Riders Of Bristol

Yeah they've had my pani couple of times now.

 

Yep - i can see the roof of their gaff from my house...

 

Well, totally contrary to the numerous negatives said largely about Riders, in Bristol I've always found them to be a decent bunch, who have pretty much done what they said they would, when they said they would do it and have looked after any/all warranty issues I've ever had with three Multistradas owned to date.
Yes I would agree they might not be the cheapest, but as I see them, they are reliable and seem to know what they are about.
How well they would look after yours, assuming you've found the price within your range, give them a go and then make up your mind.
What's for certain here on this website, is you will always find some who like a dealership and others who don't, for myriad valid reasons.

 

Its not that i dont like them - 100 quid an hour seems a bit steep imo....

 

Ah - i was thinking....."fuck....fitting a full system to a v4 - seems like a thoroughly enjoyable weekend fitting something like that..."!

 

You seen the video of whats involved.... basically take bike more or less completely apart... must be 8 to 10 hours - so £800 to £1000 in labour there..

 

I'm dropping my Hyper to them on Saturday so they can tell me what their diagnostics say about my engine management, as the light is on since it temporarily died on Sunday. This is a test for their response to my problem, as it's 2 weeks out of warranty and my first visit to them. Hopefully half an hour - £49 - of their time will tell me that my exhaust valve was sticking...
If they do it for nothing to encourage my custom they'll have passed my test. But I'll be thinking very hard about whether to use them instead of Louigi Moto or CJS for anything I can't handle when the time comes...

 

Only experience was when my throttle went all haywire on and ride and I dropped in on a Sunday morning. They squeezed me in, temp fixed it (there was a recall due for the fault) and I took it back a few weeks later for replacement.

 

Had my last 3 Bikes from Riders Bristol, Jerry specifically, always been looked after well for servicing, warranties etc. Bit pricey but happy to pay given that they will likely have the bike Chopped back in 2 years for another one.

 

Well, John/Jon at Bristol Riders Service dept gets a thumbs-up from me today. We'd agreed that I drop my Hyper to them for the week so they could look at it as and when, as they were fully booked. The deal was to ask the ECU why I'd experienced an engine-light-on incident and to reset & forget if no actual problem. I hung around a bit waiting for my mate to pick me up and they popped out & said they'd check it while I waited as they weren't flat out. I sucked up the £49 for the nominal half hour to know that it was a MAP-sensor error.

I guess the verdict is; the people were great to deal with, they have only demonstrated enough skill to plug into the CAN bus for their £100/hr so I'm none the wiser as to skill/experience level. That hourly rate is too steep for me (or any normal person!), so I'm going down the route of looking at diagnostic software as I'm out of warranty, and will only use them if I have to...

 

Sadly i think that £100 per hour for a skilled technician is the going rate to pay wages, buildings, tools and downtime. Let alone the monthly fee to the manufacturers for diagnostic tools and access to their website manuals

 

It may be the going rate, but it is much more fun to moan about it! Especially if it it what Riders are charging!

 

He's got a bevel of his own, though. Or did have, last time I was down that way.

Anyway, he's serviced all my Ducatis in well over 100 000 miles worth (about 65k on current 748, 60k on previous one, then the 750SS, 900SS, ST2...)

 

Too right, I had a local guy fit my Termi 4Uscite V4S exhaust and it took him 2 days almost but it was his first time.

He said an expert could do it in one day easily.

Riders are average on price. If we want cheap servicing, buy a homosexual Suzuki. £100 an hour is fair enough in 2020 if you actually break it down over the last 20 years.

We own a premium brand in motorcycling and if you have a brand new model, I wouldn’t want a Ducati specialist who hasn’t been officially trained in the latest model, touching my bike just because he’s cheaper....

 

Hasn't he got a single and races it? 350 possibly? When I was last at Castle Combe for a race meeting, almost all of the Ducati singles had his sticker on.

 

Last time they had my scrambler in for a rear tyre change , they told me my ABS wasn't working , I had switched it off , they also told me that I had excessive movement in my Steering , I had to explain to the them that this had been reported six months previously , and had been in the workshop and I was told it was perfectly normal , I would expect more from Ducati specialists .

 

Yeah, he might have. I remember a lovely little single in his workshop.

Personally, my view would be that he's forgotten more about Ducatis than the guys at a main dealership would know, factory-trained or not. But it's something each owner has to make his mind up about.

And I have to say, to suggest that because you own a Ducati £100/hr is an appropriate price because it is a 'premium' brand, well, I'm lost for words!

But again, your dough; your decision.