analyze this

[WeWonItThreeTimes]

was comming back from work in a cage. dark, no lamp posts, quite busy road, 2 lanes. am on a left lane, safe distance from the car in front of me. there are no animal fences at this road and all of a sudden, there's a dead cat lying on the road comming from under the car in front and of course i see it at the last moment. automatically, i move the steering wheel right,so i wont run past it. automatically, no thinking

now, imagine i was riding a bike. of course, the distance would have been bigger, but its possible i wouldnt been able to see it sooner and i would be going straight onto it with my front wheel.

Now, to all those more experienced bikers, what would you do...

thanks for all the hints

 

[racerws]

I would try to swerve barely enough to just miss Fluffy.
Whoa close call!

 

[VDITRAINING]

just a cat? probably hit it if i had no choice. I would of course brake and avoid if at all possible.
A cat isn't going to cause you much grief if you're in control of the bike before you hit it. But if there was any chance you were being lazy and not prepared....you might have issues.

 

[MRGM]

A few weeks ago, I about ran over a small dog that ran across the road in front of me. I knew there were no cars next to or behind me, so I got on the brakes pretty good and did a little swerve so I wouldn't T-bone the poor sucker.

 

[craig007]

that happened to me when I was following about 2.5 seconds. At the time, I was debating the proper following distance. The car in front of me strattled a dead racoon. By the time I saw it, I only had time to brace for the bump. Now I stay back 4 seconds on rural roads.

 

[Rob2222]

Don't worry about small pets. Last year I over drove a dead pet with 80kmh/50mph. I wasn't able steer away cause it was dark and I recognized it late. Nothing happened to me or the bike. Wasn't even dangerous.

But I had a crash with a deer some month later wit 100kmh/62mph. This time the bike wasn't to hold. I just saw it running in my bike and even before "thinking to brake" I've flown of the bike. The bike was totales and thank god I only had small injuries for that speed.

So 2 things to remeber: Wear always _full_ body gear (I didn't had motorcycle pants :/) and as a bike you still need a bit luck, cause there can come things that you have not in your hand / under control.

BR and always stay on the bike
Robert

 

[WeWonItThreeTimes]

cheers lads, its always good to listen to fellow riders.

its my second season now and i'm trying to anylyze every single situation (even caged ones) to deny the rule that 2nd season is the one that you'll get hit/go down doing good so far

ride smart

 

[wrightme43]

Avoid if you can, but dont let panic overrule and force avoidance swerve and braking at the same time.

It sucks but you can hit most small animals and keep on, just get your wieght on the pegs and your but off the seat with loose elbows.

On that note I do tried to avoid the hell out of turtles. I almost hit a big one last year. I think that would end up like a ramp or something bad anyway.

My understanding is we can hit a 4"x4" chunk of wood at speed and stay upright. Expect the front tire to go flat and the wheel to be damaged but the bike if allowed (by the rider) should stay up and sort of controllable.

 

[DaveOTZ]

Well its already dead...
So in MSS we were taught to traverse an obstacle by standing on pegs and rolling on while approaching the obstacle... rolling off after passing...

If it were a big cat maybe catching a little air...WAHoooo...

My cat sits here staring at me wishing she could ride a goldwing over me

 

[wrightme43]

Well its already dead...
So in MSS we were taught to traverse an obstacle by standing on pegs and rolling on while approaching the obstacle... rolling off after passing...

If it were a big cat maybe catching a little air...WAHoooo...

My cat sits here staring at me wishing she could ride a goldwing over me

Man now you got me thinking about cats on motorbikes and what kind of enviromental destruction they could wreck. Opposable thumbs on cats would be the end of us all.

 

[CdnMedic]

clutch in, pin the throttle, clutch out, ride out the wheelie, once the rear tire hits the cat, it will bump up into the air, front tire comes down and voila... Plus you are doing the humane thing and being sure the cat is dead and not suffering...
Honestly, I'd stay off the brakes and focus on a slight weave to avoid it... In a panic, hitting the brakes and weaving could not be a good turn out, all for an already dead cat.
I don't understand why, when people hit an animal, they don't go back, make sure it's dead and move it off the road... I hit a cat once in the cage with the gf in it, I turned around to be sure it was dead... It was in the road, eviscerated but still twisting and pulling it's guts out so I had to go back and kill it so it didn't suffer any more... Gf was crying but I had to, it was humane.