Vespa vs Deer...

 

Yeah, I hit a deer today.  No winner in that confrontation.  The deer ran out, I slammed on the brakes (LOVE the ABS brakes - saved my hide), I zigged, Bambi zagged, I braced for impact when it made a last second decision to throw itself in front of me, plastic parts went flying, there was the first thump at impact, then a thud-thud as the Vespa went over the top of Bambi.  I kept the bike upright and stopped.  I heard Joan holler in my helmet communicator - I replied: "Yes, I'm fine," and got off the bike to see how much damage there is.

The front fender is toast, about 2/3 of it is busted clean off.  Vespas are known for being metal construction, but the fender and most of the glove box area are plastic.  The plastic cover over the front suspension pieces is broken.  The front brakes and suspension appear to be intact.

 My sexy blue Vespa is wounded, but it kept us upright.  We rode a short distance to get where we could get off the road.  There were several Harley riders in that same pull-out.  "Whoa - are you OK?"  I held the wheel in place while one of them pulled off the last piece of fender that was undoubtedly going to come off sooner rather than later.

I strapped the remains of the fender onto the cooler I was carrying...

Not sure why, 'cause it isn't going back on in pieces. 

We had been having a great ride: rode Needles Highway, stopped for a picnic lunch, and were riding south on Needles Highway when Bambi decided to take on the Vespa.  Joan looked around where she saw it run... It ran off?  Pretty sure it was messed up after having the Vespa run over it.  But, she couldn't find it.  She did help me pick up pieces.

Here's what's left of the pieces...
 

An insurance claim has been filed.  I called my Vespa dealer to get parts ordered - as you might expect, they have to come from Italy... so, it looks like I will be riding a Vespa "bobber" for the rest of the summer.  That is the good news: the Vespa seems to be rideable.  Well, I rode it back to the motorhome.  Looked it over some more; didn't see any other damage.  We'll see if the front tire is still holding air tomorrow.

So, from the front, my lovely Vespa is butt ugly - it really needs that big ol' fender out front to flow the sexy lines of the scoot.  But, from where I'm sitting on it, it looks just fine.  The other good news: no damage to me; I'm grateful I was able to keep the scoot upright.  For sure, I am not going to want to be riding in any rain, 'cause without that fender, the scoot will be a muddy mess.  Not, that I'm looking to ride in the rain... but, sometimes you get caught.  Guess I will be "fair weather riding" for a while.

I did shoot a bunch of video before the deer impact - I'll work on that tonight.  Maybe.

Besides the parts, there will be about 4 to 5 hours of labor because the steering head has to come off the bike for the fender to fit around it.  I guess we'll be making a stop at AF1 Racing on the way home (in a couple months).

And, here's the pretty Blonde at our picnic...

She complimented me on "taking this well"... what are you going to do?  Being pissed at Bambi won't help anything, plus I'm thinking it may be seriously worse off than my Vespa.  And, as much as I like my Vespa... it is just stuff.  With time, parts, and labor, it will look like new again.  I am well aware that the situation could have been far more serious.  Later on that ride, we saw a mountain goat (yes, in the road) and a huge herd of buffalo, spread out on both sides of the road... it would have been WAY worse to have hit one of those!

Video?  No, it wasn't on when I hit the deer.  There may be some footage of the mountain goat and the buffalo.  As they say on the news: video at 11:00.  Maybe.