Motorcyclist OK after hitting, killing black bear

Gary Westfall drove a motorcycle 2,900 miles across the U.S. last week without incident, but it was the last 60 miles of his journey that could have been disastrous.

Westfall managed to retain control of the Honda Goldwing motorcycle he was driving after he struck and killed an adult black bear while traveling on U.S. Highway 93 just north of Polson Saturday afternoon at about 12:30 p.m.

Westfall left Atlanta last week, en route to Whitefish where he was delivering the bike to a friend when he hit the bear near the Jette Meadows subdivision area near mile marker 68. He was able to pull over to the side of the road about a 100 yards past the point of impact, a little shaken but otherwise unhurt.

"I just saw the bear out of the corner of my eye. I was heading north, and he came from the west. I didn't have time to reach for the brakes. I just let off the throttle," Westfall said.

The speed limit is 65 mph there, and Westfall estimated he was going about 50 mph at the time of the impact. He has had a motorcycle endorsement for 30 years, and credited the motorcycle safety courses he's taken along the way with helping him to stay upright after hitting the bear. He was wearing a helmet, rain gear and protective boots at the time of the accident.

"I wobbled quite a bit," he said of the moment after the impact.

He said the bear ran a few feet to the side of the road after being hit before it died. Passing motorists helped drag the carcass out of the way of oncoming traffic and onto the shoulder shortly afterwards.

"I hit him in the head and in the side. It knocked the bear off to the side of the road. He got up and ran a little ways, but didn't make it far," Westfall said. "I was pretty sure he was dead. It looked like he had a problem."

Officers from the Montana Highway Patrol, Tribal Law and Order and the Lake County Sheriff's office responded to the scene, as well as the Polson Ambulance Service and the Polson Fire Department. Westfall did not require any medical attention.

Tribal game warden Pablo Espinoza loaded the bear into the back of his truck for disposal, and Tribal game officials later confirmed it was a black bear.

The late-model Goldwing had a cracked front fender, some damage to the fairing, and was leaking anti-freeze. The front fork was pushed back so that the front tire was rubbing against the frame, but otherwise, there wasn't any major damage.

The Goldwing is Honda's full-size touring cycle, and has a dry weight of 827 pounds, according to the company's Web site.

The Goldwing belonged to Whitefish resident Ron Pair, and Westfall was supposed to deliver the cycle to Pair after driving it across the country last week. Pair later drove down to pick Westfall up because the bike was not operable after the accident.

Westfall, a California resident who has visited Northwest Montana before, said in the 30 years he's been riding motorcycles the only incident he had was when he ran over some tire tread from a large truck, which slightly damaged his motorcycle, but didn't cause any injuries. He's had no major accidents, he said.

He noted the irony of driving more than 2,900 miles without incident, only to hit a bear about an hour before reaching his final destination.

"I only had 62 miles to go," he said, looking at his odometer.