Ducati Monster Forum

I'm writing this as part of my healing process and no, I'm not looking for sympathy.  Bear with me. 

Yesterday, I went riding with some friends near Piacenza, Italy more specifically, the hills around Oltre Po Pavese.  It was my first time visiting this area which I can only describe as "bike country".  Coming down from Piacenza, we entered this valley full of lovely, medium radius corners - which seemed like they were designed with motorcyclists in mind - before reaching the town of Bobbio, where we began our ascent up the hill.   

It was during this ascent that I had my incident.  The road/pass became significantly narrower with corners which were much tighter, like first gear-tight in some cases.  Not unlike the road I drove along Lake Como, from Lecco to Bellagio, which I posted a couple weeks ago, however, this had elevation changes, higher speeds and countless blind corners spanning 15 kilometers to the peak.  These corners weren't switch backs but more like decreasing radius corkscrew turns?? I noticed that I was running wide a few times going into tight right handers, like I was running in too deep then found myself making over-square turns.  I know that lefts come more easily to me than rights since I began riding 3 years ago. And yet, it was a left turn that did me in.  Before I knew it, I found myself staring squarely at the guard rail.  I must not have been doing more than 40km/h going into the turn but I can only remember tire squeal before the sound of bike/leg brushing the rail.  I say "brushing" because I managed to create just enough of an angle so as not to T-bone it.  Luckily, neither me, nor the bike went down, although I did wedge my right leg in there pretty good. 
 
For not going down or over the guard rail completely, I'm counting this as a semi-save. I'm wondering though, if my bike had ABS, would I have been able to save it fully?  That, and after a good few hours of riding, I did notice a fair bit of brake fade which, with stock S2R brakes, may have been a contributing factor. 

It's funny because I'm not mad at myself.  I'm usually the type to beat myself up for mistakes (non-moto related) but I'm more relieved that I wasn't seriously hurt and that now I can say I've had my first real incident.  My bike is a little scratched up on the tank but no dents.  Some minor scratches elsewhere, thankfully nothing serious.  Replaying the scenario in my head, I can only conclude that I got the setup all wrong: approaching too fast and way off line.

I will post the video of the road tomorrow.  Unfortunately, the crash wasn't recorded.   

 

First of all, glad you're ok, that is the most important thing!

Second, from your description of the accident, it really seems that you were riding well BEYOND YOUR LEVEL. I don't mean this as an insult, I'm not calling you a noob or a dumbass. Rather from the way you tell the story, it seems like you went from riding in an enjoyably challenging way to being in above your head.

In this context, I don't think ABS would help you. Track days and lots of riding would be much more useful. No sympathy, just honesty.

But I'm not going to bash on ABS either. My last off happened when I locked the front wheel on a cold wet morning: ABS would have spared me.

My other bike is a BMW F650 GS, it has ABS, and I've made good use of it a few times already: panic situations on cold/wet roads. I like the confidence it gives me. However the rear activates far too easily, I've tried it on the same bit of road with the ABS off and I need to apply much more pressure on the pedal to lock the rear wheel.

In essence: ABS for the front = good. But not really necessary for the rear. Hope this helps.

Glad to hear that the OP is OK!

As for ABS, not all are created equal and the F-series has well-known serious issues which don't exist on the big bikes. The ABS Ducati is using lately appears particularly unobtrusive. Possibly not good to generalize. BTW, the clunky second generation car-type ABS on my '91 K100RS 16/ABS never exhibited bad manners either.

Someone wrote a first impression of the 796 ABS at the press launch in Italy near Bologna on wet roads and commented how often the ABS deployed and how well it worked during their brisk ride. MCN (?) also did a video test with and without which was interesting.

At least you didn't hit your head on the rail, flip around, catch the upright support across your lower back, get your hips wedged between the ground and lower rail (requiring EMS to literally use a shovel to dig you out), and then have to take a helicopter flight to the local trauma unit. You had a pretty good guard rail experience.

I don't really remember anything about the accident of that guy getting wedged in the guard rail.......as I was unconsious for 45 minutes at the time.  :o    ;)

How fast were you going? You alright?

pregnant dogpregnant dogpregnant dogpregnant dogpregnant dog.......

Just kidding!  Glad you are here to tell the story.

Ah the Oltre Po' Pavese. Beautiful [Dolph] I lived in Voghera years ago,  when you are all healed up take a ride to Salice Terme and Varzi.

I think your last statment says it all. "approaching too fast and way off line". I wont say speed is always the factor, but it usaully is. especially on unfamiliar roads. ABS will not help if you are "off line"

Since you mentioned guard rail and Monster...I have to link you to this video. Glad to hear you're ok and didn't down the bike

Ducati Monster Motorcycle Crash - May 13, 2012 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBgrVI0Dyto&list=UUvtfT-xYX4Q-jC2Mbsk3OUA&index=2&feature=plcp#)

Would abs have saved you, not enough info, but sounds like no.

Brush it off and ride on.

Classic target fixation

I thought this was going to be about Katy Perry getting a monster.

Glad to hear you're okay.  

Thanks for the kind words guys  :)

Pepe has it right.

Riding way above your level. ABS, stock brakes, nothing to do with it. If you noticed you were entering corners incorrectly and experiencing brake fade why did you change nothing until the point where you ran into a guard rail?

The setup had nothing to do with your line and your speed. It was the rider failing to recognize the situation and adjusting their riding accordingly.

I was probably doing 50-60 mph, knee down in the curve, when the aftermarket inside footpeg came off the bike and I was sucked off the seat and onto the road. I was probably doing 25-30 by the time I hit the railing at about a 45-degree angle. "Fortunately", I caught the guardrail upright support across the lower back and that prevented me from shooting out under the railing and probably shattering my pelvis. I hit the upright support hard enough to permanently crease the hard-shell Dainese back protector I was wearing and caused a HUGE welt across my back that took about three weeks to heal. I got a helicopter flight out of it and walked out of the hospital a couple of hours later. I was at work the very next day. I was VERY lucky.

Glad to hear you're alright!  [thumbsup] Sounds like the back protector did its job.  I use the Knox back protector.  Never ride without it. 

Here is a video of the Passo Penice, this site of the guard rail incident. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sugcCU4TZ4# (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sugcCU4TZ4#) 

As you can see, there's really no space between the lane marking and the guard rail.  Unlike the video posted above of the off on Mulholland Hwy, my incident was nowhere near as bad. While I do consider myself a novice, under 5 years riding, I don't think I was riding beyond my ability.  I think it was a brain fart.   

For more on the area, Oltrepo' Pavese,  and more videos please check out my blog http://narrowlanes.net/2012/05/20/ride-oltrepo-pavese/ (http://narrowlanes.net/2012/05/20/ride-oltrepo-pavese/)   

Can't view the video, marked private?

Yep, private. Should be visible now. 

Ahh... roads with no shoulders. Roads like this get the hairs on the back of my neck to stick up... no way out if something is in your lane.

Looks like a great riding road, tho. I like the sweeping curves and the "farm country" feel of them. At least you'll be able to go out there and ride it again.

Sounds like you are keeping the bike in the lower rev range, 3-5K perhaps. Doing so robs you of one of the engine's great assets, that is engine braking. I regularly throw my bikes around the NC mountains (tight, twisty roads) and can assure you keeping the bike at around 6-7K is best for my riding style. Give it a try.
Glad you were not badly injured.

I normally shift around 6-7k and from the video you can just make out that I'm not shifting up at that point but rather rolling off the throttle to advantage of the engine braking. 

I can't remember the exact corner of my incident but is was similar to the one at the 3:40 mark. 

The guy in the video looked like he was all rear brake and no front.  The rear tire was doing the pogo routing; impossible to get traction like that.

Glad the OP made it through though.

Glad you're okay man. Could have been a lot worse, but it was good that it wasn't.