We Live and Learn... or DO We???

[HM360]

Had my HM for almost a year and been surfing this forum. Great site, picked up a lot of info. now I havent posted anything, but I guess today I got my reasons....

I love my HM and I just cannot stop myself pulling monos... its a perfect bike for it ( and of course for zipping around in town...) the better I got the further I wanted to take it. I actually practiced on numerous occasions on off streets tarmacs in order to get the best control, to pull a slow, controlled mono, stand up etc. etc.

I even got pulled up by cops and had my bike impounded.. cost me a bit but it still did not stop me.

Today however my fate caught up with me. That is I went too far and could not get it back ... Dragged the tail end for a while, than the exhaust than 'see ya later...' im on my ass, HM on its right... slide, slide, slide... than we stopped.

Damages:

I had Motovation Frame and axel sliders. Best thing, fully recommended!!!! it saved a considerable amount of damage. Ofcourse, Mirror and hand gourd gone, rear break lever busted, it also pushed in the Oil level sight Glass ( seriously... havent Ducati Learned this!!! surely it can be positioned better) and lost some oil. The passenger pegs scratched but saved the rear end. there is a tiny scratch on the side fairing, but that is it... My first thoughts were much worse!!!

Ah yeah, Im ok. (was wearing full gear)

Lessons Learnt:

1, Always wear proper gear!
2, If you do monos, you must be able to reflexively control the rear break if it goes too far. (I was too surprised..)
3, Practicing is good
4, Always allow room to crash (you do not want to hit something else on top of all)
5, Take it easy if you just made a mod! ( i just installed 44t supersprox on rear... had the Dan Kyle throttle Tube for a while (another great mod for little$$$) perhaps the two made the HM too lofty. I had 14t sprocket on front since first service.
6, Frame and axel Sliders should be your first investment
7, Keep practicing, monos are sick!!!

So, I lived, but did I learn???

[esca_rosso]

What a great post! Thanks for sharing that one, and happy to hear you made it out unscathed.

[Caidly]

Thanks for the post, glad you're OK, bike can always be fixed, good for you for wearing full gear.

Post more often.

[minusone]

Yes, I too have similar feelings every time I throw a leg over this bike. The bike damage must only add to your pain.

You are right about the instinctive rear brake if things get too elevated. It is something that you never practice as I have always relied on the 4 stroke engine braking to touch me down safely.

This was made evident to me when I mono'd a 2 stroke (that has no engine braking) and flipped it in front of a crowded pub on a summer afternoon. Thankfully the bike ended up undamaged in an adjacent paddock. After the raucous cheers had died down, pride had me go back and do it properly, but this time with a little more concentration on possible rear brake application.

[Da_Bull]

Wheelies are fun, but horking one out of a corner led to my Hyper's encounter with a mountain.

[DarkStar003]

Does insurance cover that?

[Hypremotard]

Originally Posted by DarkStar003

Does insurance cover that?

I don't understand how this happened. I left the bike parked right here on this corner and someone must have hit it hard enough for it to slide on the right side and do all this damage. What am I to do little green gecko?

[PedroHM]

I have a few spare bits kicking about in sydney that may be of interest. mostly to you i should be getting a spare engine case with sight glass intact. pegs and all that jazz too.

[08hyper]

You had 14t countershaft sprocket, 44t rear sprocket AND a Dan Kyle throttle tube??!! well no sh*t you lost it, and you have no first gear also, all you can do with the bike is stunt wheelies like in the movie "YES MAN" Aloha Alex

[AXE]

I too love to hork monos. I learned to cover the rear brake in the dirt, but still managed to land on my ass a few times. Like you said things can get ugly fast, but they are an addiction.........especially on this bike.

Glad to hear the Motovation sliders did the trick. I run them too.

I am going to be upgrading to the 15/44 combo and I have the G2 throttle which doesn't have a real aggressive ramp and has different cams. I hope I don't get too crazy. I like second and third gear wheelies, but I hope 3rd slows me down a little as at 75mph it gets a little much.

Glad your OK and will be back in the saddle to hork some more monos.

Out!