[MissoulaMike]

Okay, so maybe this is stretching the forum "All Things Related to V Strom" but I wasn't quite sure where else this would fit. . .

This last weekend, while Stromming in Yellowstone between Canyon and Tower Junction, going over Dunraven Pass and its tight and windy curves on steep hillsides with lots of snow, I was coming downhill keeping my curving right turn tight (thankfully, in hindsight) when, on the blind corner, a VERY big buffalo came from the opposite direction running at top speed at me in the other lane, with two cars directly behind it basically herding it up the highway. With initially about 20 feet between us, he tilted his monstrous head, on the run, and gave me a good stare with those little dark brown eyes, then went right on past me on my left - within about 5 feet of me. Talk about stunned!! I had no where to go with steep snow/mountain sides on my left and right and a narrow highway on which to ride. Just glad he decided I wasn't worth his while . . . and I kept moving right on down the twisties waiting for whatever the next turn would bring . . .

 

[BillZ]

pucker time?! I woulda creased the seat cover in this circumstance! :beatnik:

 

[MissoulaMike]

pucker time?! I woulda creased the seat cover in this circumstance! :beatnik:

It about gave me yet one more good reason to get rid of my stock seat in favor of a RDL . . .

 

[ironmorph]

Thats a great story. The very same thing happened to me a few years back at Yellowstone. A big male blocked the road, ready to charge me and the two bikes behind me. He had 5 females behind him. He refused to give up any ground, until I backed off to about 25 feet, he was ready to charge. We sat there a full 5 minutes in suspended time. People in cars just rolled film. That was a close call. Nowadays, I give all the room they need, and never crowd them giving them full respect.

 

[Jawgaboy]

I also had a Bison encounter in Yellowstone a couple of years ago. I rode up on a huge traffic jam. I was on a curve and I could see a string of cars for at least a mile. After about 15 minutes, a pirate on a LOUD chopper came by, passing everyone. Then another bike followed, and another. So naturally I joined the parade. When we got to the front, there was a Buffalo nursing her calf in the middle of the road - sideways, blocking both lanes. There was also a huge male in my lane. The pirate started revving his engine and inching forward toward the big male. He turned toward the bike and lowered his head. At this point the rider thought better of it, shut off his engine and started back pedaling the chopper. The buffalo didn't charge, thankfully. After a few minutes, he wandered off the road. There was just enough room for the motorcycles to get by. A half dozen of us made it before the hole closed up again. I still wonder how long the cars sat there!

 

[MissoulaMike]

Ever wonder if those critters in Yellowstone have betting pools going on which critter can hold up the most cars or hold up cars for the longest? What fun they can have with us!

 

[ozart]

with two cars directly behind

Unless there's traffic ahead impeading me, I never experience this ... I cringe when I see an oncoming bike in this situation.

 

[on_the_edge]

I think you got pretty lucky missing that Bull. A little sidestep to the left and you would have had trouble. Heck, you wouldn't have even gotten Buffalo burgers for a year out of it! :green_lol:

 

[Satch]

I was also riding in Yellowstone over the weekend with my 17 y.o. son. We only saw one other V-Strom, a red one. I was wondering if it might have been you, but then I noticed you ride a 2007 so it couldn't have been you.

We also came on to a buffalo between Canyon and Norris Junction, but this one was just meandering down the middle of the road. I grabbed my camera out of my tank bag and would have had a great close up, but couldn't press the little on button far enough in with my gloves on!

Yellowstone looks better this year than ever. I think it was due to the extra wet Spring. It was a beautiful weekend and a memorable Father/son ride.

 

[teevee]

well, i can't say i went head to head with a buffalo or bison, but i have run into a bull or two riding my DR in Nicaragua.



check out at 1:45 where both my buddies were too scared to continue. yeah. i showed the bull my "horn" and he casually stepped aside :thumbup:

 

[Guest]

Despite what everybody tells you about evolution, I just don't see bison getting any smarter.
When they peer at you, you can never tell if they recognize you as an object to avoid or one to flatten. (what goes on in that big head?)

I think you have to admire the Natives who used to hunt those big buggers on foot before the introduction of horses and shooting irons.
Not something I would want to try

 

[Psykledelic]

Wish I could say I was on my bike when I took this in Yellowstone last September. He was peacefully intent on simply getting where he was going. But the bear down the road made me kind of glad I was in a car.

He was so big, that's the center line, btw.

 

[MissoulaMike]

I was also riding in Yellowstone over the weekend with my 17 y.o. son. We only saw one other V-Strom, a red one. I was wondering if it might have been you, but then I noticed you ride a 2007 so it couldn't have been you.

We also came on to a buffalo between Canyon and Norris Junction, but this one was just meandering down the middle of the road. I grabbed my camera out of my tank bag and would have had a great close up, but couldn't press the little on button far enough in with my gloves on!

Yellowstone looks better this year than ever. I think it was due to the extra wet Spring. It was a beautiful weekend and a memorable Father/son ride.

Definitely a stunningly lush, green visual wkend in ystone. I ran the gardiner to tower to canyon back to tower thru lamar to cooke city over btooth to red lodge route friday, and loved it so much i called my riding partner in missoula to join me. So she left missoula at 3:30am saturday and drove to livingston where i picked her up for a repeat loop! Thats a deficated riding partner! Rodeo n pig races in red lodge n bear crk were fun, too. Saw two Wees in cooke city and again in red lodge.

 

[ironmorph]

Wish I could say I was on my bike when I took this in Yellowstone last September. He was peacefully intent on simply getting where he was going. But the bear down the road made me kind of glad I was in a car.

He was so big, that's the center line, btw.

thats him! Yes that is the one I can tell by the intent in his eyes.

 

[MissoulaMike]

well, i can't say i went head to head with a buffalo or bison, but i have run into a bull or two riding my DR in Nicaragua.



check out at 1:45 where both my buddies were too scared to continue. yeah. i showed the bull my "horn" and he casually stepped aside :thumbup:

Great footage!! What kind of camera were you using and are you liking it?

Looks like you could use one of those "stebel" horns to really get that bull's attention, but then . . . .maybe that'd be "too much" attention.

 

[teevee]

Hey Mike, Thanks. it' a VIO-POV HD. Bought it several months ago and absolutely love it. Best non-pro helmet cam in the world. Also the most expensive ($600). Totally blows away Contour and GoPro. I've owned both of those.
BTW, the camera was not even in full HD mode shooting that day.

THe VIO is a to piece unit--the second being the recorder. IT's bulky but i clip it to my roost protector and don't even know it's there. The only complaint I have with it is that the lens gets covered with dust, which if course has nothing to do with the camera itself. I just had to bitch about something! Seriously though, it eats batteries pretty quickly, but if you use the energizer lithium extremes they last about 6 hours.

I have a stebel on the V but not the DR. A stebel on the DR might scare the crap outta me if i hit by accident on the trail somewhere!

 

[on_the_edge]

A buddy of mine and I were talking yesterday about a recent trip he did to Yellowstone on his Harley. This thread made me think to ask him if he had any issues with bison in the roadway. He told me that when he got there, a ranger told him that if he saw a (male) bison in the roadway, he was instructed to turn off his engine and let the bull pass by. He asked why he had to turn the engine off and was told--get this--it was because most Harleys sound like a female bison trying to lure a male in for a little mating action. :yikes: I'm not sure if it's true or not, but my friend thought better than to argue with the ranger, or the bison he saw.

 

[koslonc]

Hey MissoulaMike,

I was just in Yellowstone on Jun 27 on that very same road (in a car however :frown, but managed to snap this pic as we went by. Could this be the same bison you encountered?