Service History….opinions

The main question would be around the warranty if any as you don’t want to give Ducati any reason to refuse a claim.

I don’t do a lot of mileage per bike as I have a few, but I do follow the recommendation for service just to maintain the warranty, and I like to know that at least once a year the bikes have had a good check over.

On my older bike I do the maintenance myself but still follow the same checks that the dealer would, as long as they are done and the correct consumables used, I can at least give the next owner some piece of mind.

 

I've got 2 low mileage bikes that have been long term storage and are well out of warranty.
They are up to date mileage wise and thats it.
They will be fully recommissioned as and when I need them to be. There is no sense
in going through annual bollocks imho.

 

There are, or can be, issues parking bikes up long term and not carrying out some of the time based elements. It all depends what you may consider long term, but I’d say 4 years plus. I’ve come across several such bikes in the past few years that have been in to the shop to be “recommissioned”.
Older bikes with steel tanks. Often the assumption was they were drained, but even a litre in the bottom will sit there and due to the ethanol content, absorbs moisture. This has led to wrecked fuel pumps and corroded tank bottoms, damaged injectors… 916/996 etc are the main culprits. Even stored with full tanks causes problems with the ethanol. Moisture that’s absorbed sinks to the bottom and still corrodes….
Ethanol sat in the earlier plastic tanks will also cause swelling issues. Thats common enough on bikes in use, sitting dormant seems to be worse.
Brake and clutch systems. Again, brake fluid absorbs moisture. If left, that moisture corrodes the calipers, cylinders too. If stored in doors where humidity is likely to be high, I’d change these every year tbh.
Cooling systems. Modern bikes have organic coolant that needs changing at 4 years. Older bikes with glycol, every 2 years. The coolant not only serves to cool the motor, but now the motors contain fancy alloys etc. also prevent corrosion. This ability degrades with time and maybe, I’m not sure, chemically becomes corrosive? I’ve seen radiators rotted from the inside out, water pumps, cylinders, heads wrecked with corrosion. The worst…. I’ve just completed a rebuild on a D16RR that had suffered from a corroded head gasket/cylinder head/engine case. Purely down to being left for a decade or so with no attention to the coolant.
I personally wouldn’t for one minute suggest any bike be parked up for a prolonged period without at least changing the brake fluids and coolant as per the service schedule.
Some of the bikes we have done have run up sizeable costs to recommission, well over what they would have cost if they’d been straightforward and as most are brought out in order to sell, the costs have nullified any “investment” the owner was expecting.

 

Any goodwill warranty from Ducati will depend on it having full service history. If this isn’t complete, ie every year, then it’s a non starter.

 

No problem…. You’re not likely to run into the problems I brought up on a Panigale tbh.
My own opinion, for what it’s worth, if someone has invested money in a R, for instance, why not look after it? I get that some get bought as investment or “ornaments”, but surely it’s worth protecting that investment? Personally, if I were buying into that sector, I’d be checking how well it’s been protected and looked after?…

 

Mmm. My R had been in the dealers for 2 years with no attention per the service book.

 

I don’t think 2 years is that much of an issue tbh. If the schedule was brought up to date, then all should be well.

 

Some of the earlier schedules called for brake fluids at 3 years. It fluctuated, but currently is at 2 years. Again, providing the schedule is brought up to date, then all should be well.
The overall reason for the fluid changes is to maintain performance. The degradation and potential damage is an underlying one, but nonetheless needs to be borne in mind over extended periods of lay up or storage.

 

There’s a site called ducatiparts or something similar, that has all the parts diagrams.
I’m not sure on diagnostics tools tbh. I have access to the factory kit, and the parts diagrams as well, so don’t really have a need to find any alternatives.
There’s plenty of resource on this site that will be able to help though

 

https://www.bike-parts-ducati.com

 

Thanks lad , I now do most of my own services so your advice is invaluable buddy. I have always used you and Jack for my bikes but my milage is so low at moment that I've had a go myself. I'm Tookmaker trained and have experience in inspection but lack the knowledge and experience that you have gained over the years. Hope to pop round and maybe borrow your jacket again !

 

There are several resources "online" for parts diagrams. Many of the (at least in the US) Ducati Dealers have Parts search engines that will bring up the OEM Parts diagrams in exploded view. I use them all the time because I too Like to see things "exploded!". Sometimes the OEM parts guides can be downloaded as well

As for scan tools, I use the ODBStar (Android tablet based) scanner circa $400 USD for everything up to about 2021 (The oriental factory does have a subscription based update but I think they stop at 2022 or 2023). I'd love to have the Texa Scan tool ( which is what Ducati Dealers use) but at $3k to $4k USD, it's a bit over the top for me.......

I have yet to find a US Ducati Dealer that actually has a stamp for the OEM Owner's Manual and uses it. If they do any maintenance, it is uploaded to the Mothership when the y hook the bike up to the "Network".