so.. several weeks ago i started the poll on the other forum "going down been down" several  folks disputed the assumption under the guise of "my years of experience". well here's a quick update.  
i've been riding 30 years now with over 150k, and today i hit my first dog a 130lb black lab.  i was doing about 50 when it darted out from the trees. all i could do was hang on and hope i don't t-bone it. it made contact at the right peg area and away i went. i picked my self up out of the ditch shut off thumper and checked the dog, it was gone. damage to machine minimal since i've already stripped off anything that would break off.  just a few more scrapes on the muffler.  i will need to bend peg and brake lever back into place. my foots alittle sore.
so moral of the story is.  no matter how much experience you have there are still unknown variables that will send you down in a new york minute, and dont think it wont.  well that makes 6 times now

owner of dog offered to pay for damages, i let him off the hook.  

darn it was such a nice day for a ride.  early 40's sun shining, just had to go..

for some reason the berts fourm wouldn't let me post this as "some words didn't pass the spam filter"  i can't figgure out which ones though.  

Glad to know you're OK, and your thumper has only minor "battle scars"... the dog is in fact in a better place...
I had a similar experience a few months back, but in my case it was only a 8 lb cat that darted out from behind a parked car. I was only doing around 40 k/h, and it was not nice to see my front wheel go right over the  middle of the cat's body... cat is also in a better place, no damage to the bike, since I managed to keep it upright...
well, that's another reason for me not to like cats...  they just do not eat mice anymore...
Ride Safe

Red Wine

howlit wrote on 12/31/69 at 16:00:12:


me and thumper ok. when i said dog was gone i meant "he's in heaven now, chasing motorcycles"  :'(

i dont mean to be glib, it was a scary incident. i'm still dealing with the graphic nature of the scene. it wasn't pretty.

After reading Sluggo's post on Bert's board, I would agree.

Geez sluggo! Glad to hear that you are OK ... What a friggin' rush that must've been! Sorry to hear about the dog and more importantly your beautiful Custom Savage ...
As for the owner of the departed dog ... you shoulda took him up on the offer to pay for the damages ... at least you coulda gotten a new muffler, peg and brake lever rather than make do with straightening damaged stuff ... but, your decision is cool ... best of luck gettin' you and your beautiful Bike back in shape!

thehoghunter wrote on 12/31/69 at 16:00:12:


i was really bundled, long johns, sweats, jeans, insulated suit, leathers, gloves in gloves.  i was set for a nice long ride.  the fall was like the rear end was knocked out from under me to the left, and a slide off the pavement into a small ditch. kinda like a road race slide. just got up and dusted it off. the bent brake lever matchs the bruise on top of the foot which appears to be the impact point.

THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR CONCERNS.

Tough break!
6th time down ouch!
Glad everything was minor damage ( except for poor Fido).

You are like an "ace" now. "shot down 6 time and still fighting"!
Being the sicko I am, I would put some "nose art" on the bike somewhere. Like the  WWI & WWII aces put on their machines.  



Like take something like this  'Dog Crossing' symbol

and flip it so the dog is on it's back and have someone make a small sticker for the side of the bike...then I would have to go get a leather helmet, googles and a white silk scarf to wear!
Beware the Savage Baron.
Smoke em if ya got em.

Red Wine wrote on 12/31/69 at 16:00:12:


Sure, the German aces just had different colored bars that that they would line up on the tail.  Colors stood for different nationalities. You could have colors for different critters. (bugs leave their own insignia)
"Dog2" checked in here last summer, his daughter bought him a new Savage. He flew out to pick it up and tagged a deer.

Check this: http://suzukisavage.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?board=RubberSideDown;action=display;n...

Man, we got some ice in W.TN last night.