1200 I Give Up! Hello Ktm My Dear Old Friend.

Italians first time.
But I think this time it's more likely that the motor wasn't rebuilt properly - I'm imaging some English mechanic bloke nipping down the caff for a fry up and to chat up the sweaty fat bird behind the counter.

 

This does show the value of this forum: we have JH (rightly) bitter and twisted about Ducati, and everyone else (sympathetic, but not as emotionally involved) offering good advice from their "one step removed" positions.

It is probably too far down the line now, but I would have gone down the "I love my Ducati, if we cannot get mine fixed under warranty please do me a really good deal (subsidised by Ducati UK or IT) on a new or nearly new, DVT,as I don't want to leave the Ducati family etc etc". Then either work on the "lightning never strikes twice" theory, even though it seems to have to some degree here, and enjoy the newer bike, or sell it straight away or px against the KTM.

The time to name and shame, or slag off the dealer, is right at the end of this sorry saga, when you are officially screwed, or they have partly or fully met your expectations.

Sent from a professor of hindsight from my crappy laptop!!!!

Jon. (JH, I really hope this works out for you, I have always enjoyed your many posts on here over the years.)

 

This he's already said PH.

And it seems it wasnt another engine, you cant describe and second engine gone pop, they removed and rebuilt with essential parts and not cehcked anything 'not on the list' typical modern tech behaviour. Diagnose, understand full consequence, check and repair? No fear. Computer says just replace these bit.

 

Bradders, you are right. Dealers do not have mechanics anymore, just fitters. I had a situation with my Mini Cooper S which was under warranty. The remote locking stopped working. I had three key fobs. Renewed the batteries, still did not work. Obviously the receiver in the car had gone down. Dealer says, according to flow chart on computer, firstly must replace keys. Ok, I said, it is not the keys but if you must. So they replace all three with nice new ones. Still does not work (unsurprisingly). So they replace the receiver. And now it works again and I have six working keys!!! While it is there they inform me there is a slight weep from the cam cover gasket and the sump gasket. A sixteenth of a turn on the bolts would probably nip it, but no, new gaskets fitted all round with accompanying time costs to them. Unbelievable. Hardly surprising margins are tight for dealers.
Jon.

 

To be strictly accurate, they've never consistently been premium built. Way back when, they'd take a fantastically engineered engine, wrap a beautifully crafted frame around it, then bugger off for a plate of Linguini and a few bottles of Vino Collapso. After which they'd rather forget about the rest: trivia like electrics, paint and mirrors. That I could cope with - the basics were there and the rest could be upgraded over time. Things fluctuated around that theme for many years and I'd say that the peak of quality of engineering materials, componentry and finish was in the early to mid-2000s: both my machines from that period are way better finished and in better nick than my Multistrada. Of the latter, I see a greater commoditisation of the product to a Audi-determined 'quality' standard: greater consistency but at a lower level than hitherto. The motorcycle as white goods…

 

"Margins tight". I wonder - I've been informed by multiple dealers that warranty work is a real pain because of unrealistic timings for work and no allowance made by the manufacturers for diagnostic time (as opposed to swapping units and hoping). That does however wear a bit thin when my car dealer charges more for technicians' time than my surgeon charges for sticking me back together. On both our cars, I've dropped main dealer servicing altogether (Porsche and BMW) in favour of specialists who actually know what they're doing and who care about the outcome: in other words, mechanics rather than technicians. In my pantheon of ability, I've got:

- technician: someone who can read a manual and change modules following a defined process.
- mechanic: someone who can diagnose a problem from first principles, identify a solution and apply it.
- engineer: someone who can do all of the above and then, if needed, fix the reason for the problem arising - anything from making a new part to rebuilding and blueprinting an engine.

Each has their place: what I object to is charging engineers' rates for a technician. I'd rather forgo the complimentary coffee and shiny floors and actually talk through the problem with someone who both understands the issue and takes into account the diagnostics I've already tried. I had a very similar key fob/receiver problem as you describe a couple of years ago. I also had a problem with the rear parking sensors where I ended up with the Service Manager (Grassick's BMW in Perth) sitting in the car's passenger seat whilst I showed him the problem, which was obvious, consistent and repeatable. He wouldn't do anything about it because "the diagnostic computer doesn't say anything's wrong". So we now have a world where, when there's a discrepancy between arbitrary process and reality, reality loses, every time.

 

JH, it probably was not as clear as it could be, but my second paragraph was suggesting laying it on thick, and the dealer getting another sale from you would have probably pushed much harder to keep you sweet. My point was, had that worked, you would have not lost so much money, and would have had a DVT to part exchange against your KTM or just sell. I fully understand that you have had enough of Ducati, it was all about damage limitation!

Jon.

 

JH gutted it blew up
i had a extend ride on the bmw what a banging bike screaming inline 4 so so different from my MTS
but like others found the handle bars vibration,even at cruising speeds quite bothersome, apart from that what a stonking bike
play off dealers with each other park lane bmw and guilford i got them fighting over a sale offerring discount and full tour packs

 

KTM ADVENTURE 1190 1195cc

ktm nice price no miles save thousands

 

Don't blame you JH. But there's nothing to worry about with the 1190. Plenty of the RC8s which use the same engine and have been around longer have run up big mileages with no problems. There's one near me that's gone past 60,000 with lots of track days and no dramas.
I went back to re-try the 1190 Adventure after 6 months of owning the SMT just for comparison and opted to stay with the 990 because it felt so much smaller, lighter and simpler. And the Adventure isn't a looker. Its a bit of a plain Jane. The 1190's extra power was seriously tempting though. Its a hoot to ride. Its properly pokey but at that sweet level of power where you can pin it on most roads and its just makes you go whoo-hoo and laugh out loud. Its very addictive and you'd soon be putting in an order for a quickshifter. Nail the 1290 and it makes you go fuck me and back off unless you're on the right sort of road. But that's kind of addictive too.
Either way, you can't go far wrong with a 990. Any LC8 Katoomer is a thing of joy. And not a lot of money.

 

Yes, all of them. No KTM has ever gone wrong. :Smug:

 

KTMs are Austrian, where they do things properly. When did you last see a poorly constructed apple strudel?
Ducatis are from Italy, the land of the pizza - a comestible apparently created by dropping it on the floor.