Recently as the spring approches summer there are a lot more birds about.

Now I have had a number of near misses caused by birds flying across dual or single carriageways at around head height. Quite often the buggers are at the side of the road and suddenly launch themselves across the road in front of you causing a moments panic as I contemplate a pigeon to the head.

What Im wondering is...

a: Has anyone been hit by a bird and if so what happened? Did it knock you off the bike or just bounce off you?

b: Is this a common occurance, or does Milton Keynes just have an influx of suicidal birds?

ta.

i was hit on the head by a sparrow a couple of years ago, 50mph ish, considering its size, it did actually hurt.. , i've had a thrush or something about that size go through the back wheel of a RD250LC i didn't feel much but the poor bird did for a millionth of a second
sixfingerjack who comes on here sometimes had his fingers dislocated on his left hand by bigger bird

Youre very unlikely to have a bird smack you while youre riding along (unless youve really pi$$ed her off ), but it happened to my brother years ago, a seagull flew down and smacked into the face of his helmet. Its a shock, but you're very unlikely to lose control of the bike as your instinct kicks in to shake the fecker off and slow down, or get on with the journey .

IMHO, the bigger danger for a lot of bikers is riding along country lanes and having rabbits/hedgehogs/mice/pheasants dart out in front of you... I never brake harshly for them, if they got *splat* then, well, its a shame.............

Three words come to mind BLOOD/sh!t/FEATHERS cant remember if it was in that order but it was a nasty shock abit like being hit by a pillow with a house brick in it no real damage but one hell of a clean up job after

When doing the end to end in ohhh around 1984 ish I was making up time hammering alongside the caladonian canal, at an undisclosed speed. When a spuggy sized thing hit me in the knee, hurt like 8uggery (no armour back then) but not a problem FOR ME.

Wor lass on the other hand sat behind me was absoluty covered fron head to toe in bits of guts and entrails, could not beleive so much could explode out of somthing so small.

A brief stop at Fort William allowed me to rub the bruise on my knee and she got some loo roll and spit to at least see out the visor again.

Mr Wolf has been shat on by a large heron if that counts?

A girl I know from another site was knocked off her CBR last year by a big doo. It hit her right on the side of the head, shoved her off balance and she ended up underneath a Transit coming the other way. The bike was trashed and she had some pretty bad damage done to her hip and shoulder, ended up in hospital for quite a while. She's riding again but still has a lot of pain.

I reckon it's just your Donald what hits you and how badly you come off. Rabbits make a really 'orrible mess of your wheels and if you hit a bee at *cough*mph with your jacket unzipped it'll REALLY fecking hurt...

I shredded a blackbird that tried to swoop through my front wheel with no ill effect.
Many years back we were off on a run, riding in the fast lane but not treble figures, and my mate who was leading was hit by a pigeon and he kept on the bike but had to stop next to the crash barrier (we pulled up further on, on the hard shoulder). He said he felt like he'd been hit by a baseball bat and took a while to regain his composure (probably a bit of mild concussion). I remember seeing a picture in MCN of a barn owl wedged in the front of an R1/R6 and a bird that size and weight could certainly have a disastrous outcome.
I'm most wary of pigeons and pheasants as they seem to be the suicidal dispsh*ts of the avian world

Been lucky so far, largest thing to hit me was a feckin huuuuge bumble bee! I felt that even through the armour! Ouch!

But.... here we've got tons of hazards... ducks.. kamakazi type ones that sit at the side then take off right in front of you...
Pheasants... they do the same as the ducks only in ones and twos instead of anything up to 10 with the ducks
Herons... not too bad, they normally keep out of your way, but occasionally if there's one at the side of the canal, you might want to slow down just in case.
Deer.. tons of em round here
Bats, we whacked one with the car last autumn
Kamakazi Wagtails... they sit on the road and wait for you.. then take off toward you!
Hawks/birds of prey... again like the herons... slow down just in case. They sit on fences along the road waiting for roadkill. Lazy beggars.

not to mention the usual cats dogs etc....

yep, had a starling.... a dragon fly, and all sorts of things smack me while riding..just the luck of the draw i think

very unlikely?

i´ve been hit by 3 only last year....

one hit the mudguard, broke it..
other on my left arm..bruise
other on my right leg...bruise

jp - I did hear rumours that you always were pullin the birds

I got a wasp stuck in my top once. It stung me right between the bazookas. I never unzip my jacket anymore.

I was on the M25 at the surrey section some years ago, the car in front hit a swan and the blood and guts went every where, it was like someone ripped a pillow open and the wind blow the feathers. Sh!t me up.

Imagine if you hit a Swan when you where on the bike doing 70mph, ooooch

haven't had any direct hits yet but plenty of close encounters, usually from magpies, doves and dumbass pigeons swooping over head or directly ahead forcing me to grip the bars a little tightly than usual

Oh and I did get shat on by a seagull (presumably). Riding down the A38 to Weston Super Mare minding my own business when SPLAT, huge white/brown splodge all over my visor. Lost control for a second while I realised what had happened and flipped the visor up.

Really scary experience but at least it hit the visor rather than my face

The mind boggles: but the important thing after a direct hit is to wash the bike/car down asap, otherwise all the blood & guts congeals and you're left with a real crusty smelly bloody mess of a bike

Aaah- sounds like you've seen my bike then

No close calls with birds yet!

Although i did have a very close call with a bee/wasp of some sort. Riding along a country lane with my visor up (yep, newbie mistake) and said bee/wasp flew into my face (ouch) but luckily bounced straight out. Could have been a lot worse if the little bugger had got stuck in my lid!!

Needless to say i always ride with the visor down now!!!

I've been stung on the neck and chest, the wasp in the chest episode hit me square between the eyes at about 30mph in town.. stunned it dropped straight into my jacket.. at it was waking up and obviously pissed off i made a grab at it with my left hand thro my jacket, managed to grab most of it.. all but the stingy bit, it got me.. i bet is was a funny sight trying to stop a v twin 500 with no clutch and holding what was now a rather knackered wasp lol after the neck one i started wearing scarfs!

tell you what there is some big buggers kicking about this year!

Agreed!!
I think it is to do with the increasing temperatures year on year.
So far this year i've seen 3 massive hornets, which is more than i've seen in the UK in my life!!

Animals and especially insects migration/habitat zones seem to be getting larger all the time, we seem to be seeing things that have always been associated with warmer climes more frequently.

Sorry, i'm a bit of a bug geek!

I had a near miss with a pidgeon, luckily I saw it in time and ducked, gave the lorry driver behind me a giggle though.

My dad got hit on the shoulder by a sparrow and rode rodeo style for a few yards, he said he had a huge bruise there for a couple of weeks. He also had a huge stag challenge him as he rode through the New Forest, it saw him, and put his head down, there was half a trees worth of antler facing Dad, eventually after a brown pants moment, continuos slowing down and lane changing, the Stag thought better of it and bounced off over the central reservation and followed the lady deers!

I ran over a squirrel once, with both wheels, but the blighter got up and ran away, and then he had a near miss with the dustcart that was following me!

I hit an owl once at high speed. I though at first someone have thrown a brick at me it hurt that much. It was when I pulled over that I saw all the feather and realised what had happened.

talking of birds. One has, at some point this afternoon, gone and shat on my petrol tank less than an hour after I spent the morning washing, checking & lubing the bugger

Didn't you know.....? The little b******s sit in trees watching you and gabbin to their mates til you finish, then they draw straws to see who's gonna dump on yer nice shiny bike. It's a sport...

Sorry before the event,

"If a bird sh4t on my bike I wouldn't take her out on it again "

It was the voices they made me do it.....

Hah, squirrels! Let me tell you about squirrels!

Well OK, it's someone else's story, but it made me laugh...


I never dreamed slowly cruising through a residential neighborhood could be so incredibly dangerous! Studies have shown that motorcycling requires more decisions per second, and more sheer data processing than nearly any other common activity or sport. The reactions and accurate decision making abilities needed have been likened to the reactions of fighter pilots! The consequences of bad decisions or poor situational awareness are pretty much the same for both groups too.

Occasionally, as a rider I have caught myself starting to make bad or late decisions while riding. In flight training, my instructors called this being "behind the power curve". It is a mark of experience that when this begins to happen, the rider recognizes the situation, and more importantly, does something about it. A short break, a meal, or even a gas stop can set things right again as it gives the brain a chance to catch up.

Good, accurate, and timely decisions are essential when riding a motorcycle.at least if you want to remain among the living. In short, the brain needs to keep up with the machine.

I had been banging around the roads of east Texas and as I headed back into Dallas, found myself in very heavy, high-speed traffic on the freeways. Normally, this is not a problem, I commute in these conditions daily, but suddenly I was nearly run down by a cage that decided it needed my lane more than I did. This is not normally a big deal either, as it happens around here often, but usually I can accurately predict which drivers are not paying attention and avoid them before we are even close. This one I missed seeing until it was nearly too late, and as I took evasive action I nearly broadsided another car that I was not even aware was there!

Two bad decisions and insufficient situational awareness.all within seconds. I was behind the power curve. Time to get off the freeway. I hit the next exit, and as I was in an area I knew pretty well, headed through a few big residential neighborhoods as a new route home. As I turned onto the nearly empty streets I opened the visor on my full-face helmet to help get some air. I figured some slow riding through the quiet surface streets would give me time to relax, think, and regain that "edge" so frequently required when riding. Little did I suspect.

As I passed an oncoming car, a brown furry missile shot out from under it and tumbled to a stop immediately in front of me. It was a squirrel, and must have been trying to run across the road when it encountered the car. I really was not going very fast, but there was no time to brake or avoid it-it was that close.

I hate to run over animals.and I really hate it on a motorcycle, but a squirrel should pose no danger to me. I barely had time to brace for the impact.

Animal lovers, never fear. Squirrels can take care of themselves!

Inches before impact, the squirrel flipped to his feet. He was standing on his hind legs and facing the oncoming Valkyrie with steadfast resolve in his little beady eyes. His mouth opened, and at the last possible second, he screamed and leapt! I am pretty sure the scream was squirrel for, "Banzai!" or maybe, "Die you gravy-sucking, heathen scum!" as the leap was spectacular and he flew over the windshield and impacted me squarely in the chest.

Instantly he set upon me. If I did not know better I would have sworn he brought twenty of his little buddies along for the attack. Snarling, hissing, and tearing at my clothes, he was a frenzy of activity. As I was dressed only in a light t-shirt, summer riding gloves, and jeans this was a bit of a cause for concern. This furry little tornado was doing some damage!

Picture a large man on a huge black and chrome cruiser, dressed in jeans, a t-shirt, and leather gloves puttering maybe 25mph down a quiet residential street.and in the fight of his life with a squirrel. And losing.

I grabbed for him with my left hand and managed to snag his tail. With all my strength I flung the evil rodent off the left of the bike, almost running into the right curb as I recoiled from the throw.

That should have done it. The matter should have ended right there. It really should have. The squirrel could have sailed into one of the pristinely kept yards and gone on about his business, and I could have headed home. No one would have been the wiser. But this was no ordinary squirrel. This was not even an ordinary pissed-off squirrel. This was an evil attack squirrel of death!

Somehow he caught my gloved finger with one of his little hands, and with the force of the throw swung around and with a resounding thump and an amazing impact he landed square on my back and resumed his rather anti-social and extremely distracting activities. He also managed to take my left glove with him!

The situation was not improved. Not improved at all. His attacks were continuing, and now I could not reach him. I was startled to say the least. The combination of the force of the throw, only having one hand (the throttle hand) on the handlebars, and my jerking back unfortunately put a healthy twist through my right hand and into the throttle. A healthy twist on the throttle of a Valkyrie can only have one result. Torque. This is what the Valkyrie is made for, and she is very, very good at it. The engine roared as the front wheel left the pavement. The squirrel screamed in anger. The Valkyrie screamed in ecstasy. I screamed in.well.I just plain screamed.

Now picture a large man on a huge black and chrome cruiser, dressed in jeans, a slightly squirrel torn t-shirt, and only one leather glove roaring at maybe 70mph and rapidly accelerating down a quiet residential street.on one wheel and with a demonic squirrel on his back. The man and the squirrel are both screaming bloody murder.

With the sudden acceleration I was forced to put my other hand back on the handlebars and try to get control of the bike. This was leaving the mutant squirrel to his own devices, but I really did not want to crash into somebody's tree, house, or parked car. Also, I had not yet figured out how to release the throttle.my brain was just simply overloaded. I did manage to mash the back brake, but it had little affect against the massive power of the big cruiser.

About this time the squirrel decided that I was not paying sufficient attention to this very serious battle (maybe he is a Scottish attack squirrel of death), and he came around my neck and got IN my full-face helmet with me. As the faceplate closed partway and he began hissing in my face I am quite sure my screaming changed tone and intensity. It seemed to have little affect on the squirrel however. The rpm's on The Dragon maxed out (I was not concerned about shifting at the moment) and her front end started to drop. Now picture the large man on the huge black and chrome cruiser, dressed in jeans, a very ragged torn t-shirt, and wearing one leather glove, roaring at probably 80mph, still on one wheel, with a large puffy squirrel's tail sticking out his mostly closed full-face helmet. By now the screams are probably getting a little hoarris.

Finally I got the upper hand.I managed to grab his tail again, pulled him out of my helmet, and slung him to the left as hard as I could. This time it worked.sort-of. Spectacularly sort-of, so to speak.

Picture the scene. You are a cop. You and your partner have pulled off on a quiet residential street and parked with your windows down to do some paperwork.

Suddenly a large man on a huge black and chrome cruiser, dressed in jeans, a torn t-shirt flapping in the breeze, and wearing one leather glove, moving at probably 80mph on one wheel, and screaming bloody murder roars by and with all his strength throws a live squirrel grenade directly into your police car.

I heard screams. They weren't mine...

I managed to get the big motorcycle under directional control and dropped the front wheel to the ground. I then used maximum braking and skidded to a stop in a cloud of tire smoke at the stop sign at a busy cross street.

I would have returned to fess up (and to get my glove back). I really would have. Really. But for two things. First, the cops did not seem interested or the slightest bit concerned about me at the moment. One of them was on his back in the front yard of the house they had been parked in front of and was rapidly crabbing backwards away from the patrol car. The other was standing in the street and was training a riot shotgun on the police cruiser.

So the cops were not interested in me. They often insist to "let the professionals handle it" anyway. That was one thing. The other? Well, I swear I could see the squirrel, standing in the back window of the patrol car among shredded and flying pieces of foam and upholstery, and shaking his little fist at me. I think he was shooting me the finger. That is one dangerous squirrel.

And now he has a patrol car.

I took a deep breath, turned on my turn-signal, made an easy right turn, and sedately left the neighborhood. As for my easy and slow drive home? Screw it. Faced with a choice of 80mph cars and inattentive drivers, or the evil, demonic, attack squirrel of death...I'll take my chances with the freeway. Every time. And I'll buy myself a new pair of gloves.

Talking of birds what puzzles me when looking at what they kindly leave all over my bike is "If my guts were as bad as that I wouldnt be flying about"

E & B .... that is one excellent story!!!

heres what happens if you have a argument with a deer
the guy somehow stayed on the bike, didn't do the deer much good tho

ironically its the second time the same bike/owner has had a deer encounter, whats the chances of that
6 weeks later the bikes fixed lol
Click to view attachmentClick to view attachment

I like the back country lanes and roads... but oh the pheasants!!!!

I've tangled with a few & I did get a feather caught in my helmet once after a particularly close call - very jaunty it looked too! I've never properly whacked on though.. much to my own annoyance as I'm partial to a roast pheasant

Since posting I have had a game of chicken with a Peacock... I lost, I don't think it intended giving any ground.