Mini-tip
How to minimize the tip-over / low-speed crash damageYes, I know you don’t even want to think about it.
But, let’s face it.
It’s a motorcycle. Someday, it’s going to happen, no matter how careful you are, how experienced you are.
So, here are some examples / tips for minimizing the damage to your Ducati Monster.
Fork / Frame / Rear Axle slidersFront Fork slider
Rear Axle slider
Frame slider
Notice how
solid mount (non folding) foot peg bar, and
clutch cover that will actually protect the clutch components when the bike goes down, and all the sliders line up, to create the clearance between the ground and the side of the bike.
I know there are some people who believe “frame slider cause more damage to the bike”.
Still, I’d say, install them (both frame and axle sliders) if you want to keep the nice, clean look of the bike. I have frame sliders and both front and rear axle sliders on my bike.
Yes, you will hear “horror stories (frame slider will / did cause more damage)” from some people.
But, essentially those horror stories are the same as “wearing helmet is more dangerous” , “ wearing seat belt will cause more damage” kind of story. There may be a time, like once in a million occasion that it caused more damage than it prevented, but, so what?
Naysayers (to frame sliders) often point out that
A) The slider can “grab” the road surface and bend the frame, and / or crack the engine mount in high speed crash.
B) In a high-side, end-over-end, rear ended collision, head on collision, sliders won’t work
Well, if the impact is hard enough to cause frame / engine mount damage, your bike is going to be scrap without slider anyway. And we are talking about street bike ridden by normal people.
If you high-side at 120MPH, tumbling on the asphalt, you have more important things to worry about than frame slider causing damage to the frame.
And you have to ask yourself, how often do you ride on the track? Once a week? Once a month? And how often do you ride on the street?
The chance of dropping your bike in the parking lot / the bike getting knocked over while parked, etc is way greater than doing spectacular high speed crash.
Front axle slider will help to protect the fork bottom case if you drop the bike. (They get grounded / gouged very easily.)
Clutch Cover that offers real protectionSee the photo above also. (the 3rd picture)
Don’t run the bike without the clutch cover.
Don’t run the clutch cover like this.
Unless the support truck is always following you.
They are for showing off.
If the bike goes down on the right side, it doesn’t take that much impact to make your bike unridable.
Non-folding type foot peg bar
They will save your brake and shift pedal in tip-over / low-speed spill. (The mounting bolt (that goes through inside the foot peg bar)will get bent. They can be purchased from McMaster-Carr. )
https://www.mcmaster.com/#When you buy rear set, check the bolt size & spec, buy some extra before you need them.
Notice the holes on the foot peg bar? When you crash hard (eg: on the track), the foot peg bar will break from there, so that it won’t cause bigger damage to the base plate, yet the bike is still ridable because you will still have something to put your feet on.
Water pump guard
If you go down hard on the left side, the water pump can (and will) get damaged, then, your bike will become unridable.
Look at the photo below. If you have frame slider (Speedy Moto) AND solid mount foot peg, the water pump will not hit the ground while static tip-over / gentle low side. (Another reason to install Frame slider.)
Also, notice how all the protection points line up.
The one on my bike is made by this company
https://www.la-bellezza.com/https://www.la-bellezza.com/shop/products/detail.php?product_id=171La-Bellezza is a small motorcycle shop in Kumamoto, Japan.
These guys actually do race Ducati, in a big event such as Suzuka 8HR endurance race.
Their pars may not be cheap, and hard to come by, but they are developed by those guys who actually ride and race, from their experience.
The protection parts are not for bling. When you buy them, do’t cheap out. Avoid e-Bay cheapie.
Folding levers and hand guard
Actually, stock Ducati levers have slit, so that they will break from there, not near the pivot. (So that you can still operate the lever.)
If you are going to replace the lever, get shorty and / or folding type.
(on my bike, clutch lever is CRG, brake lever is Brembo.)
Again, don’t go cheap e-bay levers. IT’S YOUR BRAKE !
(BTW, CRG lane-splitter mirror (directly mounted on the bar) in that photo is one of the best out there.
They don’t vibrate like hell, so that you can actually see (well, as long as they are mounted directly on the handle bar), and they do survive minor spill. )
CYCRA CRM hand-guard
Look at the photos from above carefully.
The way they are shaped, the way they stick out a little bit, create (a little bit of) extra clearance between the ground and the bike’s side.
What it means is that there will be less damage to the side of the bike.
The hand guard may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but they are very useful.
Read more about them here.
http://www.ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=76136.msg1403130#msg1403130http://www.ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=76136.msg1403540#msg1403540
Adjust the steering lock-stopOne last bit of the advise.
Adjust the steering lock stop, especially if you change the handle bar.
The clearance in the photo above is just about 10mm.
If the bike simply goes down at walking speed, this is enough.
IF the bike goes down with some speed, the switch box will dent the tank.
Handle bar will flex more than you’d think.
If the tank - switch box clearance is less than 15mm, you will get a nice dimple on the tank when you drop the bike.
Adjust the lock stop as you would like.
