Modern Buddy

Riding home late the other night, all the sudden CRACK, something hits me above my right eye, no biggie I thought as it had just rained something must have fallen out of a tree. A few minutes later as I pull up the driveway something falls to my lap from between my face shield and visor of my helmet............

Whoa! I had a bird plink off of my headlight once, glad it didn't hit me in the head.

The same thing happened to young Bruce Wayne on a scooter ride through Gotham City, as he contemplated how he might rid the city of crime. "Criminals are a superstitious cowardly lot," he thought. "I must be a creature of the night. I shall become a bat!"

I hope you weren't going very fast...! After taking a cicada on the chin at 70MPH, I'm surprised a bat didn't take your head off!

That's just creepy, KABarash. I remember a friend collecting an owl in the grill of his Olds once, but that thing almost got *you* in the grill! Eeek.

Well, that's what you get for practicing moth calls while riding at night.

While riding an rz350 yamaha down back roads one day. Hit a robin just above my right eye ( full face shoei helmet). I was going about 70MPH, and it NEARLY took my head off. Felt like someone tee'd off on me with abaseball bat

jprestonian wrote:I hope you weren't going very fast...!

About 30-35Bmph, it snapped my head back!

OMG! Lovin' my full face helmet right now

Skootz Kabootz wrote:OMG! Lovin' my full face helmet right now

+1!

This will be a great new piece of ammo whenever I'm trying to convince people of the importance of face protection. Without that face shield you would have been flossing bat out for weeks!

I hit my first bird at about 45mph coming home from work. Was zipping along on the Stella and a pack of birds were flying across the road, but noticed one was a bit slow. I thought in the back of my mind "Hey, he's flying a little low", but before I could think further...

THWAP!!

Struck me right in the chest point blank and flopped onto the floorboard. It was a 10 or 12 inch long blackbird, and the only thing going through it's head at that moment was it's beak it was not a pretty sight.

After a bit of a shudder, I pushed it off the floorboard, headed home and immediately took the riding jacket in for dry cleaning. It left a decent bruise on my chest. Crappy end to a crappy day at work.

Very glad now I got that windshield and even more glad that I am such a shorty and the medium windshield is to me like a full sized windshield. The reason I got it was bugs. I did not want them splattered on my jacket. Well, were there are bugs there are bats.
Was it dead?

Hey! Them's good eat'n!!!

KABarash wrote:Riding home late the other night, all the sudden CRACK, something hits me above my right eye, no biggie I thought as it had just rained something must have fallen out of a tree. A few minutes later as I pull up the driveway something falls to my lap from between my face shield and visor of my helmet............

Seriousl.y, hoping you are feeling OK. That is scary!!!

Wow. Just ... wow.

KABarash wrote:

jprestonian wrote:I hope you weren't going very fast...!

About 30-35Bmph, it snapped my head back!

The cicada to the chin at 70MPH required a quick stop to wash guts out of my beard. ;) Identifiable cicada guts, too. Think about that.
.

jprestonian wrote:

KABarash wrote:

jprestonian wrote:I hope you weren't going very fast...!

About 30-35Bmph, it snapped my head back!

The cicada to the chin at 70MPH required a quick stop to wash guts out of my beard. Identifiable cicada guts, too. Think about that.
.

I think I'm gonna barf....

Goes without saying: All Gear, All The Time. Because falling off the bike is only one of MANY things that can happen.....

WOW! Did you not notice it caught in your shield? I can't believe it stuck there! That's just nuts.

And yeah I agree about face protection against bugs, birds, and now I guess bats being one of the best daily benefits of a full helmet!

Glad you're alright and I hope the bat stew was delicious. Be careful today, you might get hit with one eye of newt or toe of frog...

Stormswift wrote: Was it dead?

NOT until after we collided......

I need to start taking an alternate route home, last night, same area (within a couple hundred feet) I had a 'close call' with another bat!

Forget the St. Christopher medal, this looks like a job for Mothra, guardian of bat-oppressed insects and scooterists everywhere:

KABarash wrote:

Stormswift wrote: Was it dead?

NOT until after we collided......

I need to start taking an alternate route home, last night, same area (within a couple hundred feet) I had a 'close call' with another bat!

I thought bats had radar or something. You haven't secretly engineered the first stealth scooter have you?

Our western suburbs are undergoing a major infestation of cicadas. We were out that way on the weekend (in the car) and they were _everywhere_. If they move into my neighborhood, I think I'll be parking the Buddy for a while.

unbelievable, so you thought some thing fell from a tree,....? which ,would be bad enough if you were going 30/40 mph, but something was traveling 20-30 mph and then hit u. i wonder what the pounds psi was to you shield 14 oz bat plus speed x your speed, like a 15 pound punch traveling 20 miles per hour

GrittyTacoman wrote:

KABarash wrote:

Stormswift wrote: Was it dead?

NOT until after we collided......

I need to start taking an alternate route home, last night, same area (within a couple hundred feet) I had a 'close call' with another bat!

I thought bats had radar or something. You haven't secretly engineered the first stealth scooter have you?

They are supposedly blind but have some kind of sound sensor.They ping their prey. The little bugger was likely chasing a mosquito or some other bug. I bet there were 2 hits. The bug hit helmet first - the bat followed right behind.

Stormswift wrote:They are supposedly blind but have some kind of sound sensor.They ping their prey. The little bugger was likely chasing a mosquito or some other bug. I bet there were 2 hits. The bug hit helmet first - the bat followed right behind.

Bat's aren't blind, but their vision isn't much help beyond telling the difference between open sky and the ground. Their echo-location has developed to help them locate two kinds of things: tiny flying things like bugs (to chase and eat), and more substantial stationary things like trees and rocks (to avoid). But not quite so good at recognizing 30mph "trees", apparently.

Can't believe it's not on there.

Okay that was funny till i got to the children, bicycles, and Mc's

I scored a squirrel on a Yamaha Vino Classic 50 2T, but not sure I wanna give up $5 for the one sticker.

I'll wait until I tag a bear. ;)

Wheelz wrote:Okay that was funny till i got to the children, bicycles, and Mc's

You obviously haven't tried riding or driving around ASU. 1 hour there during the semester will make you want to run over every breathing thing you see... if you don't get killed yourself by the 19 y/o trust fund girls driving lifted hummer H2's on their way to class while texting on BOTH their iPhone and Blackberry (Yep. Seen it with my own eyes)

Oh come'on multitasking is the only way I can get my work done.(JK)

Bats are the least of my worries here in Los Angeles
glad you are ok and did'nt crash because of the little feller.

Wow! I would have had a heart attack once I figured out it was a bat, bats give me the creeps for sure. Rationally I know that they are awesome little creatures that eat lots of pests but I had a freaky experience with one getting in the house when I was a kid and ever since then I don't want them anywhere near me, especially not stuck in my face sheild

jasondavis48108 wrote:but I had a freaky experience with one getting in the house when I was a kid and ever since then I don't want them anywhere near me, especially not stuck in my face sheild

This story sounds familiar....



Is there something you want to get off your chest (armor), jason? You can trust us.

Quo Vadimus wrote:

Can't believe it's not on there.

No bunnies? I've got a Dead Bunny Scooter Club patch on my jacket, but I need silhouettes for my front panel.

is the bat ok?

My wife was in the barn and reached under a shelf and a bat flew out and bit her on the finger and drew blood. I went out and found it on the floor and it was not doing very good. Caught itand put in a box and off to the emergency room for her first rabies shot. They wanted to start the shots with in 12 hours. Sent to bat to the lab and it had Rabies! She had the rest of the shot sall in the arm and is fine. The worst part they charge $1800 per shot! Thankfully the insurance covers all except $200 ea visit.
Bats are cool but they can get you in a lot of trouble!
55,000 people die world wide from Rabies each year and if you are bitten you have to start the shot before you have any symptoms.

If you ride a night this is a very good reason for a full face.

He's just sleeping. Right?...

you guys/gals all make me laugh. And it all started by buying a Buddy.

kenbike wrote:If you ride a night this is a very good reason for a full face.

All kinds of stuff can hit you in the day, too! Bees are a big problem a lot of places I ride. Even with full protection (but my visor up), I've been hit by little rocks, bugs, all kinds of stuff.

SkootzKabootz and I were leading two groups on a long ride several months ago and using our Chatterboxes. He was out of range most of the time but the one time I could hear him, it was, "Szzzzch… Eric? Ha, I can hear you… Skkkkzzzzch… Ahhh! Bee in my helmet!" LOL!

I've had rabies treatments! Got bitten by a dog when I was 16 and they put him down before he could be tested, also hadn't kept up with his shots. So "just to be safe" I got the shots. Not a fun time. I hope your wife is doing ok; I hear some people have a very bad reaction to the medicine.