Ducati Monster Forum

Low speed riding through an intersection all of 50 yards from my garage at less than 20mph and a guy in a white van pulled through the intersection right as I was entering (he had a stop sign I did not, residential street).

Grabbed a handful of brake, locked up the front and the bike went down.  No contact made with the offending vehicle.  He stopped, then drove away without so much as a "are you ok?"

So the run down of busted parts...

Rear brake pedal, bent to hell needs replacing
Front brake lever, scratched pretty bad, needs replacing
Bar end cap, needs replacing
Right side grip, needs replacing
Right side corse logomania tank panel. cracked at air intake from bar making contact, needs to be repaired/repainted

Now this is the part that worries me.  The steering stops welded to the frame, two of the 3 welds that hold it to the frame are cracked allowing the bars to turn further to the right than to the left.  As I'm going through insurance (assuming damage is enough to warrant it) I'm not sure what they'll make of that.

My local dealer/shop had one comment when I told him about those cracks... "shit" he said "I think we'll call frame on that"...

The good news is I walked away with only a bruise and a damaged boot.  ATGATT!

Stay tuned...

sorry for your misfortune.....hope it all turns out okay.

Good to hear you weren't injured. Sucks about the bike. Know that there's a good chance they might total it due to the frame.

What a waste it would be to total this bike :(

I'll know more in a couple of days.

Glad you are ok, try and get some track time or something to help make limit-braking second nature.  If I had to guess they'll probably total the bike.  If it were me I'd skip insurance and fix it up myself - wouldn't be all that much to buy everything but the frame and the frame damage doesn't sound bad - just adjust the stops a bit to compensate or get it welded up. 

I'm trying to figure out how I managed to put the bike down and can't figure it out.  I don't think I grabbed that much brake and I wasn't moving fast at all. 

There's no skid mark on the road.  It happened pretty quickly I dunno what else I could have done.  Maybe cold tires played a role since I'd just left for work in the morning and as I said, was only 50 yards or so up the road from my house when the incident happend.

I walked away that's the important thing I guess.

This is exactly why I want my next bike to have ABS.
Glad you are OK

Sorry about your bike, glad your ok

I would definitely recommend fixing it without getting the insurance involved.  My first Monster was totaled out due to those damn steering locks as well.  I don't understand why they are a part of the frame to begin with.  It seems like such a simple alternative to have something bolted on, and negate the possibility of sustaining frame damage.  It's like amputating an arm for chipping a nail.

Glad you're alright.  Good luck.

The only way I see it happen is if the steering tilted slightly to the right after the front locked.  I know it's for a split second, but as soon as the energy of the moving mass of you + the bike leaves the straight line, the front will slide gradually more to the right and the steering will tilt further to the right, and as you loose speed and realize you're coming to a stop, you find yourself too deep and too late in the fall to put your right leg out on the tarmac to support the weight of both of you going down.  Speaking from experience!

Glad you're okay.

If it were in my neighborhood I'd track down the vehicle and have him pay for damages. He ran a stop sign. May be tough because you didn't do anything at the time but I'd try. A car that runs a stop sign and causes an accident commits a crime and the person should be held responsible.

Hey JerryD,

This sounds familiar ...

It happened to me, entering my garage at even slower speed ... Had to replace Rh OEM rear set but, I 're-aligned' the brake lever and still works fine ...

Sorry to hear about the insurance wanting to total the bike ...

Hope it all works for the best !!!

First of all, glad you're OK and ALWAYS ATGATT! [thumbsup]

Been there, done that. November last year morning commute to work, lovely lady decided to make a U-turn (on double yellow). Too much (front) brake + cold tires and down we went.

Personally I think Insurance Co. tend to want to total bikes too easily. You might want to read here (http://www.ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=43012.0 (http://www.ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=43012.0)) for something similar. I didn't bother to involve mine since I didn't think it would be worth it and the only thing I expect from an insurance co. is an excuse to raise my premium (been there as well).

Depending on the cost of repairs and how much you're attached to your bike you could decide not to total the bike and just fix what you need. The stops can be welded back on and the rest of the stuff seems mainly cosmetic.

As much as I`d like to have chased the guy down at the time my leg was trapped between the bike and the road and I wasn`t really jumping up.  Once I did get up and got my bike back on it`s wheels he was too far up the road to catch on foot and my main concern was the bike.

He got away with this one.  Generic white GMC van, only about a million of those on the roads.  I`m sure he does live in my neighbourhood but I have zero proof and no witness who came forwards.

Was this him?

http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/News/newsresults/General-news/2010/September/sep2710-white-van-men-are-better-than-you/ (http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/News/newsresults/General-news/2010/September/sep2710-white-van-men-are-better-than-you/)

(http://www.motorcyclenews.com/upload/272682/images/1-white-van-man-1.JPG)

My 2000 900 was totalled out because of a tweaked frame. I came out ok.
Glad you came out in good shape. I ended up with a newsed frame and switched the other stuff over to it.
Mine happened at 8 mph about three years ago. Same thing --to much front brake.

Good luck. Hope insurance doesn't screw you.

Glad you're okay. Worse case scenario, they total it and you buy it back for almost nothing. Then you have a track bike that only needs a lever and a pedal!

The only injuries I took from my "incident"

(http://i1195.photobucket.com/albums/aa389/Aidan416/31dfebec.jpg)

Coworker walked by and saw me staring at your bruised leg, I didn't explain and they definitely think I'm weird now.


Glad to hear you're ok!  [thumbsup]

LOL

That bruise doesn't look good.  Hope it'll heal quick.

Is that your left leg tho?  Looks like your left.  If so then how come?  I thought the bike went down on the right side...

Too bad about the accident, but be grateful it was as minor as it was.  Much simpler than my bicycle accident in January!  It's real easy to slip on cold tires.  It you find the guy that ran the STOP sign, then go after him.  Otherwise, count your blessings, do the math and find the least expensive way out of the situation you now find yourself in. 

  it is   it did.  I can't figure it out either.

My right leg has a small bruise on the knee.  My left looks like that.  The bruising came out a couple of days after the accident.  There was little pain, but obviously it got banged around.

glad you're ok for the most part :)
sucks about the bike, but it coulda been worse  ;)
heal up quick!

Glad to see the injuries are minor.  If you grab the brake really quickly you can slide the front end out before it has time to load up and grip.  Give it just a millisecond to load up and you can stand the bike on its nose, even on cold tires (provided the tires aren't crap and the road surface is half-way clean). Of course if you are at a lean things are different.

I'm assuming this is what happened.  Front end washed out where I expected braking power.  I know I've hauled on the brakes harder before.  I guess I was just too quick/aggressive and well this is the result.