ducatipaso.org

Blow! Ran into the back of a 5 car pile up on the motorway. It was in the left lane (we drive on the left side here in Australia) and tried to get around to the left but, dang it, the car in front pulled to the left with the same idea. The bike bounced off car's bumper and I went rolling on down the motorway shoulder ending up sitting in a bush.

Took off all the crushed head light, instrument panel and radiator and I can see the frame on the right front side is bent where the light sub-frame is attached.

I'll try ringing Metropolitan Motorcyles here in Australia as they have some ducati parts - to see if they have a frame - you never know your luck. Tank is stuffed too. Fairings were not on at the time - that is my bit of luck.

Not sure whether I can get it back, pondering the options.

Bad Luck there Romus.
I see frames on ebay all the time for cheap. I can most likely cut out the section you need from my spare if you know a good welder.
Most of the other parts can be had relatively cheap

Yeah , what a bugger , sounds like your ok which I spose is the main thing ,( being an Aussie in all ). How does liability go for that ? Did the driver of the car indicate before pulling onto the shoulder?, or even look ? . Im assuming that if you didn't have the fairings on then you also had no front indicators , possibly meaning that your bike was not in a roadworthy condition . Got any pix

Mc tool wrote:Yeah , what a bugger , sounds like your ok which I spose is the main thing ,( being an Aussie in all ).

Just grazed (not needing the hospital, just a doctors visit) and a sprained thumb that I think I bounced off.

Mc tool wrote:How does liability go for that? Did the driver of the car indicate before pulling onto the shoulder?, or even look ? . I'm assuming that if you didn't have the fairings on then you also had no front indicators , possibly meaning that your bike was not in a roadworthy condition . Got any pix

Correct I did not have the indicators (not roadworhty, true) - now I come to think of it I was lucky there. But, since it was dark and it looked a bit smashed up no-one noticed. The car in front moved to the left as an evasive maneuver - probably didn't realise they did it, but I quoted the fact to the police, to explain how I cam e to hit them.

Liabilty? It seems like the two cars in front of me were write-offs, so they might leave me alone - maybe the insurance companies/or company will send me a letter saying that I caused all five cars in font to smash into each other, since insurance companies, it seems, go for the vehicle at the back :-) I think I can talk my way out of that one, if they try it since a 200 lb bike isn't going to write off multiple cars! i just might need to explain that to some desk jockey at the Insurance company.

I didn't get a pic of the smashed front before I took things off.

Here are the smashed bits:


The bent part of the frame seems caused because the welded Stop on the frame was missing/dropped off some time!!!





Looks to me that a bend at that place is difficult to fix bacause it is near a cluster joint. There are some frames on ebay but not in Australia and the freight eg from the UK would be too much. No luck yet locating a frame here in Australia.

You're lucky to be survived!!!
And you've been doubly lucky to have had the fairing out!!!!!
I think you'll manage to restore the bike to the former glory.
All the bits often pop up on ebay at some reasonable prices and if something will lack, you could ask it here.
Good luck

Don't "think I have a fairing stay" But I can cut the entire neck form my spare no problem. I most likely have all you need except the stay but as you state shipping is the issue
let me know

200 lb bike

sorry to ear about your mishap there romus, when the dust settles, hopefuly you will decide to rebuild the bike, good luck.

higgy wrote:Don't "think I have a fairing stay" But I can cut the entire neck form my spare no problem. I most likely have all you need except the stay but as you state shipping is the issue
let me know

Wow, that would really make things possible. I think the whole frame would be a problem with shipping because of the size of the package, but otherwise my guess is the freight is something I end up paying for parts one way or another. I'll talk to a motorbike engineer/welder (I have used before) this weekend and see if he could handle the welding. I will make a list up of the parts. Again much appreciating your good will.

sorry to hear the bad news, if you do rebuild I have a 750 paso quite a few bits I used the motor in a racer,
Just sold a mirror to aus, dont want a lot for anything thats left if it helps.

Romus, I`m off for a few days and your news is one of the first things I have to read. We`re all glad you were lucky!!! Too bad for the bike.
If the steering stops are ok is one of the things to check when buying a Paso. If they are bent, broken, there`s a crack or an adjustment screw in the lower triple clamp was replaced by a longer one the bike has seen the ground in the past. Then most likely one bar end is scratched and there`s a small dent on the tank near the DUCATI sticker as well.
The steering stops are not that simple to reweld as that`s the area of the lower steering bearing so this has to be kept cool while welding.
I`m sure there`s a shop that can straighten and measure the frame. This would be the starting point for a bottom up restoration.
All the small bits are not the problem. Make us a list of what you need and I`m sure we can source them.
Is the fork still straight ?

G.

there are a few shops around you (as you probably know)

http://www.motorcyclestraightening.com
http://www.simca.com.au/
http://niccomengineering.com.au/
http://www.streetfighters.com.au/forum/ ... ngineering

sorry you crashed your bike man, those low speed collisions are so annoying. glad to see you are ok and taking it on the chin. get her fixed up if you can.

paso750 wrote:...If the steering stops are ok is one of the things to check when buying a Paso. If they are bent, broken, there`s a crack or an adjustment screw in the lower triple clamp was replaced by a longer one the bike has seen the ground in the past. Then most likely one bar end is scratched and there`s a small dent on the tank near the DUCATI sticker as well...G.

Yes in hindsight, I bought a bike with a snapped steering Stop and yes I had a small dent in the tank. Actually when driving it was always just slightly off balance. I think now the bend in the frame was already there, but I think I made the same bend worse.

paso750 wrote:The steering stops are not that simple to reweld as that`s the area of the lower steering bearing so this has to be kept cool while welding.G.

I described it to an guy who straightens frames and he agrees the whole thing is hard near the neck. I found a second hand frame, that is theoretically in good condition, so I think I should swap it.

paso750 wrote:Is the fork still straight ?G.

Hard to tell. They are still on. So far by using calipers and an engineers square, I can't see a bend in the forks, but I think there is a twist (hopefully temporarily), possibly from a bent out of alignment steering head. That is my unqualified idea so far. From reading, it seems it is easier to tell once I get them off - since I suspect the steering head is off centre.