jfinnan
XS650 Enthusiast
Yeah..so that happened. Last night, I finished up syncing and adjusting the fuel mixture on my '80 XS. It has been sitting for almost two years with a rotor issue that I resolved a couple of days ago. So I was excited to take it out and test out the final result of the tuning. All went well, until that doe jumped out into the road and we collided. It all happened so fast. I hit the deer in the head with the headlight bucket, and it's momentum pushed me over on the right side. I'm still not sure if I ever got to brake at all. It appears that it spun around my left side, and dented my tank. Still a mystery. The bike landed on it's right side and continued to slide down the road for about 15 feet or so. We departed ways as soon as it went down. I don't remember much, except sliding to a stop on the shoulder. After a minute or two, I took stock of my body, and I appeared to be ok. I was in full riding gear, which obviously saved me from a lot of pain and/or even something more serious. I do recall hitting my head pretty hard on the pavement when I went down. The helmet did it's job. This picture was taken after another fellow stopped to see if I was ok. He helped me stand the bike upright and move it over to the shoulder.
Surprisingly, the bike fared fairly well. I did ride it home, though there are issues. I cannot shift, though that may be an issue with the clutch handle and cable (only neutral and second gear). It now has three broken turn stalks, the headlight shattered and was all over the road, the headlight bucket is dented and road rashed, and there may be more. I need to really look it over today. It's not idling well anymore.
Me..well..I'm in the normal pain from being body slammed into the pavement. No broken bones, but I'm bruised in quite a few place. Like I said, I was in full riding gear. My jacket has a torn sleeve, but the brunt of that was taken by the elbow armor. My riding jeans tore at the right knee, but the leather insert there did not wear through. My riding boots are scuffed, but also not worn through. All in all, I survived well. The deer, not so well.
I was thinking about a new deerskin motorcycle seat cover.
Surprisingly, the bike fared fairly well. I did ride it home, though there are issues. I cannot shift, though that may be an issue with the clutch handle and cable (only neutral and second gear). It now has three broken turn stalks, the headlight shattered and was all over the road, the headlight bucket is dented and road rashed, and there may be more. I need to really look it over today. It's not idling well anymore.
Me..well..I'm in the normal pain from being body slammed into the pavement. No broken bones, but I'm bruised in quite a few place. Like I said, I was in full riding gear. My jacket has a torn sleeve, but the brunt of that was taken by the elbow armor. My riding jeans tore at the right knee, but the leather insert there did not wear through. My riding boots are scuffed, but also not worn through. All in all, I survived well. The deer, not so well.
I was thinking about a new deerskin motorcycle seat cover.