Ducati Monster Forum

Hi everyone,
so im thinking about these items now that my bike is up to a standard that I  am happy to ride it around comfortably with all my mods...

Wanted to get your guys opninons and tips on the following:

Backpack...  any nice/compact backpacks out there you could recomend? im thinking something like the backpacks for cameras might work, usually they are well padded and tight... Im thinking I dont need to fit much except, the locks, rain cover, some basic tools and maybe a few random things....

Locks... Im in Hong Kong, and a guy told me the other day his Triumph got stolen, he manage to recover it but that scared me a bit, he said he used to have one lock on it now he has three... any recomendations on locks/brands types, and how many I should get?


Rain Covers...  sheltered garage in Hong Kong is expensive and a bit of a luxury unfortunatley, so for the next year, the duc will have to be outside... any recs, on good weather proof (rain) covers? we do get typhoons here :)  this is the first time i have to buy oen as before all my bikes have been under a fully enclosed garage.. :(


Helmet..
my mods are trying to make the bike look sort of cafe... (as much as possible) i did the matte black paint.. so i want to keep that look on to the helmet.. something matte black, and that looks cafe-ish.. nto a agusta style sporty helmet... so i was thinking maybe something like the momo leather HERO helmet in black.. although I dont like it sports MOMO on it.. if anyboyd knows similar helmets (really digg the visor shpae) like this would really appreciate it!
Nexx helmets could be an alternative......
(http://www.helmetsuperstore.co.uk/Momo-Hero-Black_700_600_3O31J.jpg)





the bike
(http://i1249.photobucket.com/albums/hh504/vivianov/IMG_3345.jpg)

look into hydration packs.  they tend to be narrower.  I like my voodoo tactical pack, but I got it used, otherwise they're kind of expensive.  Look for one with a chest strap and long shoulder straps. 
Kriega is probably the best you can buy, but if you don't need the space it would be overkill.


I recommend you look for pictures of the 2008 Indy MotoGP before you commit to a rain cover.


I don't know about you, but I'm ugly enough as it is so I prefer to protect my face.  That said I think Roof makes some nice looking 3/4 helmets.

Look at the selection from kriega for packs. They are moto specific designs and range from 3L waist packs to 30L backpacks. Backpacks (no including the hyrdro pack) start at 15L and step up by 5L increments

They also have a lot of on bike packs and a number of those can be mated to the back packs for additional storage. Aaand many of their bags and a couple packs are watertight.

Locks - they won't stop a determined thief. Unless you've got an anchor or something to attach to the bike to they can lift it into a van pretty quickly and deal with the locks on their time.

If you do have an anchor point have a look at the New York chain.

For helmets I suggest you focus on full face. Spot by spot the chin takes the most hits in the event of a crash. Of the two crashes during rides I've been on (not me mercifully) both riders took damage to their helmets in areas 3/4 or 1/2 helmets would not protect.

(http://www.google.com/url?source=imglanding&ct=img&q=http://www.obairlann.net/reaper/motorcycle/beginner/images/impacts.gif&sa=X&ei=7xCDT7yzPOWKiALdvrDCAw&ved=0CAwQ8wc&usg=AFQjCNFn_l7-nRViqaQZyByb3VZ_xeATsw)

I don't think that's the image he was looking for...

Though this isn't the diagram - it get's the point across.

(http://www.motorcyclenews.com/upload/214810/images/helmet-impact.jpg)

The Schuberth J1 has that shape flip down visor, comes in matte black AND features a chinbar.

http://www.schuberth.com/en/motorcycle/j1.html (http://www.schuberth.com/en/motorcycle/j1.html)

(http://dontai.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/helmetcrashdiagram.gif)

I won't tell you what helmet to get, but take these statistics into consideration.
There are a lot of great looking matte black helmets of the full-face variety. Scorpion, for instance, has a great matte finish, and the EXO-400 helmets clock in at a thrifty $160. I had one for a few years, bought a Shoei, and often find myself wishing it was my Scorpion.

Yeah, the other pics you posted in your other thread looked like HK.

I know that a lot of bikes are stolen from HK to be brought into china, but like everyone else has said, if they want your bike they'll take your bike.  You can youtube a video of this one bike being stolen by 4 guys and a minivan.  They just walk right up, pick it up, toss it into the van and drive away.

Chaining it to something is the best route like what people have mentioned, but if you cant, I got the Xena disc alarm.  The XX-14 i believe... it's pretty solid and if someone moves your bike the alarm will go off.

And Kriega is pretty hard to beat in terms of quality/comfort... I have the r30 and the us20 tailbag, but they have much smaller bags.  I've never seen a single person regret getting their kreiga which should say something about them.  If you search the gear forum there is a pretty big review of the r30/r25 by he man... i posted my comparison of the r30 to the ogio no drag in the r30 review thread.

Full face helmet is the way to go... sure it'll get hot, and it's more annoying... but living without a face is way worse.

And if I were you, I wouldnt put a rain cover on during monsoon season.  Rain covers act as sails in that kind of weather which greatly increases the chance of the bike being pushed over by the wind.

The photo he's referencing is a little hard to find these days. But the story is this - At 08 Indy the weather was shit, but people toughed it out and went to the race. A sea of parked bikes. One section was sectioned off for Ducs. So imagine a line of all manner of ducs parked side by side. One fellow decided to put a loose fitting rain cover on his bike, despite the winds.

Winds caught the cover a some point and pulled his bike over - which hit the one next to it... which hit the one next to it... repeat about 13 times.

In my old hood there was a HD sportster that had a loose cover and I found it over a few times after wind that wasn't even that high.

So think about that cover. If you can get a place where you can put the bike on a rear stand, front chock or both the cover may do. But if you're looking at parking with just the side stand 100% of the time that cover is probably a liability in a windy storm.

i typed "2008 indy motogp ducati" into google to look for it.. I got distracted by

(http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4144/5193535265_49e031f461_z.jpg)

but then I found
http://twistingasphalt.com/index.php/2008/09/17/indy-gp-images-ducastista-dont-want-to-see/ (http://twistingasphalt.com/index.php/2008/09/17/indy-gp-images-ducastista-dont-want-to-see/)

(http://twistingasphalt.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/indy-gp-blownover.jpg)

(http://twistingasphalt.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/indy-gp-blownover2.jpg)

loose fitting covers will do that.  some covers have a strap to go under the middle. with the addition of a few bungee cords you can get them to fit pretty tightly.

in addition to weather resistance, a cover is a nice added bit of security. a thief is less likely to risk grabbing a mystery bike or appear suspicious by lifting the cover to check out what it is. adding a lock to that means they will be more likely to move on to look for some lower hanging fruit.

If you park in the same spot every day, get something like this:

(http://www.webbikeworld.com/motorcycle-accessories/2009/xena-chain-lock.jpg)

As for a helmet... http://www.pure-ducati.com/p-1218-ducati-dark-rider-agv-s-4-helmet.aspx (http://www.pure-ducati.com/p-1218-ducati-dark-rider-agv-s-4-helmet.aspx)

What Nakid was trying to post (looks like Web Bike world blocked it) was a picture of a Xena alarm lock with a chain adaptor and ground anchor
http://www.xenasecurity.com/ (http://www.xenasecurity.com/)

that is nice...

this one is a whole new generation of helmet...  http://www.asphaltandrubber.com/products/agv-pistagp/ (http://www.asphaltandrubber.com/products/agv-pistagp/)

And not available for mere mortals yet

yeah i know...since this talk continue on...might as well looking into the future of what coming next  ;D

^ HAA, wow! who knows how much that will cost. And i think unless your name is Valentino, your not gonna be able to get your hands on that.

A pal of mine just had a crash. Got blindsided by a bus. Was in a coma for 3 days. Was wearing a full face helmet. Docs told him that if he were wearing anything else his head would have exploded. Even with a full helmet he shattered the entire left side of his face which is now plastic where bone should be. I advise NOT wearing a half helmet. We spend all kinds of dough on bike mods to go fasterbut then skimp on protection, trying to find cheap helmets that are not SNELL approved.
As far as backpacks go I have the Ogio No Drag mc backpack. Semi rigid construction, aerodynamic, suited for hydration as well as audio. It even has a slip case for a laptop.
http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/mobile/ItemPage.aspx?DivisionGroupId=1&DivisionId=4&DepartmentId=67&ItemStyleId=11414 (http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/mobile/ItemPage.aspx?DivisionGroupId=1&DivisionId=4&DepartmentId=67&ItemStyleId=11414)
Awesome durable and stylish pack.