Hi all. Not been on here for a long time. My annual service is due on my 1198S. It's only done circa 2500 miles, and maybe only 3-400 last year. It's a belt service. It's only ever been serviced at Ducati dealers - but my question is one of resale value. Got to be honest, i don't know if it affects the retail value having a full Ducati history or not. My car always goes to the main dealer as it's very much worth it come resale time, but when I've looked at bikes, the history is rarely mentioned. I only ask as, with 2 toddlers, bike time is very rare for me and paying nearly £1k for a service works out quite steep when only use it 3/4 times a year when the stars align. Any opinions welcome. Thanks Seech
Preventative maintenance is the better and cheaper option compared to reactive maintenance. Most Ducati buyers scrutinise bike history so a good service record will help demand a better resale value and make for an easier sell....In my humble opinion Great bike BTW.. Post up a few pictures, we all love pics
depends if you are keeping it or not? personally when I buy, I don't always see a main dealer as the only option for history, some independents can be better so a combination of the both is okay and indies tend to be much cheaper. https://www.ducatiforum.co.uk/threads/independent-workshop-map.46916/ here is an indie list, best thing to do is pick a few closest to you, put their names in the thread and see which gets the most reccomendations
Is spending £1000 on an authorised Dealer belt service (which seems high by the way) going to add value or is the (much cheaper) independant service going to devalue the bike by the difference in cost ? With or without an authorised Dealer service history, the value of the 1198 is currently very strong so IMO, a service from a good independant makes a lot of sense now and in the future. Andy
Low miles, belts every three years I reckon. I change my own oil, filters and plugs on the minor service. Major service I use Ducati John. I say I "use" him, what I meant was he empties my pockets for me so they don't become too full.
With that mileage, you don't need the "big" desmo service. The bike is on the later schedules, so I'd say annual oil service, belts, brake and clutch fluids and possibly coolant. No where near a grand, not even half of that.
A lot of Ducati have been in collections or parked up for years with gaps in the service records i dont think this matters its all about the bike/condition,all of the above forum members have made some very good points.For me i have just brought a bike that was of the road for six years but i like it and was happy with the seller/condition
The car market and bike market must share similarities. Last year a mate of mine sold his Maserati Quattroporte to a specialist. A specialist with a known reputation for only stocking top examples. When my mate bought the car it came with a good history but in his tenure he neglected it, only getting one service in four years. I thought that would be a deal breaker but the specialist was pleased that the one service he had had done, had been done by London's main Maserati concessionaire. So he was happy to gloss over the missing services and advertise it as "Full HR Owen service history". I've always gone the opposite route, I have my cars and bikes serviced on the dot but by indies. It's not just the cost but I firmly believe a dedicated indie is looking after your pride and joy much better than a teenager apprentice in a main dealer. This Maserati retailer disagreed with me, he said customers like the reassurance of a main dealer. I guess as he is one of the country's most successful independent Maserati specialists he probably knows more about his business than me.
If the belt change interval is worrying you, do it. I think there's a bloke on here that sells belts buy them and your fluids / filter and do them yourself and save yourself a hell of a lot of money. Keep all receipts for any buyers in the future.
Shouldn't cost you anywhere near a grand, I had my belts and all fluids done at Moto Rapido last year on the 1098R for just over 500 quid...I doubt you'd save an awful lot going to an indie?? Personally on "special" bikes such as ours i'd always get the bigger jobs done at a known dealer, but everyone is different and some people don't seem to give two hoots about where things are done whereas others consider it not done at all if it hasn't got the right stamp in the book...
When I had the 1098R amongst other bikes with belts, I used to get the belts changed when I did the simple service. The details were mentioned above by @nelly. It helped when maintaining multiple bikes and balancing the cost of the major yearly services on each 1.
Thanks for the replies all. I'd subscribed to the thread but had no notifications so didn't realise there were any replies. That cost from Ducati Manchester was given to me last year when I took it for the oil service. I called up yesterday to double check and that price is now £450 (I'm guessing the first price of £700 was for valves too?). I was told fork seals were on their way out (maybe because the bike is rarely ridden?) which was circa £300. I spoke to Ducati John after reading lots of positives over the years about him. £260 for the same as Manchester. I'm sure he'd do a better job but I keep thinking the history being full main dealer may be quite important when I come to sell in 3 or 4 years. In fact, I'll only sell if there is something better looking, which I subjectively don't believe there is! Seech
Can I allay your fears on the main dealer only. There are some bloody good main dealers who absolutely love their ducati's and there are some that could change from ducati one day to honda the next and there is no issues as you would have never used them anyway based on reviews. Then you have some independents who are meh but some live and breath ducati, when I picked up my fugly, on the service history the most recent one with shims was from Baines racing. I can assure you that for most, it's specialists like these that are seen as a bonus for a bike and it's history. There a good number of these even to a point when chopping in your bike to an official dealer, they will see this as a positive too. I suspect many in here would view it the same. It's upto you, it's not just about cost but honestly a good independent often is seen a bonus over a poor or average main dealer
I do know that if you ever have a recall/out-of-warranty claim (failed dash, swollen tank etc.. Don't ask..), Ducati will want to see your service history. They don't like non-dealer servicing but there's wriggle room if its a respected workshop. What they really won't tolerate is a missed annual service. Even if it hasn't turned a wheel since it's last stamp they will insist that annual intervals have been kept to. Therefore if there is a hole in the schedule it could affect the resale value. At that mileage, its just a fluid change. No reason why it should cost anywhere near a grand.
Not sure what a service record has to do with with a swollen tank,,the material they use is not fit for purpose and should be replaced F.O.C
Not sure what it had to do with a blown dash either. Its not a component covered by servicing. But when I requested out-of-warranty assistance replacing the dash, the first thing they wanted was the service history. They picked up on the Louigi Moto stamps in the book because they're not an official dealer and they quibbled an annual service missed by the bike's original owner when he hadn't ridden it one year. I appealed and they eventually played ball (a bit) but they went through the service book with a fine tooth comb. Whether it'll be the same with tank replacement only time will tell but I get the impression its not the condition of the bike that's being judged so much as the commitment of the owner.
I always assumed taking my bikes to main dealers was the best option but my experience with several Ducati dealerships has changed my mind. There appears to be a real shortage of decent mechanics (staff have told me as much) around currently and dealers are struggling to keep hold of them. Every Ducati dealer I've done business with has been understaffed. There's a local indie near me who actually worked for DMC for a bit and says the wages available do not attract the kind of seasoned mechanics you'd want and expect to be working at a flagship dealer, so most of them are young. Fine for the newer bikes but if I had an older Ducati, that would ring alarm bells. My local Ducati main dealer actually let me ride away with my bike in an unsafe condition, TWICE and I will never use them again for that and several other reasons. So I've learnt the hard way, a main dealer is no guarantee of quality work. It varies massively between them, just as it does between independents. I'd actually prefer to see stamps from highly regarded specialists. The car world is different because there is a lot more money involved. Luxury brands like Maserati will be paying their mechanics a premium. I don't think the same carries over into 2 wheels.
Hmm. Ill probably get shot down here but, a full ducati service history doesnt really mean anything to me. As long as i can see proof of work being done, receipts being gathered and documentation of oil changes, brake pad changes etc etc (any kind of work done for that matter) it shows its been looked after....i didnt really ask about the serivce history on my hyper. Mine had a couple but in my time of ownership its not seen a dealer of any sort for a service as such (2 years ownership so far). In that time its been dyno'd (Throttle bodies balanced) - had 3 oil changes all with fully synthetic silkolene, and had countless upgrades of starter cables, slipper clutch, loads of ti and stainless replacement bolts, oil lines...i could go on.... My RSV4 gets the same attention. But, if it needs something i know i cant do or i dont have the tools or knowledge for, then it goes in. My rsv4 had its valve check last year...the only time its seen the inside of a dealer in the 6 years ive owned it. But, everything else thats been done to it (by me has been documented fully).
I'd agree with this. I'm happiest when buying if I see home servicing and chatting to the owner shows knowledge. Who cares most about a bike? Your 1198 is already getting on a bit (by main dealer standards) and you say you'll keep it for a few more years. Do many 10 year old Ducatis have exclusive main dealer histories? I would think not. I'm not sure I'd view cars any differently though.... Especially a Ford where I'd view a main dealer history as a very bad thing.....
