I'm having my two year service done at OYB Aylesbury & although I love my bike (1st batch in UK 2016). It's a tool & work horse ridden in mud, cow manure & all weather conditions mostly living on the road but I do reside on a farm all year round. So by virtue it isn't some show piece motorcycle & has nearly devoured 22,000 miles & more the merrier! This is a word to the wise over quality of parts ducati have used & suggestions to negate irate owners wrath. Clearly some parts get worn away faster by our inclement weather & governments industrial use of road-salt during winter. Everything will be up for discussion & I'm hoping to read some healthy suggestions. Please can you delete image links if quoting posts.
Top case rack Replace with heavy gauge aluminium frame's like the pannier side mounts & front crash bars. (I'll be getting these shot-blasted & powder coated)
Center Stand Better quality paint/powder coat would of lasted much longer. (I'll be getting it shot-blasted & powder coated,...notice a similar theme?)
Rear wheel nut Consider replacing with either anodized protection or powder coated paint. Mine didn't last a year before attracting many comments. Thankfully conquest-carbon on here came to the rescue with a lovely ducabike part.
Race Exhaust issues Definitely a upgrade worth doing for the full song of the engine to be heard & experienced (comes with upgraded ECU dongle). Paint quality was below par & has flaked away systematically. Not really happy for the money it cost. Plus I got the whole pipe system & original cat' Zircotec ceramic coated. But the end can I expected to be in good nick for quite sometime. The race exhaust has also worn away a section along the swing-arm as shown. The end can part is twisted around slightly to not cause more damage. Damage looks awful & shouldn't of been created considering everything on my bike is ducati-technician fitted. The race-exhaust mount broke & is needing a spot welding. Hasn't really caused me issues as I wear inner ear plugs & listen to music. So any potential clanging hasn't caught my ear. The two spacer nuts are not stainless & look awful! A simple remedy to an unsightly eye catching thing. Notice one nut is filled with silicon & the other has dropped out'
Swing arm corrosion & issue's Being an all year rider & having ridden through a top10 lightening & rain storm less than a few days ago. Two winters has caused a mottled effect of corrosion from road salt. A small pond of muck & road salt is surely destroying the inside of the swing arm frame. As there are two giant holes allowing crap into that area. I've asked the OYB technican about the outlet holes need clearing & he's not sure if they have any?? (I'll get the bike up on my sky-lift in the future & remedy this with drainage holes)
Top case quality The duke-badge was added by me, you can buy a set from dealers! The pillion position without the cushion has caused the lower rear gasket to fail. Thankfully the box is still water-tight. The corrosion again from road salt quickly marks the aluminum case. And finally the locking mechanism rubs against the outside & causes unsightly marks. (All of these issues I can live with, it's just a shame these aren't cold-pressed or riveted items)
Rear brake & Gear selector I know they are an alloy material so that they can be re-bent if you have an off. But nothing will clean them up & they look awful!! (I'll get them shot-blasted & powder coated this year)
Fog lights/ running lights Thin paint on the fog lamps/running lights has flaked off. However they create a wonderful beam-array along the side roads & off-road tracks. (I'm actually unsure how to deal with these & might get a spray can on the go)
Crash bars rubbing aluminium side panel This is the right hand side of the bike, left side has a clearance of about 5-10mm. Got spotted early on by the OYB technicans & they used either helicopter tape or some rubbing protection to try too stop more damage. (As you can see its quite deep & would detract from the bike if I were to sell the crash-bars,...why such close proximity to the panel??)
General fasteners & banjo/brake hose leads These parts could easily be changed over by ducati in future mutley editions to stainless. (Come on Ducati; step up your game for brand loyalty!!)
Protection of bits-n-bobs With plenty of silicon caulking, I've reduced the places where water can hide or pool. If anyone suffers from 'whistling' on the bike its due to places like under the nose (having crash-bars). Where the crash frames aren't sealed. I recommend going around and filling them up & you'll suffer far less strange noises. Obviously I've ACF-50'd my bike before each winter. Or used GT85 after cleaning it down to help stop ingress of water like around the controls. I hope this doesn't make out that the enduro multistrada is falling apart. It's mostly cosmetic but still annoying for such a young bike!
Finally thoughts; I'd like to see the hazard & fog light buttons swapped around. So the hazard is further away. Living in rural countryside fog/running lights are important to avoiding the devastation the roads do too wild-life. I intend to keep this bike for 6-years before looking at a new one. The most impressive thing is the lovely large fuel tank (33L) which prehaps could be an upgradable option on the other multistrada's. Doing a nice steady 55-60mph & chomping through 350-370 miles is liberating. The best range I've had was 404miles in one sitting!
This is familiar: I live on a farm, a mile off road, up a Highland glen. My '10 was in pretty much that state within 18 months of new - within two years, most of the paint had fallen off the swing arm and the engine cases developed a bad case of mange. Ducati just shrugged their shoulders and said it wasn't warranty. Which is inconsistent as, when my ST4s' pannier frames rusted after four years, they replaced them without question.
The exhaust and swing arm are the shocking bits. As you say, the price paid should guarantee you a quality finish. The rest is just par for the course with modern products. Not built to last!
It actually makes me bloody-mindedly keep the thing - as long as the basics are fine (which, touch wood, they are), I'll keep riding it. I can get the outer engine cases powder coated easily enough and I managed to source a perfect s/h swing arm from fleabay that was cheaper than having the existing one stripped down and refinished.
