I feel your pain with the disappointment over the bike. I had worked my way to my dream bike and I bought my brand new 1199 last September. I managed around 300 miles before it pissed all it's coolant out. It then spent 3 months in and out of the dealers coming back with oil leaks time after time. I had enough then which I don't think was unreasonable but ducati we're not interested in giving me another one.…… such a shame
Ducati Wolverhampton, I popped in there earlier this week as I was working near by. I was going to put some thing on here about my experience but did not bother. But after seeing this thread I thought I would. Did not rate the place at all, felt most unwelcome and would not be going back there.
Bought my bike there as they were the only local...ish dealer that had stock and the bike was discontinued. Efficient enough to deal with but the only deal I was offered was 5% off a paddock stand at a squeeze, delivery was not an option offered and they never contacted me as to why I never returned for a service. The only contact I've ever had since was a text ref PCP deals. I appreciate to dealers a bike is a "commodity" but if return business and servicing is what's needed pr wouldn't go amiss. By no means a disaster but had hoped for something more.
Have they actually got the tooling & workshop facility to strip that engine? Vertical split cylinders with wet-liners pressed in... and the list goes on. The biggest bull$h1t you will ever hear from a garage is when they cant do the job.
Odd that leaks of oil and coolant around casings seem to be a theme. My new KTM 1290 is rumoured to have some issues on some bikes with leaks as well. It was postulated on the KTM forum that having spoken to the mechanics, they are seeing more leaks on modern bikes. They think the reason is that modern machining techniques are extremely efficient and the mating surfaces have become too smooth for gaskets to work properly. The gasket actually settles and keys better with a surface that isn't as smooth. The modern engines/gearboxes have way too perfect surfaces and either gaskets need to change or the surfaces need a key treatment to provide proper sealing. Not saying this is the cause here of course, just adding to the debate. It seems odd that brand new leading edge technology is suddenly prone to weeping seems.
Below a quote of mine taken from a different thread but you'll notice a common theme.. Don't suppose you bought the bike from Ducati Wolverhampton??.... I ask as mine was supposedly serviced (7k biggie) just before I bought it.... Yet when I swapped my own oil over a few months later the stuff in the drain pan was black...... I went with Motul 300v & change the oil every 1k or 6 months & it comes out the same color it went in... I am pretty sure they didn't swap the oil... Plus I had my belts done at BSD two weeks back, they noted how old they looked.. certainly like they had done more than 3k.... Not starting a witch hunt here.. Just sayin. After that above they'll not get another penny from me.....
This dealers cares more about the racing career of his son than that of the satisfaction of its customers. That's OK if you have enough wonga not to need any customers. Pretty shit reputation for Ducati to be earning though. We have lost another fellow rider due to bad customer service. Nickjcool. Not all dealers are the same. Sorry for your pain mate.
[QUOTE="Not all dealers are the same. Sorry for your pain mate.[/QUOTE] Couldn't agree more... JHP Cov gave me a tour of their workshop & spent a lot of time chatting with me & my mate.... We were in our scruffs too (Not our normal Armani suits haha) (This is where someone comes along & slags JHP..... I can see it comin)
JHP have a great set up and their workshop is fab. Been round it a few times myself. Like all dealers, you get good and bad experiences, never used them myself but know plenty who have: again some love them some dont. But strong rep means two things in my book; they have the skills to do any job and if it goes lear shaped they have more at stake to just brush people off Same as Motorapido. Same as Snells. Same as Glosgow. Take your pick lol
I didn't buy a bike but have got quite a few parts from Jhp and they are spot on. Also tony at smc is a nice guy. I'm lucky that Cornerspeed is local so don't have to rely on main dealers for service. There's good dealers and bad ones I guess but I wouldn't move away from a Ducati , I'd find a different dealer.
All these comments are what I was feeling. Its a shame they so lame but hey ho. The actual problem is where the rear cylinder is the crank cases join and there is gasket sealant there where they join together. Allegedly when building the 1st batch they got grease on them. Its like a pinhole leak but enough to cause a pool of coolant at the bottom of cylinder.
Also my worry is with these amateurs stripping the bike what mess is it going to be in. They cant decide between them who going to strip the engine and if the workmanship is on par with the customer service I would expect to get it back with the engine *ucked. Scott told me he has never stripped one and Toni tells me he does all the engine rebuilds. I can see it all going pair and its a shame. I going up tomorrow and if it intact I am pulling my baby out of there.
Mate I'd be 'suggesting' (read demanding) that DUK intervene and get the bike pit somewhere else like JHP to repair if i felt like that
is there a direct contact for Ducati UK as any emails from website go to Italy. It appears very difficult to speak to anyone about this.
Also to add insult to injury when they serviced my bike in October 2013 they removed the JHP logo plate and put a Ducati Wolverhampton one on it. I will be asking for my old plate back !
