Kansas couple killed in motorcycle crash caused by vulture

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Re: Kansas couple killed in motorcycle crash caused by vulture

#16

Post by sgwilly »

rcmatt007 wrote:maybe Les Nesman dropped it from a helicopter?
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Re: Kansas couple killed in motorcycle crash caused by vulture

#17

Post by Sugs »

WKRP, now that is going waaay back in the TV time machine!
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Re: Kansas couple killed in motorcycle crash caused by vulture

#18

Post by SnoBrdr »

Sugs wrote:WKRP, now that is going waaay back in the TV time machine!
Actually, it still airs nationally, in the US, on METV network.
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Re: Kansas couple killed in motorcycle crash caused by vulture

#19

Post by Dirty Dave »

I remember riding in Texas hill country being watched by a buzzard on a fence post.

Coulda sworn it was looking at me thinking, "crash, crash, crash!"
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Re: Kansas couple killed in motorcycle crash caused by vulture

#20

Post by bstuebing »

"As God is my witness I thought turkeys could fly !"
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Re: Kansas couple killed in motorcycle crash caused by vulture

#21

Post by 77Gowing »

rcmatt007 wrote:thankfully it is not called "going in drag"
My reference was from when Men were Men.
Riding drag on a cattle drive you followed the herds in the kicked up dust.
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Re: Kansas couple killed in motorcycle crash caused by vulture

#22

Post by Sidecar Bob »

On my way to work on the sidecar outfit one morning a dozen or so years ago I came around a curve in the road (westbound) to see a big tom turkey crossing the road from north to south so I rolled off the throttle just in case. When he reached the south side and went into the ditch I figured he would go on into the bush there and disappear but just in case I kept off the throttle to stay at about 70 Km/h (its an 80 zone there but traffic usually moves at 100+) until I was past before speeding up. As I approached the point where he had entered the ditch he came running back onto the road and took off.

About half way across the eastbound lane he was at my chest level and didn't seem to be gaining altitude. I figured I was going to hit him so I ducked down behind the windshield - so far down that all I could see was the dash. Somehow, he pulled up in time and I didn't hit him. I can only imagine how much damage hitting a fully grown tom could do. I think he was over 3' from beak to tailfeathers.

It seemed like a lot of birds were trying to commit suicide by motorcycle that year. A few weeks later I found a dead sparrow between the lights on the front of the sidecar. I didn't even know I had hit it....
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Re: Kansas couple killed in motorcycle crash caused by vulture

#23

Post by desertrefugee »

ATGATT folks cover your ears/eyes:

Southern AZ a couple years ago on a hot afternoon heading to a campground in Portal, a medium sized bird swooped in front of me. Has happened before and the duck reflex kicked in. I’ve always dodged them, but this fellow struck me about mid forearm. Bare forearm. Hurt like heck, but didn’t break my arm or make me crash. Bird did not survive.

There are lots of ways to go. Getting essentially killed by a buzzard is not how most folks envision going out...
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Re: Kansas couple killed in motorcycle crash caused by vulture

#24

Post by Track T 2411 »

I had a turkey pop the windshield off my Yamaha several years ago. Luckily I was only going about 35 MPH at the time. Last summer a smaller bird took out my face shield while on a test ride of Scarlett (I was going quite a bit faster than 35), and left a fair part of its body behind, too. Yuck!
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Re: Kansas couple killed in motorcycle crash caused by vulture

#25

Post by Gowing »

Terrible accident. We have turkeys in our neighborhood. They roost 50-75 feet in the trees at night.
I didn’t now they could fly either, but boy can they. Some neighbors feed them and let me tell you it’s scary when a big boy comes walking right up to you and looks you straight in the eyes. Tall birds. Hitting one of those at speed would be catastrophic.
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Re: Kansas couple killed in motorcycle crash caused by vulture

#26

Post by heraldhamster »

SnoBrdr wrote:
rcmatt007 wrote:maybe Les Nesman dropped it from a helicopter?
Boy is that an obscure reference.

Wonder how many got it.
I dunno Sno, I know a buncha millennials who would get it.
me? I saw it on original airing & then we would b'cast that Ep. all the time in syndication (working in TV). it is one of the most well-known Eps of that series.

sorry to hear about the KS couple.
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Re: Kansas couple killed in motorcycle crash caused by vulture

#27

Post by Sidecar Bob »

Me too. And even though I was a city boy back then I knew that the reason their turkeys couldn't fly was that they were domestic turkeys that were bred for weight and didn't have to fly to get their food so the muscles needed for flying weren't well developed.

BTW: A few months after my close encounter with that big tom I was on my way home from work on a back road when I noticed an equipment trailer parked in the oncoming lane so I slowed down in case someone walked out from behind it just in time for about half a dozen somewhat smaller turkeys to run up from the ditch on my right, panic and start running directly away from me in my lane. I wasn't going terribly fast to start with and had already slowed quite a bit so it wasn't hard for me to slow enough not to hit them until they headed back into the bush but if the trailer hadn't been there and I was going too fast to slow for them I might have brought home dinner...

Oddly, both incidents happened the same year and I can't remember having any more encounters with turkeys on the road since, although I've seen fields that were black with them this time of year lots of times.

I did have a pair of Canada Geese that used to take flight when they heard me coming on a the road I often took on my way to work and fly above the road ahead of me for half a Km or so at about 55-60 Km/h, then veer off. They must have had their nest near there and started out trying to decoy me away from it but after a few times it almost seemed like they were enjoying it.
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Re: Kansas couple killed in motorcycle crash caused by vulture

#28

Post by sgwilly »

Sidecar Bob wrote:...but after a few times it almost seemed like they were enjoying it.
I'm enjoying it just reading about it.
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Re: Kansas couple killed in motorcycle crash caused by vulture

#29

Post by digger »

Les Nesman, I laughed out loud at that one. "my mind is a trap for the obscure" So I am not the only one :lol:
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