The few ducati i have owned i had a relationship with in biking terms, much more involved than other brands ive owned, not sure why? Apart from the 796, that didnt do much for me, and i never got close to it.
I get the relationship thing (daft as it sounds). My 848 EC SE is gorgeous. Handles brilliantly. Goes just as fast as my old JIL4's. And sounds awesome. It makes me smile when I look at it and start it up. But it should be as reliable as any other bike on the market. They shouldn't be forever being looked at by dealers under warranty. Nor should they be taken apart in bits just cos you were caught in a shower for two minutes. That's not character. That's shit product build. Cheap and cheerful cars on the market, which are half the price of a Ducati, last a damn sight longer without problems. Why can't we expect the same of bike manufacturers? It's not as if the technology is brand new.......it's been out there for years, hasn't it?
Well you say that. But how unreliable has your 848 been? I accept that they sometimes have some teething problems, but after that? Mine have all been fine.
I guess I'd call it 'garage time', not dealers or breakdowns, just that feeling you get when you go in the garage, and run a soft cloth over it, and you haven't ridden it
My 848 has been ok so far. Thank God :wink: I was just making the point that no one should accept that Ducati's will always have problems and thats ok because that gives their bikes character, like a lot of people on here seem to. If a product is constantly crap then its a crap product and people should vote with their feet. Only that way will manufacturers learn to design and build good quality product. And if they don't they'll disappear and will have their place taken by a company that learns from their mistakes.
I say this to people who complain about Ducati reliability: how many ten year old Japanese bikes to you see at meets? How many ten year old Ducatis?
New models are rushed out early without proper product testing, I think that's the problem ultimately
Well I've been keeping an eye on this thread over the last few days, I've been away to the bike show since Saturday, I have to say I didnt expect this kind of responce. Some have been helpful and others like the "Well dont buy one then :/" just seem like an insult on starting the thread. I know if I snapped some of u in half you would be red white and green with Ducati written all the way through, But I can help thinking deep down in side even you think saying a bike has "charicter" is justy a cop out for something thats unreliable and poorly developed. Years ago I had a Mini that had "charicter" and wouldnt look at a puddle with out spluttering to a stop, but that only cost me £400. The thing thats bugging me is I've spoken to 2 Ducati dealers / sales reps now (one yeasterday at the bike show) and asked them about all the recalls I keep hearing about and problems that ppl are having with things like dash boards and kill switches....ect, and neither of them would comit to saying yes Ducati have sorted it out now, All I get is......and wait for it the Warenty that comes with a new Multistrada is extendable and very comprehensive. I had a sit on the new Grandterismo and say always I cant help thinking I realy want one. but with that said I also had a sit on the new Tiger 1050 explorer and the Yamaha Tenere Explorer and although I liked them both I didnt like the larger front wheel, I do alot of riding the twisties around cumbria so want something that will turn in better so the Multi is still top of my list. I'm going to work out if I can post a pole on here and see what you guys realy think of owning a multi.
I've owned about 100 bikes over the last 36 years covering well in excess of 500,000 miles in that time; for some reason tend to keep Ducati's longer than most. The Multi is quite simply the best all round bike out of the lot. Mine is a 2010 model which some people say is the more problematical, not from my experience, mines been great. It does 160 mph, it's comfortable, handles well, looks good, and makes me laugh and smile. It can commute, can be mental, or tour round Europe and it's got soul. It's crap off road though in comparison to a big KTM. I've ridden a 950 KTM through some stupid stuff whereas the Multi just doesn't feel right off road with that 17 inch front wheel. So as long as you don't want to go off road it's THE BIKE. I've got no intentions of selling mine
I have an `11 plate MultistradaS with ABS (standard suspension). First ducati after 3 BMW GS`s 1150 and 1200 and 1200 ADV. The MTS is the BEST bike by a million miles. I did the sportbike thing in the past but can`t stand the riding position of yer `blade etc. Mine cost 12k in March `11 with heated grips(a must have:biggrin. done 12.5k miles and it has never missed a beat. Thats in sun and really heavy rain in Germany...:frown: Recalls: the ecu update for the red switch warning,rear brake(still not perfect) BUT I don`t really use the rear much. The coolant change is being arranged after I called in to dealer this morning. Thats it. Forums are great but as has been stated previously I find there is generally a lot of negative stuff on `em. take a look at the GS forum and it`s a miracle BMW sell any! I can`t envisage getting shot of mine for quite some time as only the KTM 1190 is of interest apart from another MTS and even thats £13+ with options. Still a few probs with new one anyway , I can`t understand how ducati haven`t fixed the centrestand issue on the `13 model. Anyway end of the day I personally would and have said to several people you will not regret buying an MTS.
no insult intended. Not being funny, but if you went to a Yamaha forum and asked if it was ok to buy a Yamaha, they'd probably say 'yes'. If you went on a Triumph forum and asked about Triumphs, they'd say 'yes, buy one'. There are loads of posts here from people who've had issues with their multis. Too many to count and certainly too many for people who don't have multis to wade through. The common view seems to be: they have problems, some big, some small we love our multis they do everything except off-road most mutley owners would buy another if they needed to the panniers leak earlier bikes seem to have more problems than the later ones - aka Ducati are sorting the issues Did I miss anything? Ultimately, you have to decide if the bike is for you. Asking a bunch of people on a forum if you should spend fifteen thousand pounds to buy the bike that they have bought is most likely going to result in a 'yes'. After all, if they said 'no', they're publicly admitting to having made a mistake, which would make them look silly and probably affect their residuals on an eventual sale.
I would find it surprising if hugely disgruntled Ducati owners would even want to waste their time interacting on a Ducati forum. You're bound to find the people on here who are most passionate about the marque, so any opinions you get are going to be biased. And obviously, it's the go-to place for trying to sort niggles or get advice when things aren't working. So a forum is not an objective place to come to for a viewpoint. But I see no reason why a Multi should be a bag of problems - none of the other Ducatis are. If I wanted a Multi and had the cash, I wouldn't hesitate to buy one because in my 27 years of Ducati ownership and the 9 different ones I have owned (but that's not every 3 years - I had many of them simultaneously), they have not spent all their time going to garages for anything other than routine maintenance or repairing crash damage. However, I would pay big attention to where I bought any Ducati from, as I think this is key to a good ownership experience.
I heartily agree with the comment made by Gliddofglood about where you buy your Ducati,or for that matter,any motorcycle.I was more than happy to buy an ex dem Ducati from the dealer who had been servicing my bikes.I knew that if anything went wrong with my purchase it would be fixed without any hassle.
re comments I would say they have ALL been helpful then. I hope you do not go through with the pole idea. There is no excuse for unreliability and if my Multi was so, then I would get rid quickly.
What a big girls blouse. Do not buy a multistrada expecting jap reliability or running costs, it wont happen. What you will get is a sublime riding experience that the competition cannot match. You would have to be really unlucky to buy a pile of shite but you may get the odd issue and that is why a warranty might be a good bet. They arent cheap but you cant expect a champagne lifestyle on lemonade money, you have to accept one or two issues might crop up, go into the situation with an appreciation of this and all should be well, youll be giggling like a good un every time you take her out.
SiRich you just beat me to it - I second your comments. A Ducati is for real men. Boys may shop elsewhere!
