What is the strangest thing you hit/almost hit?

For me riding home last night from work. Down the county roads I get stuck behind a hay truck carring about 20 round bails. Well I am back pretty far, darn hay keeps flying everywhere. We get to the twisty part of this two lane country road and yep you guessed it....off falls a hay bail. I realy did not come close as I was thinking it would happen any minute.
I thaught it was funny, then I got a little shakey, I know what a wet hay bail weighs and I would be squished like a bug.


So what else strange have you had a close call with?

I would have to say bats. Three of'em so far, #1 hit under the right edge of the bill on my MX helmet. #2 hit me dead center of my full face, almost went down on that one. #3 hit my left mirror then slid down the post and just sit on my hand hanging on for about 1/4 mile before it fell off.

I whipped around the corner in college behind the science building and almost ran a 25 gallon dewer of liquid nitrogen over. Another student had rolled it out onto the sidewalk to go to the other building and went back for something and it wandered into the street on it's own.

Be careful of haybails in farm country. Just one of those little 30-35 pounders will take any motorcycle down real quick. I was driving the haytruck and lost about 1/4 load of 30lb bails one afternoon. Some city guy out for a drive in his brand new spendy convertable had been tailgating me up a hill and they beat the crap out of his hood when they came loose. I've also lost partial loads over the side which end up in the ditch or oncoming lane with almost no warning. We were good about not loosing loads but when one bail goes you can expect at least 5-15 more right then. A couple times a season, we're driving back to the fields for another load and there's a bail or 3 laying in the middle of the road that pooped off the back without us knowing it. Farming...the good life....

1. an entire pallet of canned Coke in the fast lane when I lived in China.
2. a bale of straw in the fast lane on 287 around NYC at about 70 mph.
3. a front bumper off a 78 T-bird in the middle lane of 287.
4. a guy taking a dump beside the road in WVa. He was in the apex of a real nice curve...
5. another rider... I was working thru traffic, passing buses, etc in the Alps. I thought he saw me, but he didn't. His helmet caught my hand gaurd on the GS with a slight tap. His eyes were about as big as saucers. I shouldn't have been in his lane, but I thought he saw me. Assume..... makes an ASS out of U and ME.

An aluminum ladder stretched across the right hand lane of I-25.

I was riding south on I-77 behind a pickup truck when the matress that was in the bed of the truck flew up and over my head. whew!

Riding in light traffic through a small town near here. A pickup in the oncoming lane braked to turn up the slightest rise into the Post Office parking lot. The 10-foot length of 4-inch PVC pipe in the pickup was angled from the bed near the cab up across the closed tailgate. The braking and turn swung that pipe around in the bed so it was now angled from low on the passenger side to high on the driver side. It swung at me at just about head height. Missed by a couple of feet but got my attention.

1) A live turkey, back roads, Austell, GA. Spun me around but I did not go down.

2) Aluminum Ladder, I-285 Atlanta. Kinda jumped it, should have wrecked but didn't.

3) A steel nut, about 2 inches in diameter, straight to the chest (thought it stopped my heart it hit so hard) I-285 Atlanta

4) Muffler and attached exhaust pipe, 575 near Canton, GA. No wreck

5) Water melon, I-75 near Valdosta. Almost, and I mean almost but no wreck.

6) Wooden pallet (empty) East/West Connector, Austell, GA. Scared me shitless.

7) A helmet, unstrapped and blew off another rider in front of me, Daytona. No wreck.

8) German Shepherd, near Bo-Bo's house. No wreck but torn up a guys fresh grass stopping it.


Weirdest I have heard, guy from Earl Smalls Harley Davidson in Marietta, Ga was headed to the Hard Rock Cafe in Atlantawith a group of bikes. I-75 south after dark. He hit an upside down wheelbarrow tub that already had the wheels and supports knocked off. Was almost a perfect ramp. Said he was about 8 feet off the ground, got some good distance and landed without crashing. LOTS and LOTS of damage to the bike. :eek1

The oddest thing I've had to dodge has been ball lightning. I was heading into Ely from the north, coming down along the east side of the Ruby Mountains in a thunder storm. As the lightning hit several balls would go skipping away across the flats. Had to duck under one and slow so another could cross the highway.

Then there was the day a pickup in front of me lost a rear wheel along with the axle shaft it was still attached.

a rustbucket ford panel van dropped its gas tank in front of me. I slowed way down, but the van's rear bumper prevented the tank from exiting behind the van, so the tank dragged along the asphalt, wedged uner the van's rear bumper.

Then I fell further back, expecting the tank to burst into flames.

It didn't, but still...

And then on I-20 near Madison, Ga early one morning I am zipping along behind a big generic Fed-Ex/UPS kinda truck when he abruptly swerves and right there was a camper shell from a pick-up! Easy to react on a bike but still odd. Same place the next year was a bed liner.

I forgot about the bed liner, a couple of years ago one just flew out of a pick-up. Did a couple of end overs and went off an overpass. Felt sorry for the guys that where under the bridge.

I had a lighting strike very close to me last year. Coming home from work in a BAD thunder storm, he hail came down so hard it hurt my feet through the boots and padded jacket. The lighting struck so close I had to stop for my eyes to re-adjust. I bet I wet myself but I was already so wet no one would know.

Same damn thing happend to me only on 93 south in NH, and it was about 5 bails. I was behind him for a about a mile when I thought it was looking a little sketchy i switch lanes then the top layer of bails flew off. The truck was way overloaded. I dont think anyone hit it but im sure there was a close call.

A snapping turtle that had to be at least 18 inches across.

South of Puerto Vallarta I was riding through a wooded area. There were plenty of sunny areas as well as shady. There are loads of Iguanas along the roads here- some grey, others green (anyone know if they are different species or what?). I was amazed at how fast these things can run! Anyway, due to the sun and shade I didn't see one ease into my path until the last second (it was a grey one). I lifted by feet expecting him to explode like a water balloon. Luckily he took the ketchup packet route and blew his guts left and right. The bike and I didn't catch a drop.

Aluminum step ladder last week.

Huge wooden doghouse-sized object flew out of a pickup on Sunday.

Oh yeah, and a FUCKING SEMI. Bonehead locked 'em up in front of the car in front of me to pull over--on a fucking interchange ramp. Thank god for ABS. I started to use the breakdown lane for an out, and the bastard pulled over. Able to swerve around the 4runner in front of me. Was I following too closely? Yeah--too close to be behind a FUCKING TRACTOR TRAILER THAT LOCKS ITS BRAKES WITHOUT WARNING ON THE GODDAMNED INTERSTATE.

A water heater. A well used water heater. I dodged it as it flew outta the back of a Ford.

I made a right hand turn at a traffic signal, I was just behind a Chevy pickup and I could hear a horn beeping and beeping. I see the Chevy start to brake, then he stops in the four lane road, I stop behind him, as not one but two semi tires with the wheels are rolling in front of and towards him down the road at about thirty mph. One rolled towards the sidewalk bounce across a small parking lot, the tire hit a store front just missing a window. I then cut the block and found the Trucker, noting his problem, pulling into a grocery store parking lot. He asked me if anybody was hurt, and where he could locate some more lug nuts.
-SGT

A friggnig WHEEL that had ejected from a 4x4 coming srtaight at me on the 210 freeway in La Canada Ca. I swerved and it bounced off the hood of a big Mercedes sedan....CRUNCH.


A drive shaft, almost invisable in the afternoon sun on blacktop. Luckily it was pointing in the direction I was going but I barley missed it.


And just a few weeks ago a bicycle carrier complete with the bikes still on it fell off the back of a motorhome on the west bound 60 in Chino/Pomona. The fugger hit the ground and bounced into my lane.:eek1 Thank you ABS

Hey, that wasn't there when I started..............:huh