Hello My 1260s is due ita 18000 mile service in 500 miles I have had 2 quotes - p 7 h motorcycles at £900 and Pro Twins @ £1200 Can anyone recommend someone in the south east (ideally within 50 miles of Brighton) who can do the service at a more realistic cost Thanks Gareth
Problems of owning a Ducati Multistrada as I found out last week for a 5 year service I paid, left a nasty taste in the mouth and I'm still in disbelief a service on a bike could cost this much...
Think it's worth mentioning that it's maybe not as imminent as you think if you're going by 18000m. It's all done in km, and is 30000, so it's 18750 miles (although I think my light came on about 100miles short of that). Might not make a big difference if you're a mile muncher, but if not, you've got some time to shop around. I'd also echo sentiments that you won't get much better then 900! You were lucky to find it that cheap tbh, most are £1k+
£900 sounds pretty reasonable to me compared to main dealer prices. When you get the price they usually state one price for doing the clearance check and then another if the valves need adjusting, just be aware of that.
£900-£1200 is about the same, overall, as servicing a Japanese bike would cost over the same mileage. It just hurts a bit more when it comes at once! Keep in mind those prices are likely “plus parts”, belts, naturally, oil filter, oil, gaskets, shims(if reqd), plugs, air filter, etc etc I’m still a bit sore.!
Desmo service is always expensive. But guy at work told me his Tiger 1200 was quoted as over a £1K from triumph for the "big" service. I've no knowledge of the other brands out there, but a quick google and you can see £500 to £1000 for service costs on jap bikes too. Wish I could find a Ducati spanner man who works from home that'll do my desmo service for cash in the hand !
£900 - £1100 is in the ball park. That should include parts and vat. Does when I do it The job usually books at around 7 hours iirc.. the parts list should be fairly consistent except shims required. You may find indies charge their own labour times, but most dealers should run off the fixed service times issued by Ducati. They’re tight, so you may see more hours from an indie? The only variables are really labour rate and cost of the oil used. Parts could vary if pattern parts are used outside of the network? Labour rate is going to be the biggest influence. If you get a “cheap” quote, check it’s being done properly and fully. Unless someone is working for nothing, then reducing costs is down to either not putting the hours in, or not putting the parts in.
I`m sure there are independents that are not VAT registered so while they have to recoup the VAT on parts from you the labour cost will just be the hourly rate. For the last 3 or 4 years I`ve been using a guy on the outskirts of Bedford to service my bikes, he charges £62 per hour , no VAT. Happy to share his details but he`s probably a bit too far from you.
Also factor in belts too, these are at 18000 miles or 5 years, whichever the sooner. Mine are being done, both valves and belts along with an oil service in a couple of months. Expecting to have to sell a kidney or two and that's with my local independent, Moto-Vation Racing, here in Cheltenham.
When I had my 675s there was a mobile mechanic guy called muddy sump who came to your house and charged less than the dealers. A quick Google search brings up this guy who covers “all super bikes” etc in the south east, may be worth a call? https://www.optiflowuk.com/
One way to reduce the pain is to do the oil service yourself, it is pretty simple and new filters can be bought from a dealer, the biggest cost is the oil and the time, you can buy the right oil (Shell xxx) on line far cheaper than a dealer will bill you for as they bill the oil by the litre. Then just tell them that the oil change has already been done.
I’ve used both these dealers in the past for my service work. Both are Ducati dealers. P&H are pretty decent but you don’t know what level of mechanic will be working on the bike, you may find the junior does the grunt work and a more experienced mechanic does the complicated stuff, whoever does this should be Ducati trained but they are a multi-bike franchise. Pro-twins are a smaller operation but only do Ducati, the mechanics are very highly trained and very experienced. They are a bit more expensive (odd considering the lack of shiny showroom and workshop) but many people will only take their bikes to them so I guess that’s why they might charge a bit more.
Like a few guys here, I'm good enough to do my own oil changes and the regular maintenance. So using "man-math's" I figure what I've saved over the years will cover the cost of the Desmo service when the time comes In fact, I couldn't afford to run my 2 bikes and classic car if I paid to have them looked after I did do the valves on my old 1100 mutley with assistance from someone who knew what to do. Doing the 1260 seems to take that up to the next level, will have to see if I'm up for it when the time comes
Have worked on previous bikes, even doing 3 VFR VTEC valve services. These days my time is worth more to me and I can afford, painfully expensive though it is, the cost of servicing my 1260. When I retire in a few years this may change though. Quite enjoy twirling spanners given the space and time.
