Triumphrat

mercator · 09-07-2005

Washington Highway 20 from Kettle Falls to Sherman Pass is a great afternoon escape for me. Its a twisty climb up and back of about 55 miles RT. Yesterday, escape was the right word. A pair of juvenile moose (meaning they were *only* five feet to the shoulder) were crossing the road from right to left. I see them and ease the brakes, hold the clutch and rev to 'growl' at them, as a predator might. They bolt. Unfortunately, while the one that was just crossing my lane (on the right for you UK folks) bolted off road to the right, the other moose, who was most of the way across both lanes, turned and decided to join its sibling to the right. I hammered both brakes pretty hard, though not in a quick squeeze. The nose came down as expected (plenty of posts on this), and the rear tire left a couple feet of black streak on the road, but it was the finest, straightest, most perfect hard stop I could have asked for, and, most importantly, still about 2 feet from the moose, whose very large hooves were something I surely wouldnt want to make contact with, let alone the rest of its rather large body. I like to encounter wildlife and often do on my rides around here, but I must say I was pretty happy that I didnt fully encounter them! Thanks to Triumph for the great brakes, and to the Almighty for the guardian angel surely sitting 2up on my ride.

If I had been on my VStar, I'd have been in very bad shape. The bike has its idiosyncrasises, as does my dealer and TriumphUSA for that matter, but all in all I love my Sprint and have no regrets about buying it.

DaveM · 09-07-2005

Mercator,
congratulations on a good braking manouvre. Sounds to me like you did it just how you are supposed to :-D

And as well as that you aren't covered in Mosse bits or vise versa.

Well done!

davem

DragonDan · 09-08-2005

Good show!

Moose vs. bike. I think I know who would loose. Glad you didn't find out first hand :-D

pushr0d · 09-08-2005

Chalk that one up as a "Near Moose!"

Ron_F_D · 09-08-2005

Maybe the breaking force be with you... always!

AlaskaSprint · 09-08-2005

Glad you missed that moose. After a few close calls with unpredictable behavior by deer -- in a car, not on a bike -- I have learned to rapidly bleed off speed down to 20 mph or so whenever I spot deer (or moose) near the road. Not a full on panic stop (unless required), but a rapid decelleration. You just never know which way they will go or when. Gotta watch for being rear-ended by cars too.

Mercator, we will have to get together for a ride sometime -- I just bought a Sprint in Missoula Montana where my 15 yr. old daughter lives, and will be riding from Seattle to Missoula and back every August for the next few years. (Barge the bike from Juneau to Seattle and back). Bike is in Missoula now, am bringing it back in a couple weeks, but am taking the southern route to Seattle via Lewiston and Mt. Rainer. Plan to take the northern route through your neighborhood in August 2006.

mercator · 09-15-2005

Alaska -

Sounds great. I'd love to ride with you. In fact, there are a few of us in the Spokane area, and we have a mini-rat pack of sorts. We've done a ride, and we have a post on the rat discussion forums (about a spokane pack).

So far just 5-6 of us, but several more are out there, they just haven't had the schedule to meet up with us.

There is also a pack out of Wenatchee, which is a bit more than half way across your path down I-90.

Merc

ST · 09-15-2005

Well im glad i bought ABS....... but no chance of a moose around here !

Jim_in_Calgary · 09-18-2005

Believe it or not, I live in Canada and have only seen a moose once. It was last year in spring and I was exploring some trails in my '69 Bronco. This truck has 35" tires and the floor sits a little higher than my waist. It is fair to say that it is at least a foot higher than the average full size 4x4 truck.

Anyhow, I came into a clearing and staring me in the face was a the only moose I have ever seen. It was a bull with a decent sized rack. I honestly believed I could have driven underneath his belly. The top of his back (not his head) appeared to be higher than my garage door at home.

I suspect if you were on a colision course with this guy's side on a sprint st...you could just duck and you'd sail right underneath. If you hit one of these it would be like hitting a semi. Apart from some elephants I've seen in the zoo, I've never seen an animal that appeared to have so much pure mass.

mercator · 09-19-2005

True enough, except for these were a couple of juveniles. I don't know where mom and dad were, but I was happy they weren't out there too.

I've not seen too many moose, but they are around and a poor woman in a Honda hit an adult male about 2 years ago between my town and Spokane, and she and the moose both were killed.

Moose are HUGE, plain and simple, no doubt about it.

Many of my rides I see deer (they are thick around here), coyotes, a wolf (only once), skunks (gah), and lots of squirrels and chipmunks. Now, moose. A large male was on the side of US395 today, and several people were pulled over photographing it, like you might see at Yellowstone or something. This is a new trend, and a little disturbing. I'd prefer they live in the areas away from the roads up in the wilderness lands...