot more damage since the bike flipped and slid around. The insurance estimate will include everything that got dirt on it, and full price labor... If you can fix yourself, you will come out ahead to have some $ for your pain and suffering! lol (Plus, working on your bike will bring you closer in your relationship). Good luck on whatever you decide though.