Has anyone ever hit a possum or rabbit with their bike?

[tri boy]

Smaller than sheep.
No worries, just bowl the fecker.
Sheep. I don't change lines. (Hit one this month gone, all Dinos fault)
Bigger than a sheep. 50/50 your gunna feel pain whether you swerve, and hit/fall onto something else.
Animals give a little, posts and barriers don't.
MHO

[Jantar]

Plenty of rabbits to hit here in Central Otago. At present I'm averaging around 2 hits per week, mostly on our driveway. I don't try to avoid them - in fact if it looks like I'm going to miss I try to kick them like a rugby ball. Bike at 80 kmh and a good swift kick sends them flying.

Rabbits here are a pest. Quite apart from the ones I hit on the bike, our cats kill around 2 every day, and I shoot 1 or 2 per week.

[boman]

I have hit a possum. At 100kph. Thankfully I was travelling in a straight line. It felt like running over a brick on the road.
Turned around to see what I hit, and the fucker was getting up. Solid little bastards.

[Genie]

not had the pleasure as of yet and rather hope i don't. I struggle with the guilt from killing 3.5 million sandflies, 2 million bees and various other flying critters.

[Owl]

I've been fairly lucky with animals on the road and any possums I've hit, were already flat.

Actually, I think I've hit more debris from cowboyz 9

[superman]

Plenty of rabbits to hit here in Central Otago. At present I'm averaging around 2 hits per week, mostly on our driveway. I don't try to avoid them - in fact if it looks like I'm going to miss I try to kick them like a rugby ball. Bike at 80 kmh and a good swift kick sends them flying.

Rabbits here are a pest. Quite apart from the ones I hit on the bike, our cats kill around 2 every day, and I shoot 1 or 2 per week.

Yeah rabbits are bastards digging up everywhere. Try to hit them dead on in my car, they are ony little. But if I half injure one on my bike I'd feel really bad, and then I'd have to go back and stomp on it so it doesn't have to suffer. Which just really is never a joy to do. Least the hawks'll be happy in the morning

I remember my brother came across a half dead sheep in the middle of the road with his friend in the car, brother just got out of the car and smacked a few times in the head with a tyre iron and dragged it into the ditch. Needless to say friend from 20km away in Manukau was terrified. Got to love living on the outskirts of Auckland. Still close enough to the city yet completely different mindset.

[EJK]

I never hit one cause I can stop from 60kph in 2 meters.

[Gremlin]

Hit, collected or kicked just about everything from rabbit size down, ground hugging or flying, dead or alive. Funniest was a duck at 10-20kph. I couldn't believe it would keep waddling out into the road, kept slowing down, still thinking it would get out the way. It didn't. Mate who was pillion (his bike) thought we would bin, and gave me heaps of shit. Chest armour has been great at protecting me from birdstrikes.

Worst was a wabbit I collected with my foot/peg except I was already badly sunburnt. That hurt like a real bastard it did, and my mate behind even said the fucker was still alive.

[Ghost_Bullet]

I bounced over a rabbit in the dark one night... sure had me hopping mad I could not find it for a cook up on the BBQ.
Another time a Duck struck me mirror stem and flew into me helmet, that was a thump.
Hence I try and stay well away from Duck-Cat-eee's, they're just like some crazed wild animal on the road.
Last week had a small bird strick me knee, hurt a bit, but by the smear of inards, me guessing the bird hurt more...R.I.P

[LBD]

Doing my bit for the ecology...riding up to Dawson falls...possums everywhere, stunned in the headlights.

Me thinks I better not run one of them over incase I loose control....but may be a good swift size 10 steel cap at 60kph would be fine........



I probably would have been better hitting the wee beastie with the front tire because they are a little on the nuggety side....

I ended up with my right foot wrapped over the back of my left shoulder weaving all over the road....

[Toaster]

I haven't heard anything about motorbikes hitting any small animals in NZ. I know when I drive home at night I pass on average about 3 possums and 3 rabbits.

Just a bit worried about the incident that could occur if I hit one.

Anyone had any close calls or actually collided with an animal?

On motorcycles:
1 x rabbit,

1 x stoat,

3 x possums,

1 x sheep - missed it but high sided myself into hospital,

Nearly a cow.

Several birds to the face.... and not the good kind.

As for in the car.... dozens of possums - lost count.

[Toaster]

not had the pleasure as of yet and rather hope i don't. I struggle with the guilt from killing 3.5 million sandflies, 2 million bees and various other flying critters.

Great way to get ones daily protein!

[gijoe1313]

Was riding with Gremlin in the SI on a tour, one night, I was leading a friend (Angel) in her car from Wanaka to Alexandra - taking the devil's staircase naturally. All was well dropping her off there (she was to meet up with Jantar).

The trip back was eventful. At 3am, the roads were swarming with wascally wabbits, initially I slowed down to give the buggers a chance to get out of my way, but fuggit - would be daylight before I got back to Wanaka and a warm bed.

So I rode to the conditions and sped up ... I managed to work out the perfect speed to ensure that I clove the beasties in twain whilst not upsetting the impellation of my forward velocity.

I think the rabbits were basically being vapourised by my hurtling machine!

I lost count after the second dozen of wabbits I despatched. There actually came a point when I started to smell something nice roasting!

It wasn't until the morning when I woke up and looked over my Big Ol'Hornet to see a mass of cooked meat and fur and blood coating the entirety of my bike's lower apparatus!

Took a wee while to clean the headers and other bits free of wascally wabbit remains!

[archie-no2]

I had a wasp get sucked into my helmet the other day, set a new world record for fastest stop and removal of helmet. Ironically 30m down the road a few days later i collected a bumble bee with my eye about 3 seconds after opening my visor

[jim.cox]

Anyone had any close calls or actually collided with
an animal?

I've hit a flock of small birds - very very messy with blood and feathers all over the bike

I've also hit a possum - doing about 185 or so, the front wheel colapsed and I slid a very long way - lucky to walk away from that one