Bike Vs Rabbit

[WIO]

Hey all, had my bike for about 3 months now mostly for commuting to work and the odd tiki tour. Most of my riding is on single lane country roads and recently I have been coming across more and more suicidal rabbits! for some reason they run at the bike, some of them even stop right in the line im riding!!! So my question is........ has anyone hit a rabbit? what happens? will i fall off?
I just want to no what to expect, cause im sure it will happen eventually.

Cheers.

[Disco Dan]

<img src="http://blogs.trb.com/sports/football/jets/blog/sku2353.jpg"

[Chrislost]

I hit a possum once. at about 30-50km/s
Was just a small bit like aquaplaning but much more violent.

[jim.cox]

I just want to no what to expect, cause im sure it will happen eventually.


You will get a bump as the first wheel goes over/through them

You might get a second smaller bump if the rear wheel does the same - but this is not guaranteed. Said bunny may have been thrown out of the way, or may be too flat to feel

[Ixion]

The Suicidal Bunny of Doom threw himself THROUGH my front wheel, and ended up (mostly) wrapped round one of the spokes.

Which caused a major wheel imbalance and a massive head shake. Stopped OK, though.

Cast wheels, wouldn't have happened with wire spokes, which is why they are better, change to wire spoke wheels and nothing to worry about

[Jantar]

I hit an average of one or two rabbits a week. It isn't anything to worry about, just let your wheels ride over the top and they'll be back on the road with full traction before you have had time to react. Often it'll only be one wheel and about a third to a half of the times it'll be both wheels.

In my experience, the only riders who have any difficulty about controlling their bikes when hitting rabbits are those who try to react and believe thaey should be doing something.

To put it in perspective, rabbits are very small animals, averaging around 1 kg in weight. The family cat weighs around 6 - 8 kg.

[xgnr]

yeah no worries. Just don't panic.

Go straight thru' it/her/him (remember to wash the bits off if you are going fast-ish) eewwww

[90s]

I hit an average of one or two rabbits a week.

Your hunting them aren't you? :ride:

[Jantar]

Your hunting them aren't you? :ride:

Well road kill is pretty good compared to price of meat in New World. :whistle:

[GaZBur]

Hitting a live rabbit is no big deal. If its been dead a while and squished flat they get real slippery in the wet. So watch roadkill in corners especially when it just starts to rain. Lots of rabbit road kill in central Otago during summer.
Is it just me or has anyone else noticed that no matter how flat rabbits get squished in summer one ear always sticks up!

[gijoe1313]

Bright eyes burning like fire....

http://youtube.com/watch?v=MODq81_cDKI

[Livvy]

Bright eyes burning like fire....

http://youtube.com/watch?v=MODq81_cDKI
That movie gave me nightmares when I was a kid, but I still watched it every few weeks because I never quite understood it. So watched it til I did then went "oh", and went back to watching The Lion King.

/story

Yeah... I'd say try not to swerve much because I'd imagine that if it did then follow on to still jump in front of the wheel you'd be slightly off balance and therefore more at risk at dumping it. Am I wrong? Because I'm just guessing... Other opinions?

[kiwibryn]

I got a rabbit and a hedgehog on the same night... the hedgehog left scratch marks on my brand new front tyre!!!!

[T.W.R]

Joys of small moving obstacles :lol:

[Rogue]

Don't sweet it just ride over it. I have run over a few rabbits both on and off the road no worries. Possums are a bit tougher the bike tends bounce a bit going over them but not as much as you would expect.

[WIO]

cheers for all the help

[sels1]

. Possums are a bit tougher .
You're not wrong. And they are changing tactics - instead of sitting staring in the headlights I had one just turn his back and try to ignore me on the Paekak Hill the other night. Missed him by a whisker.