2008 KLR 650 suffers minor damage after hitting deer

[josephtan1818]

my recent animal vs machine is I lightly injured a fierce dog and it ran away in pain after 25 km/h impact, it was lucky that I only served a bit, not too much to reduce damage done to my bike and the dog

[hyabusafrank]

VENISON FOR DINNER ANYONE?

[josephtan1818]

next time if you encounter a deer, hit it at low speed will kill/injured it, but u get minor damage, hit it at high speed or serve would cause greater damage. I kill a snake before at low speed and was stayed stable

[MRSketch09]

Your as bad as I am..all banged up yet your still going.

[KLRPilot]

@MRSketch09 It's been a couple years and my left shoulder is still not 'right' with a limited range of motion, both my ankles still give trouble. BUT, I've been riding. Just picked up a '10 Connie C14 a few weeks ago . . . I think the ol' KLR is getting jealous.

[O7ROADKING]

@KLRPilot  i know this post is a year old but how do you like the C14 .that must feel like a rocket ship compared to the KLR. i was looking into a c14 but i have short legs 31 in seem and i did not feel comfortable at a stop.i been riding Roadking classics for the last 15 years and love the bikes but i wanted to add a bike to the stable a sport touer i always liked Kawasaki

[KLRPilot]

@O7ROADKING. I also have a 31" inseam. I just get used to planning my stops before the bike is actually stationary - you know, check the slope of the road at the stop. At level intersections, I can put both feet down without a problem, not as flat on a lower bike (RoadKing), but flat enough that I don't feel unbalanced. You're right, it does feel like a rocket ship compared to the KLR. The C14 is not quick off the line (shaft drive), but from 2.5K-3.5 it pulls like a freight train to redline

[O7ROADKING]

@KLRPilot Thanks

[IdahoAngler2]

Glad you walked away from this one. Especially glad it was a yearling and not a large male buck. Your comment about reaction time as the car roared past at 45 really put it in perspective.

[Wehrmacht3GD]

fucking deer! got i hate them. movies like bambi and shit make them look like harmless animals but they are truly suicidal vermin. ive hit 3 with my truck but im lucky enough so far not to have hit one with my bike.

[codewarrior05]

your way lucky ... most people don't walk away from collisions from a deer

[jimbohouser]

I ride a KLR but my tire was flat one morning on the way to school. I rode my dad's 09 RoadKing and a deer hit me at 62mph. Had the cruise set and while i was sliding the bike kept going, and going, and going! I only came out with a scraped arm and bruised ass. I feel like I got lucky compared to you.

[maximocremoso]

KLR VS BAMBI .

im from venezuela so i dont get to C deer alot, but i was touring on my bike and i stoped to pee and a MAPANARE snake kimb the bike from i dont know were... i was alone on a lonley road i speed 2 hours waiting for freaking thing to go away....

[KLRPilot]

holy crap, dude. We only have three variates of venomous snakes here in Virginia, the Northern Copperhead, Eastern Cottonmouth and the Timber Rattlesnake. Its very uncommon for someone to die from one of their bites, but I make it a general rule to not mess around with snakes. I'll usually stand back and poke them with a stick or kick some gravel at them, but I'll only pick up the wee little non-venomous ones . . . and still end up getting bitten. Or, I'll through it at my wife, hehehe.

[MrUrbanExplorer]

it really is amazing how stupid deers are......

when a dog sees a vehicle coming it moves out of the way

when a cat sees a vehicle coming it gets out of the way

when a deer sees a car coming it jumps right out in front of the vehicle and kills itself....

[chrisw40]

dam deer

[pjdaprinz]

LOL

I don't know but shouldn't you be resting at home with a broken hand and foot?

Nice bike btw.

[aftermarketcrf]

I Just hit a deer with my DR-Z400SM going 60 mph...no damage My leg is brused.

[KLRPilot]

I'm thinking maybe I should start a blog dedicated to guys who hit deer on motorcycles . . . or any other large quadruped for that matter. I keep hearing of more and more cases of deer v. motorcycle, and that's just in my tiny neck of the woods; some get off with minor injury others are not so lucky (a friend's wife was killed a few weeks ago when they hit a deer riding two-up on his Harley). What I know is those deer are vermin and a menace and they must be stopped.

[58781icky]

Hey atleast you where on pavment my uncle hit his deer at 65 on gravel broke his knee and over extended some ligements in left arm and shoulder..Bike was a total loss bent forks and neck of frame deer was a bloody mess...and his helmet did do it's job the helmets chin gard was shatered off and the top of it had cracks in it but he had no haed injurys at all..He was on a 2005 Honda XR650

[XPLORRgs]

damn sorry to hear that man, your 10k mile update made me buy my blue 09 klr. I wonder if theres something in the design of the fairing that attracts dear to the road I keep seeing KLR riders stories of hitting deer, but not so much with other bikes. And I don't think those deer whistles made for cars work either.

[KLRPilot]

maybe it's because KLR riders tend to ride roads less travelled, although I have seen the sport bike crowd in the twisties of Shenandoah. I'm always nervous about hitting a deer up there but those guys go screaming down those mountain roads like there's no tomorrow.

[scottra2000]

Hi, I have the same bike.. What kind of boots were you wearing? I'm wondering if they were stiff motocross boots, or if not if you think they would have helped..

[KLRPilot]

AXO Slammers. They go just above the ankle, I think if I had a full MX boot my ankles wouldn't have got screwed up, but who know's, maybe with a full MX boot my knees would have got the torsion injuries.

[09klr650fan]

only a KLR owner would would break bones hitting a deer and make a video,,, which is why I didnt buy a BMW. Love the KLR ppl,, glad your not any worse nice video ,,hope your riding soon

[EmyY2J]

I hit a fucking drunk person with my scoot....he jumped right into my face.....i hit him at aprox 70km/h.....fortunately I wored a helmet....that person is ok..just broken head.....but my scoot....oh damn,the framework bend right to the seat....:P......PS:Nice bike....;)

[urmomsuckedit]

I've got an 08 klr and I'm wondering if you can recommend some good web sites to buy after market parts?

[COMB0RICO]

Ahh you're funny! You remind me of my ex's dad. I miss him, and her... Anyway. I AM GOING TO GET A KLR!

[mikepags]

Hey man, I'm glad your alright. Nice review on the equipment. It's always good to see how well things hold up. I've been thinking about a KLR and those same Happy Trails bars, so this was real helpful.

[lovelesschris]

I am on a cross country trip on my 2008 KLR 650. And I too had the extreme pleasure of hitting a deer tonight. Luckily it was only his leg and the bike and I suffered no damage... but be advised DEER like jumping into this bike.

[john0270]

Holley crap!!!

I nearly hit a deer at 60mph the other day, but it was a much bigger deer. I probably wouldn't of came out of it as good. I do have the SW motec crashbars, and they have saved my plastics and rad a few times already.

[QuadRider004]

that sucks man good thing you had a helmet right?? anyway hows the bike now???

[KLRPilot]

I was wearing an Arai XD2, it absorbed the impact just as advertised. There is a quarter-sized impact mark on the lower rear right side (just behind my ear) and spider-web cracks radiating outward from there. I replaced the XD2 with an XD3.

The the bike runs great. noting was "broken" after the deer incident of '08. I removed and straightened the PD Nerf bars and that literally is all I had to do. The plastic cowling around the radiator has a crack in it that I patched with epoxy.

[R32inAZ]

"Oh Deer"! LOL... I am completely sold on the KLR now. I had been researching Dual Sports for a couple weeks now... guess I just needed that last little nudge from bambi! lol "Ride safe dude!"

[mightyhun7]

Glad to see your alright. Gear is a big plus. I ride a 2005 KLR650 i've put just over 20,000 miles to date, had a few run ins myself. Wish you the best! Ride on!

[sportbikeguy812]

Glad to hear this was not too bad and you are on the mend! Good riding gear is well worth it! Believe me, I know first hand : ]

[KLRPilot]

Totally agree, good gear is a necessity. I was in Florida last week and was surprised to see they didn't have a helmet law. Don't get me wrong, I feel it is a personal decision to wear a helmet or not, but it was strange to see dudes on sport bikes in heavy traffic at 70+mph with shorts, flip-flops, wife-beaters and no helmet.

[ghotioutofh2o]

Good God, man! I can't believe you were up walking around 3 days after breaking stuff. And that you dragged the deer off the road (good call, though), and the you picked the bike up and road home. You, sir, are one tough dude.

Glad you're back riding again! Hope you're felling 100%, or if you're not, that it'll be soon. Ride safe!

[KLRPilot]

I'm not sure I'm tough, just a massive adrenaline dump. After I rode the bike home, I drove my truck to the swim team fund raiser and worked the bingo floor for four hours, then came home. By morning I felt like I was on the losing end of a street fight.

[gutwrench243]

If you didn't turn that freakin' deer into jerky you should have. So you rode the bike home and then found out you were broken - that's awesome! KLR's rule and a BMW rider would have cried over the $5K+ in demage. I bet you can get 'er back in shape for less than $500.

[KLRPilot]

No jerky, but after I got to thinking about it I should have brought the deer home . . . the cop the showed up after the fact said I could have the deer if i wanted it, but I was already late meeting my wife for a fund raiser for the kids' swim team. I got about 30 bucks (no pun) in the bike to get it back on the road. I've been back in the saddle about two weeks now. Happy-trails sent me the up grade cross-brace no charge other than shipping and super wham-o-dyne epoxy for the plastic.

[Adammaniaminded]

Hope ur feeling ok a little over a month later. I have had a couple close calls and sometimes there is NOTHING you can do.

[KLRPilot]

I've been re-playing the "incident" over and over, I don't think I would have done anything different. the deer jumped out and I caught him midflight . . . he came right over the bike, hit the headlight, rolled up across the windscreen and hit me in the chest and knocked me off the bike. Aerostitch (my jacket) and Happy-trail really took care of me . . . 80% off on a new jacket shell from Aerostitch and shipping only on the upgrade on the cross-brace. Great companies . . . American-owned.

[baylor2554]

I just got a new KLR 650 09 and I took it off road the first day I got it and it fell over on me. It broke the main side plate and that cost some money. i was wondering where you got your side plates and back plates.

[KLRPilot]

All external guards (PD Nerf bar and pannier mounts) are from Happy-trail . . . solid stuff, made to last and American made. Skid plate and folding shift lever are from Sport Tour.

[Rungaul]

What were you wearing for foot wear? I'm debating getting some motocross boots and wonder if that would have helped.

[KLRPilot]

I was wearing AXO Slammers. They have been pretty good boots, easy to walk around in, BUT after this incident I may be in the market for a full MX boot.

[mike30244]

dont understand how you broke your right hand and foot but the damage was on the left side of the bike?

[KLRPilot]

I'm pretty sure I broke them when I was tumbling up the road. I don't remember how many times I rolled or on *which* roll I broke 'em, but I covered about 100-115 feet from where I came off the bike and where I stopped rollin'. I guess it was just luck that the breaks were both on the right side. BUT, my left shoulder (where Rudolph came over the top of my bike and hit hit me) feels like Chuck Norris gave me a round house kick, my left foot hurts like the dickens and my left hand is sore, too

[epicstove]

sorry to hear about the damage to you and the bike. what tires are your running?

[KLRPilot]

Dunlop D606s front and rear.

[rstefanski]

glad to see your ok. them deer can be peskie critters!