Couldn't suppress a giggle after reading about the Harley-inspired attack....sorry.
I have had deer and dog problems experience. It taught me to be extra vigilant - more than I am already - when riding on roads with brush and trees close to the shoulder.
It pays to constantly scan ahead, but as others have reported, it doesn't matter how alert you are - it happens.
This summer my brother caught the head of a dog on his left peg...maybe 15 meters in front of me...doing about 50 mph. You just adjust and hope for the best since it's hard to predict how these critters may react.
Deer and wallabys, I suspect, can change direction and height in a split second.

 

Brake hard, immediately. Scrub off as much speed as possible to give them a chance to do whatever they're going to do. There's no predicting which way any animal will move to escape 'attack'. Then if you do hit them, hopefully it will be a low speed hit. I don't ride much at night anymore because animals and things just appear in front of you with no warning.

F800ST's are totally cool. Your bike looks great on the roadside.


..........shu

 

Brake hard, immediately. Scrub off as much speed as possible to give them a chance to do whatever they're going to do. There's no predicting which way any animal will move to escape 'attack'. Then if you do hit them, hopefully it will be a low speed hit. I don't ride much at night anymore because animals and things just appear in front of you with no warning.

F800ST's are totally cool. Your bike looks great on the roadside.

..........shu

^What SHU said. And to that, I'll add that if it looks like you could eat the animal in one sitting, do nothing. An animal that small in size may make a mess if by chance they don't get out of the way, but are unlikely to put you on your face. Plenty of people have wrecked trying to avoid something that would not have been a threat to them even if a collision would have occurred. Be extra vigilant at dusk/dawn.

My $.02, YMMV, IMHO, caveat emptor, carpe diem, etc...

I like the look of the R12R in that photo.

 

I just saw a post on in kangaroo weblandhttp://www.weRKangaroos.com where a couple of kangaroos were asking for suggestions on how to avoid the STs crossing their path....apparently the STs are quicker moving than the other bikes they are used to... this one barely made it across the road apparently.... the most favored suggestion was for trying to jump extra high so only the rider hits them not 400 pounds of German metal....THEIR chances of survival and injury improves that way...[]

So DUCK!!!

 

[][][][]

 

I hit a bear dead-on last September. Best advise is to hit the brakes hard, de-accelerate ASAP and keep the bike upright. The F800 with ABS is ideal for this type of emergency.

http://f800riders.org/forum/showthread.php?t=19522&highlight=bear

 

Roslyn,
Dawn and dusk are the best times for finding skippies on the road, The easiest way to avoid them is to stay in bed until the suns up or take your chances.

Just a couple of questions.
Do those directions mean you were heading Summer Bay way??

And where do you place the handicap sticker when you stop in the handicap bay for a photo shoot????

 

Years ago, I had a 'roo (Kangaroo) hit me from the side and take me clean off my dirt bike. I have also hit a Goanna and a Wombat....all on dirt bikes. I have hit a few birds with the Ducati and the 800ST.

 

Same as Shu and Wang : that's what ABS is for, and why I changed my Suzuki 650 SVS for the F800ST. Brake like hell without wondering if blocking the wheels will bring you down before you hit the chamois (sorry we have no kangaroos, wombats or wallabies !!!)
JustARider : well done, registering on that specific forum must have been hard

 

I really worry about kangaroos and wallabies jumping out in front of my bike especially at dusk and dawn.
I've considered many options to reduce the risk but the best of them the cow catcher on the front just jammed when you leant round corners.[]

Finally decided to not let it rule my life and just tell myself the risk is relatively small.

So as long as I avoid the wildlife parks I think riding in the UK I'm reasonably safe []

Mind we have some fairly large hedghogs that can put on a real spurt of speed and race out in front at night. Good news is they squash really easily.

 

I really worry about kangaroos and wallabies jumping out in front of my bike especially at dusk and dawn.

You have kangaroos in England??[huh]

 

Kanga-squirrels (Grey)

Yes they're a smaller breed imported from the U.S to the British Isles and they like to run out in front of other greys (F800's) to scare the $h1T out of the rider, then run back and eat some nuts for lunch.
They squash fairly easily but should be avoided if leaning in corners.

 

We have some also called Dahu in France, specifically in the mountains. There are better seen by children between 8 an 13, whom you take in groups for night hunting of the Dahu.
There is a technic for catching them. If you really ask me for it, I'll explain you, but actually, it has nothing to do with bikes in general and F800 in particular.

 

Just found these on youtube. You see what we're up against? (Don't worry, the kangaroos make it)

 

Roslyn, having written off an ST 800m from home I can claim to be an expert on crashing whilst avoiding animals. Everything was perfect for wrapping up a long day of fanging down the Great Ocean Road. My favourite corner on Beach Road, the last one before I turn off into my street. No cars, no pushbikes, no walkers, nothing but me, the best handling bike I've ever owned and a lovely constant radius, long, sweeping, perfectly cambered corner and me full of confidence after a day in the twisties. Just as I leaned in hard, a floppy eard bouncing half puppy labradore decided to come out and play on the road. He didn't even know I was there but before I knew it was sliding down the road watching my virtually new ST disintegrate like the shots you see in a parts catalogue.

Four errors contributed to the crash - none by my new found K9 friend.
1) Cornering too fast in a built up area
2) Braking too hard without having enough weight transferred to the front end
3) Changing line to avoid the dog rather than continuing on my line and hoping for the best
4) Taking the earliest available bike rather than waiting for one with ABS

Not sure if 4) would have helped. Although I've played with the ABS on my new ST, I'm no game to do it cranked over unless I have to.

2) is critical with the Brembo brakes. They will bite and slide out even upright in panick braking. I think that's why BMW is pushing ABS.

However out in the bush, I avoid dusk like the plague. The roos and most wallabies stop about an hour after sunset and I tend to stop and have a cofee or plan to avoid it. The only problem at night is the wombats but they are far more rare and only in dense bush.

 

Roslyn, having written off an ST 800m from home I can claim to be an expert on crashing whilst avoiding animals.

Sorry to hear about the crash. I try and be extra careful when I am about 5km from home. Especially after a long ride. I often find myself making stupid mistakes that I would never make around town normally. I don't know if it is just fatigue or overconfidence.

I am yet to test the ABS. It has kicked in when I have been in the car a few times. Just driving in traffic and stopping suddenly to avoid crashing into the rear of a car that has stopped unexpectedly. I guess it's the same on the bike, although I can't imagine braking that hard while cornering. I'm relatively new to riding (11 months) and haven't found myself in that situation (thankfully).

You are very lucky living right near the Great Ocean Road. That is one of our planned future rides.

 

There are actually a fair few wallabies near me. One of the UK's largest open zoos is around 5 miles away and wallabies don't take kindly to captivity so there are some to be seen crossing our roads although our main hazard is deer.

There was a booklet free with one of our biking mags a few years ago which gave you hints on the appropriate avoiding action for various animals.

If I remember correctly cows will never back up so try to aim behind them, horses tend to go backwards so try to get round the front and sheep are likely to do anything so pray !

 

No kangaroos here, but in some parts of the country the deer take out motorcycles and cars on a regular basis. This one's a couple of years old and I'm sure everyone's seen it before, but it's pretty amazing.

...........shu

http://www.truveo.com/deer-jumps-over-motorcycle/id/1932378635

 

Well, you still haven't answered my question about the Handicap sticker!!!!!

 

There was nobody else there. We would have moved if someone needed the spot.
M actually wanted to ride down the gravel track to the lookout to get a better photo. He got part of the way and realised there were stairs and had to back out. No mean feat on an R12R uphill! We later noticed there was another path with no steps (presumably for the disabled person who has parked in the disabled spot) but we thought we'd better not.

Where would you put the sticker though? It's like where do you put the parking ticket? (from the meter) In Vietnam we saw lots of bikes parked with chalk writing on the seats. We assumed it meant they had payed to park. Pretty messy though.

 

I was always taught (in a car) that you should never, EVER swerve, but rather stay hard on the brakes to reduce your speed as much as possible. That tactic worked the other evening when a hare sprinted in front of me on a country road. I slammed on the anchors and kept going straight, and the hare missed my front wheel by a couple of inches.

Had I tried to take avoiding action, I would have probably hit it anyway and then ended up in the ditch, or in a field.

For larger animals, or other people's cute, fluffy pets I'm guessing it must be harder to stay straight and true. But if it's either them or you, then I would be inclined to pick them every time, and then feel sorry about it afterwards.

P.S. Looking at those videos, I had no idea that kangaroos had guardian angels...

 

P.S. Looking at those videos, I had no idea that kangaroos had guardian angels...

Sure ! I had no guess either that deers were that well trained and would rip off all gold medals in athletics : 100m, long jump, triple jump and high jump all in one !!!!

 

the deer that I hit (hit me) was pure football player(US football). Came straight at me like a blocking fullback.

 

Seen some of that, nasty stuff...

 

This summer on my 01 F650 without ABS I crested a hill on a two lane country road doing about 60 and was surprised to find a dog running straight at me on the right half of my lane. I hit both brakes as hard as I could and started looking for an out. A very narrow dirt shoulder with a small drop off on one side, and sure enough - an old beat up pickup truck in the other lane coming toward me.

Just as I realized I wasn't going to be able to stop before I got to the dog, I noticed that the pickup was barely moving, the driver had his window open, and seemed to be pacing the dog from the oncoming lane. I hoped they would both hold their positions, and threaded between them in what was left of my lane, probably doing only 15mph at that point.

I briefly thought about turning around and giving the driver a piece of my mind, but the last image I got as I scooted through was of a rifle nestled securely in the gun rack of the pickup.

I figured maybe I'd slow down for the last few miles of that trip, and vowed to get ABS on my next bike.

 

This summer on my 01 F650 without ABS I crested a hill on a two lane country road doing about 60 and was surprised to find a dog running straight at me on the right half of my lane. I hit both brakes as hard as I could and started looking for an out. A very narrow dirt shoulder with a small drop off on one side, and sure enough - an old beat up pickup truck in the other lane coming toward me.

Just as I realized I wasn't going to be able to stop before I got to the dog, I noticed that the pickup was barely moving, the driver had his window open, and seemed to be pacing the dog from the oncoming lane. I hoped they would both hold their positions, and threaded between them in what was left of my lane, probably doing only 15mph at that point.

I briefly thought about turning around and giving the driver a piece of my mind, but the last image I got as I scooted through was of a rifle nestled securely in the gun rack of the pickup.

I figured maybe I'd slow down for the last few miles of that trip, and vowed to get ABS on my next bike.

Maybe the pickup was waiting for the dog to get off the road so as to not hit him....unlikely, but not implausible, for a guy to take his dog for a run while driving a vehicle.

Next bike, mounted .50 gatlings may be more effective than ABS for such situations [] - you can deal with the dog and pickups.