Avoiding Dogs and other moving targets

Discussion in 'New Riders' started by DeeBee, Aug 21, 2016.

  1. DeeBee

    DeeBee New Member

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    Put new plug wires on my bike and took it for a loop.

    Which consists easing out of my neighborhood, a quick blast uphill onto the fourlane, back down to the side road, then shallow and steep climbs getting to the back entry of my neighborhood.
    It's a good little test loop probably between 1.5 and 2 miles with uphill and downhill both thru straights and curves.

    Any how as I am coming back into the neighborhood I see a large lab shaped dog tail wagging and headed my general direction. I was doing maybe 15 or 20 mph when I first spotted the dog and slowed up to maybe half that expecting him to come alongside or maybe take chase as I passed. Thankfully I wasn't going fast.

    This dog trotted head long into the front of my front wheel so hard it turned the wheel left and caused the bike to fall to the left. Me I went off and to the left and peeled the hide off my left hand and got a little road rash in the typical places, left of left knee, shoulder elbow etc. The bike with the dog under the front tire slid maybe 15 feet downhill on the tip of the clutch lever and foot peg.
    Once I got up to shake it off, I see the dog coming up and out from under the front wheel it didn't seem hurt much if any.

    I wish I had my riding gloves on, but it was only a test ride...

    It was the strangest thing , I never expected this dog to hone in on my front tire let alone leave bite a hole in my front fender.
    It seems to me a handful of throttle and a quick swerve in the opposite direction would have given better results.

    If I would have known what the dog was going to do I could have stopped in the few feet between when I saw him and when he hit the front wheel.

    The apparent owner of the dog , who was no where to be seen when all this happened had now buried a radio fence around their yard.

    This was a week ago and everything is mending nicely the bike already had a droopy signal light on the left front, as well as some scratches on the fairing. Now it has a ground spot on the clutch lever and the left peg, and a little dent in the tank I hadn't noticed before. Oh well this is why I got a nearly indestructible tank of a bike with prior battle scars.

    All this leads me to the question at hand.

    How do you best avoid dogs, deer and other animals?
    Any suggestions to discourage them from being in the roadway, such as deer whistles , would be greatly appreciated.

    Oh yeah and Lefty left to the left, not sure what he might have left when he left turning left on leftler street. Anyhow that's all I have left. :tongue-new:

    Thanks for reading I look forward to your replies and ideas on how to avoid this problem
     
  2. Allyance

    Allyance Insider

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    I have noticed that certain dogs (on leashes) take an interest in my bikes as I pass, most do not. Just assume that a loose dog does! As for the deer, turkeys and raccoons I have encountered, they are totally unpredictable. Just need to be constantly aware and scanning the sides of the roads for any movement.
     
  3. RVFR

    RVFR Member

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    Whoa & Ouch. Coming from a deer accident its a tough one to figure out. In My case I was a lot faster, But just about when you think you know how they'll react (animal changes it's mind ) I call it the squirrel moment, no telling what they'll do. Best if one can do is to slow way down, if that's even possible, and keep your spidie sense alive and your head on a swivel, which basically works for the mechanical animals as well.
     
  4. FJ12rydertoo

    FJ12rydertoo Member

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    You give an excellent illustration of what happens when you assume you know what the actions of the animal is going to be. It's always a tossup whether they'll react the way you think they will. I hate dogs when I'm on the bike, so I usually speed up to get past them before they get very close. That way I have a certain amount of control of the situation.

    Glad the spill wasn't more damaging, either to you or the bike.
     
  5. sunofwolf

    sunofwolf New Member

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    big turkeys are really bad-they seem to actually trying in fly right into you at the last minute, I hate wild turkeys!
     
  6. RobVG

    RobVG Member

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    Sorry to hear about your "incident" DeeBee. Good write up though.

    I crashed in my teens because of a little black poodle. Pretty much the same story but I went down because of too much front brake. Slow speed crash thank gawd.

    Driver's ed in high school taught- if you look at anything longer than two seconds, it's considered a stare. I'm always constantly scanning both sides of the road, near and far.

    Besides saving my bacon a few times, it has saved me more than a few tickets too
     
  7. DeeBee

    DeeBee New Member

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    Damn getting flogged by a big wild turkey would really suck
    Yeah strangest thing, I don't think this dog got out much and probably takes sport in nipping at car tires. I think maybe he was intending to bite /nip at the rear tire, and probably was thrown off by how quickly I was able to slow down on a bike... what sucks is it was a really quiet evening and no doubt the dog's owner(s) heard the commotion, and weren't about to check if I was OK, offer help or take any responsibility for the dog.

    It's ok tho', I was able to walk/ ride away and I would rather them spend the money on the fence than paying for my doctors visit, missed days of work, and a ton of bandages and first aid stuff to get it to heal quickly.

    Hand is healing well 10 days after the incident.


    1471802691972146825714.jpg

    db
     
  8. Rsparky

    Rsparky New Member

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    Yah, in that case, I probably would have had a fist of clutch, and a handful of throttle.

    Used to ride a state route that was frequently either in the woods, or separating the woods and corn in Ohio. Many butt-pucker moments. Revving the engine may or may not have helped, but I had no incidents for the year+ that I worked out there.
     
  9. James Bond

    James Bond Member

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    First, ATGATT. Somebody was going to tell you. I don't ever leave my driveway without all of it. Secondly, and speaking only of dogs, they usually have what they think is your trajectory figured out. If you change your speed either slower or faster, their little minds have to re-calculate their chase and their trajectory at you is thrown off.

    Yes, on the turkeys. I've ridden through two large flocks of wild turkeys I couldn't see in the weeds on the side of the road. Both times, they were all over me but no direct hits miraculously. Deer are the most dangerous I think. If I see one, I just try to stop and let it go and stay stopped a little bit. Where there's one, the buck is usually behind the doe. They don't treat their women well....; )
     
  10. Allyance

    Allyance Insider

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    Turkeys usually don't give damn, I've had them walk right across in front of me, had to wait for the whole gaggle? to cross as they just gave me a dirty look.
     
  11. Sniper

    Sniper New Member

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    The owner of that dog is liable for all the damage to you and your bike.

    If it was me, I'd go after him.
     
  12. FJ12rydertoo

    FJ12rydertoo Member

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    It's a gaggle of geese, and a rafter of turkeys. Who the hell makes up this stuff?
     
  13. 34468 Randy

    34468 Randy Secret Insider

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    I gottaa admit. I have been a little sloppy that way when running errands around town. But out on the highway, I gear up.

    I think if you see and animal approach and it enters your comfort zone, hit the horn. If nothing else, it is likely to make the animal stop and look for a moment at least. Dogs are a bit smarter than the other animals mentioned here so I am sure it would be more effective on them.

    Just so y'al know, RVFR had to run at Bambie three times before he was able to hit her.
     
  14. DeeBee

    DeeBee New Member

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    I might well send a letter to their adress, outlining the damages and expenses their dog caused and see what if any response it get.
    I have only seen their dog out one other time in the last year, so they definitely don't just allow it to run loose. That said they obviously could afford to run and buy a large radio fence setup, no doubt to protect their dog.
    I probably should seek damages just because they went to the back of the house and hid trying to avoid responsibility , rather than coming out to check on me and their dog.

    What I will probably do is go knock and talk , see if their dog is OK....
    At least they took steps to keep it from happening again, so they have shown some sort of responsibility.

    It was a good lesson for me, I still don't know what ATGATT stands for but I get the concept all gear all the time.
    I currently wear a full face helmet, gloves, heavy shoes (steel toes for work), long pants and shirt. I need to invest in at least decent riding jacket as well, if not a jump suit and or pants too.

    db
     
  15. Allyance

    Allyance Insider

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    All The Gear All The Time
     
  16. DeeBee

    DeeBee New Member

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    Dang I was close.
     
  17. Allyance

    Allyance Insider

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    Next time you will wear your gloves!
     
  18. New2VFR

    New2VFR New Member

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    As said above you need to be looking ahead and thinking for the other drivers/riders not just your own ridding, it's hard work lol
     
  19. Badbilly

    Badbilly Official VFRWorld Troll Of The Year!

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    Man up and carry one of those 50 cal pistolas. Pop Fido. Problem solved.
     
  20. rx7racerherbie

    rx7racerherbie New Member

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    Most of the time, most wild animals are unpredictable. If you have time. slow down. If not, pick a side and hope for the best. Dogs are different. They tend to be on a mission and seek you out, but they plan ahead and pick a spot to intercept. Then they run in a straight line at you. In our msf course we discussed this a little. They advised maintaining speed until the last few seconds and then gunning it. You can easily outrun them and they cannot adjust their trajectory at the last minute. I have actually had to use this a few times and it has worked very well.
     
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