Bonneville America Forums Forums Off Topic Discussion Forums Lounge Don't blow your horn!!!

Short roadtrip yesterday landed me on Hiway 35 North up toward Lookout mountain scenic hiway in North Alabama on my '05 America (the green one), throttling on up toward 70 mph, and a Ford F-150 behind me pretty close, I spotted what looked like a giant turkey just outside the white line of my lane on the edge of the hiway. I went with my first reaction of blowing my horn about 15 feet away from the creature,(Big Mistake), when it went with its first reaction, which was to jump strait up and expose what must have been at least a 9 foot wingspan and proceed directly in front of me. All I could do is duck, creating a very "near miss" with it's talons..I knew the F-150 was behind me, and I'm sure he got quite a show, so I just kept the throttle on, hoped that was my "close call" for the day. I don't think it was a turkey, more like a very large Vulture chewing on some fresh road-kill. If you see any wildlife like that near the road, I guess all you can do is swing wide, traffic permitting, putting as much space between you and the wildlife as possible, and by all means, don't scare the crap out of it with you horn.....

Havelina (small native wild pigs) are prevalent in the desert area thru which I ride to work in the AM. I keep my eyes pealed for the little suckers in the morning when they are active.

Heh, our stock horns aren't loud enough to scare a gerbil.

The area I work in is set in a lot of bushland and has very little traffic and no street lighting. From dusk till dawn you've got every chance of a very surprised-looking 5' tall kangaroo jumping out of the darkened bushland and landing directly in front of you. Very scenic, but they make one hell of a mess of a bike...

Matt

Hey Doc, That whole thing has to be a little bit unnerving to say the least.

Out here we have possums, they dont move for nothing. Proff of that (especially this time of the year) is that you will see lots of them squashed in the middle of the road.

Soren

Out here it the deer. I see about half a dozen killed each year between Wenatchee and Cashmere ( only ten miles). They go to the river to drink and prune the fruit trees and then return to the hills. They have jumped in front of me several times but I really keep an eye out for them and the mess on the highway when they get hit. The yotes and other critters are faster at moving out of your way.
Dave

The wildlife over here tends to be a bit less exotic! A bit more domestic usually.
I've lost count of the number of times I've nearly had my head taken off by pigeons.

I did ride once and have a Kestrel or something flying quite close (around 10 feet) alongside me for a very short time.
That was pretty cool.
I was watching the bird and not the road though ...

Deer can be a problem when you live / travel near wooded areas.

Rabbits can be a pest too at times.
Squirrels are very difficult to hit - try it some day!

If you think that's bat, you should see the wildlife in Hollywood!
You don't want to use your horn there either because the "business people" will all run out to see if you want a date.

Glad you had your eyes fore and aft. Sometimes I'll let a 4 wheeler run interference through spookier areas. No vultures, but Bald Eagles camped on roadside deer remains require full attention, as do herds of turkey crossing the road. Not to mention live deer, bighorn sheep, cows and obligatory 4 wheelers on cell phones. A friend had the front end of his minivan totalled by an eagle lifting off a deer carcass.

I used to ride at night and never think about it, now I think about it .

JH

I'm with FriarJohn. The stock horn is pitiful. I had a Honda Reflex scooter 250 cc. and the horn would scare me everytime I pushed the button because it was LOUD, like it should be.

I'v been eye to eye with two to those critter's. I don't feel good. I don't think the buzzard thought much of it either.

Oh, I didn't blow the horn either time. I did, I think ,scream like a school girl.

If you ladies wanna step up to some real horns, get a pair of REAL loud dissonany horns. These are louder than the freewayblasters.

Hey Benny...Whadaya mean "YOU ladies"???

Is it just ME or do those horns on that bike o' YOURS look like they need a BRA or somethin'?!

Cheers,
Dwight
(but I bet they DO work[and sound] great though)

I also had a buzzard swoop down on me last Saturday as I was heading to work. They are big enough to make you wonder what would happen if it actually hit you.

Ya know I could take the red covers off and paint em flat black, but I kinda like the red nipple look. I've had guys ask me if they were fans for the radiator

Around here it's armadillos and of course the ever popular skunk. We use the same chicken joke too.

Up here we've got moose, deer, buffalo, bears and the odd wolf and/or coyote. Though I've yet to meet anyone who's hit one of these beasties on a scooter collisions with auto's occur all the time.

In the Mojave it's chucker. Little a-holes fly all around Route 66 out here.

My sister hit a small bear in her Saturn last summer. It rolled up on the hood, looked her in the eye, gave her the finger, and ran away.

Get some pasties for them with the little tassels! LOLOLOLOLOLheheheheheLOLOLOL I think it would be awsome!

I have you all beat. Around here the danger is Asian ladies driving minivans while talking on the cell phone. Gives a whole new meaning of puckering up!!!

I can personally vouch for the validity of my fellow SoCal neighbor Doug's keen observation here.

Hey Doug...question: Have you ever seen those ladies JUST ONCE turn their freakin' heads to check their blind spot before they make that lane change???

Nope?!

I didn't THINK SO!

Cheers,
Dwight

I try and avoid all critters at all cost. Particually the Skunks. pooowie, smelly little things. Cute little things though. I found five baby skunks in my garder last year, but thats another story.

Snakes however are another storey. I will run them over at ever opportunity and back up to make sure the worthless creatues are dead.

well it's illegal to blow your horn for unecessary reason in spain
wonder what all the madrid and barcelona fans gonna do when they win or lose

Its the suicidal sheep we have to worry about hereabouts

Just when you think they are wandering off the road they change their minds and run in front of you to the other side.
Stupid stupid animals!

Saw a guy's passenger hit a pheasant last year, huge plume of feathers and a massive wobble. could have been a lot worse if he had seen it before it hit.

I think it gave us behind him a bigger fright than it did the rider.