What items have you dodged or hit on your commute?

[JoeDabbs]

I thought this might be a common occurence for those that commute on their bikes. I say, "dodged or hit", because sometimes it's better to do either. Other times, disaster will strike if not choosing the right approach. Typically, I'll be in a fast-moving pack of cages, with no recourse but to run over whatever comes out from underneath the back wheels of the car (or jeep) in front of me. My biggest bounce was hitting a loading pallet. R60/6 flew up in the air and landed solid with my headlight shell flying off and shattering against the bolts on the front fender. Pulled over for that one. On my CLC, the biggest object I hit was a garage door (metal) lying in my path. CLC (big ol' girl) flew up in the air, but landed nicely. I put a dent in the CAT with that one. Angle iron tipped by by jeep in front of me and flip flopping down the road. That was deflected by my crash bars on the CLC, but did bounce off my shin. Didn't bleed, but left a scar - go figure. For sure, I would have went down had I tried to dodge the loading pallet. In Detroit, once, a snowmobile fell off the truck in front of me, but I had room to dodge that one. I certainly wouldn't want to hit a snowmobile head on...

[dbrick]

Going 70 or so on an Interstate in traffic, I was confronted by a 20-30 gallon plastic garbage can a few years ago.

It rolled into my lane, and as with Joe's experience, I was too close to dodge. There was a thump as the bike's front end rode over it, and a buzz-thump as (I think) it briefly was stuck beneath the bike before the rear tire went over it. I was surprised that the bike did not even wiggle alarmingly, although I can confirm that my adrenal glands got a good workout once they figured out what had happened.

[jeffd]

Nothing all that exciting for me, I seem to get mostly small game. Caught a full grown Robin in the chest at 70MPH, that one hurt. Found a swarm of bees on the way home one day. Only ended up with 17 stings. Also collected a raccoon in the dark and in the rain. By the time I saw it there was nothing to do but hold on. Hit it square on at speed. Can't say the coon was the cause but my fork seals started leaking.
Jeff

[PGlaves]

Not commuting - but up in Montana I hit a short 4x4 chunk of lumber. Ruined the front wheel beyond what Woody's Wheelworks could straighten. I had them relace a new rim onto the existing hub.

[mika]

The bulk of my miles are commuting. The only odd ball thing beyond the normal things any rider has to be concerned with was a sippy cup hurled at me while waiting for a stoplight to change. The cup hit the tank, the lid popped off and spilled liquid on the bike and the crotch of a good pair of dress pants. I had a riding jacket on and a suit coat in the tank bag. The people at the meeting I was headed to had a good laugh while I had a cleaning bill.

[JoeDabbs]

This is the opposite of the thread, but one summer morning riding on the expressway through Downtown Detroit it was mighty hot - hot enough that the turpperware bowl of homemade chicken soup that I had strapped on the back seat had thoroughly melted from when I had grabbed it from the fridge. Now, understand that there was about an inch on pure fat that had collected at the top of the container when I had taken it out. Traffic being what it was, we were cruising along at about 70 mph with about 6 feet between each vehicle. All of a sudden, a yellow Corvette got on my tail and got within inches of my bike and just hung there. I hand signalled him to back off a bit, but he stayed right on my tail. I couldn't really speed up - no room. Then, as fate would have it, I hit a big pot hole and the chicken soup bowl went flying off the bike and onto his hood, upon which the contents went all over his windshield. Then he switched his wipers on, which, of course smeared the whole mess even more. I glanced back as this was happening, and he pulled over to the left (we were all in the speed lane) and I could see that he was scraping his Corvette all down the side as he grinded along the Jersey Barrier. I must admit, I did not stop, but somehow, I didn't feel badly about not stopping. I sincerely hoped that he would never, ever tailgate a motorcycle again and try to intimidate anyone on two wheels in that fashion.

[mcmxcivrs]

Mostly just careless, inattentive or reckless drivers. I did have to dodge around a huge bale of hay once, but that was in my truck.

[danners]

While commuting on I-95 in Northern Virginia, I was behind a semi (no surprise). It was a breezy morning and I was keeping a safe distance between the semi and me. The semi drove over a piece of cardboard that took to flight like a flying saucer (I'm guessing having never seen one). The cardboard seemed as if it was headed directly for my head and I had no place to go so I ducked low behind the windscreen. The cardboard sailed over me. I have no idea how close it was to hitting me but but in my perception it was close.

[rhyeks]

Missed a large rat that crossed my lane and went into a hole in a concrete barrier. He looked like he had done the same thing before.
Hit a dust devil that had paralled my path before turning into me. Perfect timing. Its surprising how much wind those things pack.

[Omega Man]

Had a 4'X8' sheet of Homasote come off a lumber truck and hit me. I had seen it start to flap, realized it might lift and plan on the maneuver- in about 2 seconds. It was a good plan.
OM

[saddleman]

Too many to mention I wouldn't know where to start.

[okiegman]

I commute 50 miles one way combination 2 lane country roads and highway. Last summer I was 3 for 6 hitting crap.

1.) Roadrunner, those things are fast but not that fast. He had crossed the road in front of me every day for the past 2 years. Guess he was an adrenaline junkie as he kept letting me get closer and closer before crossing - well this time he let me get a little too close

2.) Turkey vulture was eating dinner in the middle of the road (2 lane) tried to get his skunk laden butt off the tarmac coming right at me. I ducked behind the windscreen which he hit with both feet and his tail.

3.) Best guess a chunk of wood with a railroad spike in it based on the hole it put in my rear tire. I never saw it. I was riding along another 2 lane country road, no one else around. All of the sudden to my left was..........wait for it........A shiny Honda XR650L for sale. Never saw the wood/nail. Tore off my mud flap as well as ruining a tire.

I should add I missed 2 deer and a cow. I'm also an avid deer hunter and the buck I missed in late October was bigger than any I saw in the woods. It was also the closest near miss. Barreled around a tree lined corder at dawn to find him standing in the middle of the road. Seemed as tho it took him forever to get moving (looked like he was skating on ice) as I was all over the brakes trying to get shut down. Thought I might have to "lay-er down" (just kidding! Poking fun of another thread on here).


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[saddleman]

Too many to mention I wouldn't know where to start.

Here is the worst hit I ever had. It was about 5:00 am on my way to work on a two lane 55 mph HWY. I saw a big white object come off of a flatbed truck going the opposite direction in a corner. I felt it hit the bottom of the bike & it lifted the rear a little. It hit hard enough that I was worried about a possible oil leak from a puncture in either the engine or the transmission.

I was going close to 70 mph when it hit & I pulled the clutch in & coasted to a stop not wanting to use the brakes in case I was dumping oil on the rear tire. When I got off the bike I couldn't see any damage with my flashlight. On the rest of my ride to work the ABS lights were blinking. When it was daylight I looked the bike over.

The front ABS wire was cut completely through, one exhaust pipe was almost crushed shut, The left side body work had white dust on it & had several gouges, the transmission guard had many white scrapes on it & the rear wheel had a gouge on the left side along with white marks on the tire. The dealer found more damage & the parts estimate alone was $5,600.

When I took the bike apart it had concrete particles everywhere under the body work. The insurance Co. tried there best to total it because it had over 80,000 miles on it but every BMW dealer they called told them that was not very many miles for a BMW. I fixed it myself in under a week & told the ins. agent I was riding again I had all the time in the world to fight him against totaling it. I got my check two weeks later.

[waxrash]

Turkey vulture bounced of my shield on the RT.

[darrylri]

I dodged a child's wading pool, the hard plastic kind, that apparently came off the roof of a car a little ways ahead of me. It was moderately heavy traffic on I-280 in Sunnyvale (ie, Sillycon Valley, lots of type A drivers). My friend Martin, who was riding behind me, went over it.