When I bought my first new bike, a Ducati 860GTS, back in 1976 the first service was free. Although I had to go over it myself afterwards and re-adjust things like the carbs and clutch free play.
What independent are you referring to? I know there’s Tyler (North motorcycle) in Edinburgh that everyone raves about but who’s the equivalent over the West for us in Glasgow (ish) area? I’ll be steering clear of DG also based on the widespread negative experiences.
They quoted me just over a grand to do an annual service, replace the belts and brake/clutch fluid, didn’t dare ask how much the valve service was
I was recommended Performance motorcycle services by a couple of guys at work, it's in Kirkintilloch. Both non Ducati bike owners but very happy with the service. One of the mechanics is called Hector and their Facebook page is mostly Ducatis from what I've seen. Also there's ERS at Knockhill. Eddie is well known and was recommended to me years ago by Griff Wooley, who runs AP Workshop. On that recommendation alone I'll probably use ERS.
Useful to know thank you. I’m on the AP workshop Facebook group so know well that if Griff recommends someone he must be good.
Not sure if it has been mentioned, but there is no requirement to use a Dealer to maintain warranty status as long as the garage is VAT registered as a legitimate garage. Dealers obvously don't mention this, but I suspect the biggest worry is that when selling on prospective buyers may be put off or not trust the work done.
My understanding is that law/rule only applies to cars and panel vans not motorcycles to maintain the manufacturers warranty. Also with reference to independents they are to use OEM products only iirc.
This is my understanding of the rules too, the law passed by the ECJ a few years ago only stated cars, so if it's a motorcycle or truck etc they are not covered by this exemption from main dealer servicing. I know when we were dealers that's the way it worked and Ducati enforced it strictly! We still advise customers that if their bike is under factory warranty that having it serviced by our factory trained technician using genuine manufacturers parts it could invalidate their warranty. We would rather turn work away than potentially cause grief and problems for our customers for the sake of the price of a service!
I was told by the local Audi dealer that their 3 year warranty was in fact only 2 years from Audi with the 3rd provided by the dealer, in which case there's no 3rd year if you get it done outside of the dealership network. This was a few years back though so may have changed and I'm not sure if it's just an Audi thing or common practice?
As mentioned, motorcycles are not included in that agreement. Condition of the warranty is that the servicing is carried out within the authorised network. Ducati for one do enforce it strongly.
Even with cars, the fact that it's now possible to have maintenance done by an independent, within the warranty period isn't the end of the story. Pricing for non-routine-service parts can be set at an absurd level, and then one has the problem that an unexpected failure after warranty has ended can be hugely expensive unless the car has been serviced at main dealers in which case "goodwill" may be applied. It can be a lot easier to settle for a painful but not unaffordable bill with a main dealer after "goodwill" has slashed parts costs (down to a still profitable level for the manufacturer) than to get involved in any sort of "it still shouldn't have failed even after 3 years" argument with a manufacturer with an independent having diagnosed the problem. One way I have found, with cars, until they're too old for it to be worth it, to find a "middle way" is to use main dealer only for routine servicing and to use independents and DIY for all MoT and consumable work (e.g. brakes).
Going back to my earlier post, Ducati UK are very good at helping for out of warranty issues in my personal experience but the caveat is that you have to maintain your bike to the service schedule at authorised dealers. I know other brands don't have the same pragmatic approach, out of warranty is out of warranty and you're on your own. Based upon the above it's up to the individual to determine the level of risk they are willing to take, you could use a good indy and save some money and never have an issue, or the exact opposite and being easily into a 4 figure bill with no comeback. I saw last week a guy got stopped for not having a driving license, he'd never had one in 70 years of driving. It's kind of the same, he never had an accident and saved 70 years worth of insurance, but would you take that risk personally?
My thoughts to? £380 wouldn't cover the cost of parts and fluids for a DVT 18k service. Might cover oil service and belts, but that's not a Desmo service. We have a "flat time" from Ducati of around 7 hours for the 18k and tbh, that's tight, as are all manufacturer times.
Heard others say one way to reduce the dealer cost is do some of the leg work for them, panel removal etc, a little more difficult if you’ve got to ride your bike there though?
I’m certainly not a liar Reps ( Royston Edwards performance services ) very knowledgable with all things Ducati Caldicot Newport, Gwent , South Wales.
