Curious as to people's views on this... On 20th July I purchased a 2012 Multistrada S Touring with 3500 miles from a dealer in Hampshire. He's not a main dealer, just a trader of motorcycles as a second income. I'll caveat what follows by saying that I got my licence on 18th July and have never owned a bike before, and the dealer knew this. 1) The tyres looked fine to me - quite a bit of tread to my eye. When I took it to my friend who has had bikes for about 10 years he said the tyres needed changing soon, so I said I'd do it once I was back from Cornwall. 180 miles after picking the bike up I had a flat at 70mph and then spent £100 on an additional AA recovery to get me to a bike shop, had to take a day off work (i'm a contractor), so lost out on a day's pay and paid a premium for the tyres because I was near Lands Ends. Over £1000 all said and done. An experienced rider would've known that 3500 miles on the Scorpion Trails was enough but the dealer should've warned me about the safety issue, surely? 2) On the way to Cornwall (before the puncture) I started noticing the steering felt heavy and i found it difficult to balance the bike around slow corners and roundabouts. The garage that changed the tyres investigated and told me the steering head bearing was too tight and it would fail an MOT. It was very disconcerting and I've just had my local Ducati specialist loosen and check the lubrication so she handles fine now. Again - isn't it the dealer's responsibility to check this sort of thing? He didn't have insurance for a proper test ride, so I rode her around the lot slowly and it all felt fine at very low speed and not leaning over. My bad? 3) Heated grips - I'm going to check this out this afternoon but i've tried the instruction manual and can't get the menu up using the ignition button when the engine is running. I'll check the wiring. However, the dealer barley knew how to switch riding modes so that I could leave in Urban rather than Sport, so I didn't want to ask him to demonstrate the grips and DES setup because i figured i'd do that at home with the manual and help from the forum if necessary. 4) I have not yet been able to figure out how to change the DES settings. I'm hoping that this is user error rather than something wrong with the bike and again I'll check this out this afternoon. I had a peer at the suspension and I can see what looks like the DES servo there, so I'm hoping my bike does have DES! Yes, I'm a moron and an inexperienced one at that.
up here any way, a registered dealer offers a compulsory 28 day warranty. but unless you take it back to them i think your pretty much screwed. a full appraisal has to be available to the customer also. sure of it.
Unfortunately a valuable lesson. I note you bought from a trader and not a dealer/specialist and with the complexity of modern bikes even a trained dealer doesn't get it right every time. That said I believe you have a good shout to involve the local Trading Standards officer and should claim your expenses back. Difficult to know if talking to the trader first will be of value or just give him the opportunity to scarper. I also wonder if the local council and tax man know he is trading. Good luck whatever you do. Andy
Check the sale of goods act. Quote from Trading Standards. "You are entitled to expect that the vehicle is of satisfactory quality, fit for purpose, and as described". From what you report, I'd suggest, that the trader did not comply and you may have redress. Gloucestershire Trading Standards - Consumer Advice - Used motor vehicles - consumer rights Duke
Sounds like you may have bought from a dodgy dealer but i hope not. Did you get a warranty with the bike? You should have a minimum of three months surely? If I were you i would take the bike either to another MTS 1200 owner of some experience or a main dealer and get them to run through everything with you and to point out anything 'missing' or not working. Almost everything has either a written or light warning if there is a fault so the chances are that all systems fitted are OK. Are the forks Ohlins gold (DES) or silver (non DES)?
i had 4500 miles out of a set of scorpion trails on my first multi and 2800 miles out of my current one however they had plenty of tread just lost the tyre profile so the tyres could have still been ok maybe , i had a puncture years ago in france these things happen even with new tyres
low or incorrect tyre pressures will make it handle like a dog. if your flat was slow to develop it would most likely that you were experiencing.You would have noticed tight head bearings in the yard. let,s face it - the geezer was a tyre fitter!
Nope - after the new tyres went on the problem persisted and he demonstrated the stiffness to me, which is what I had felt. It was fine upright at low speed but made fine control and balance difficult at any speed requiring lean
Hard to explain but if bike had to lean at low speed then balancing it became hard due to the tight steering. Mechanic was not just tire fitter but bike specialist and Suzuki dealer
Puncture isnt a dealers fault though is it? Could happen to brand new tyre, and to be fair its worse when that happens. Unless your saying the tyre was so worn it wore though? Stiff head bearing would be very noticeable. Ducati's are quite slow steering and need lots of input to turn. DES have a read the books. Best way for sure and my the 1199 ones are easy to understand so assume the multi woul be similiar.
Puncture - recovery guy said tyre was buggered/not repairable. DES - I have discovered that my bike doesn't believe it's an S Touring despite obviously being one. Will post separately on it.
Mate, sadly sounds like you've got a lemon. Take it back under the sales of goods act and get your money back. Oh yes, name and shame the trader so no-one else on here gets ripped off. Andy
Soooo, I have the S Touring hardware and it's an S Touring registered bike. However, I think the software is for the S model. No DES menu items and heated grips don't work.
But you would of had a puncture even if it was a new tyre. So whos to say that would be repairable? You would of still paid for AA, still had lost income and still had to buy a tyre from the same location. Sounds like youve dealt with a guy selling bikes in his spare time ie Not a real trader with proper insurance/ warranty etc. Im not against buying from roadside traders, but if you have no experiece with bikes it might of been a btter idea to buy from a recognised outfit or take someone knowledgable with you. Why did you purcahse from him rather than a main dealer? Was the bike cheaper than the competition? i assume you have HPI'd the bike? If not im happy to do it for you
'Moron'......being a bit harsh on yourself, 'inexperienced'.....obviously and maybe somewhat naive - sometimes lessons can be hard learned! I was going to say, first things first get someone with good experience of the MTS12 to give it a good look over......lots of guys not too far from you ;-) Second, I'd be tempted to stump up for a pukka Ducati Dealer to give the bike a thorough check over.....and they can check the DDS system for the records of all repairs/warranty work and updates/recalls etc ;-) Put all your 'issues'/complaints in some detail in writing to the seller (keep it nice and polite! ;-) .........if/when you're not happy with their response contact CAB and/or Trading Standards. Good luck.........hopefully the bike is now a goodun and you've seen the back of the problems.
As advised get the bike thoroughly checked over by someone in the know, but first things first let the dealer know in writing that you are dissatisfied with the bike and that it doesn't look, on the face of it, to be as described, when sold to you. Furthermore confirm that you fully intend to have the bike examined in detail, with a view to going back to the guys who sold you the bike to give them the opportunity to rectify whatever issues are thrown up, to pay for them to be rectified by others, or the give you a full refund. There is really good advice available with respect to the sale of goods and what to do in the event you feel you have recourse to rectify a problem, but you have to follow the protocols properly and fully, to ensure you have the best chance of resolution. I have had to take a not dissimilar approach myself before so I know what is required and did achieve a satisfactory outcome, for strangely enough quite similar circumstances. Be firm, polite and direct insisting you require rectification in the event the bike does genuinely have issues, however, as others have already said, a puncture can happen at virtually anytime. Good luck and hopefully the bike is as you expect and you can determine the best way forward.
