Project Ducati Hypermotard Part III: Protection
By Jeff Naeyaert
It was bound to happen sooner or later, while riding Project Ducati Hypermotard; we had the unfortunate opportunity to crash the bike. Although it was a very minor low side while going slow, our bike got off really lightly thanks to some crash protection we had the foresight to install and replacing what got damaged allowed us to put a few more cool new bits on the bike.
To read more about Project Hypermotard, click HERE!
Motorcycle parts are expensive, especially body parts, this makes it relatively easy to total your bike, even in low speed get offs. Knowing this, we had put some crash protectors on the bike as preventive measures right after we got it.
The first bit of protection we installed was a set of Motovation sliders. Sliders are nylon pucks strategically placed around the bike which acts as sacrificial sliding surfaces. When you fall, the bike will slide on the pucks hopefully keeping expensive parts of the bike from grinding away on the ground.
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| Motovation's frame slider is made out of a tough and slippery nylon material. It mounts on a stainless steel rod that takes the place of one of the motor mount bolts. The point where the slider engages the frame is reinforced with billet aluminum sleeves. The slider is designed to spin like a skateboard wheel so it won't wear down as fast when grinding on the ground in a crash. |
We used Motivation's frame sliders to protect the frame and engine cases. The frame sliders are large nylon pucks with aluminum reinforced collars to beef up the area where the sliders engage the frame. This makes the slider less likely to break off in a fall. The sliders mount on a 12mm stainless steel rod that takes the place of one of the engine mount bolts. The stainless is anti corrosive which is important because this helps the slider spin on the mounting rod in a fall, sort of like a skateboard wheel which will hopefully reduce the chances of the puck getting ground away before the bikes stops sliding.
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| Motovation's rear axle sliders also ride on stainless steel rods that go through the hollow rear axle. They are grooved to be used with track stands which is a nice feature. |
We also installed a set of front fork and rear axle sliders. These help protect the front fork and rear swing arm in a crash, all really expensive parts. Like the frame sliders, these are made of slippery nylon mounted on stainless rods with aluminum reinforced shoulders. They are also designed to spin. Most sliders are simply plastic pucks without the reinforcements and high quality hardware but we feel that the extra details that the Motovation parts have are worth the extra cost.
