Servicing in Scotland

I would go with Ducati Glasgow mate, always extremely helpful.

 

ERs racing at knockhill excellent service and know there stuff

 

Ducati Glasgow...... Top notch

 

And yes, it's all necessary. If you don't do the belts you risk them snapping and your motor being destroyed. Either that or someone knocking the cost of a belt service off the buying price should you wish to sell it.

 

if I left my bike to be serviced I would want the dealer to stick to what I ask for and not what ducati want.

 

Depends on service, if engine wise always have it done, if suspension and brake fluid etc well, they can be done self or later

 

Might want to take an ad out in the Sun or the Herald, hopefully that should cover it. As El Toro says, on the verge of over the top now...

 

I got my 1098 from Ducati Glasgow and used them for all my servicing since. When doing stuff myself the mechanics (when they are not too busy) are only too happy to show you what's involved in a particular procedure.

Harry in parts is top notch as are the rest of the team Martin has assembled there. Friendly, approachable and will go out there way to assist.

For me I want the shop to do what I ask it, example if I've just had to refill with coolant and done all the hydraulics a month earlier, I don't want the mechanics replacing it all again. So I tell them what I've done and they make minor adjustments to the schedule to accommodate me. Surely that's what personalized service is about?

No doubt there will be some who have bad experiences, that's part of the grief of being in that line.

All I can say is another all positive for Ducati Glasgow here

John

 

I couldn't agree with Old Jock more. Same experience here. Surely they should do what you ask them to? If nothing is specified then they do the service it's in for by the book. I've had nothing but excellent experiences with Ducati Glasgow and the mechanics are happy speaking to me whenever I've been in.

The first big service isn't likely to be due until Spring though as I'm not likely to hit the 6k miles until then. When I do, it's DG I'll be using.

Andy

 

Not one but two threads to answer!

I would have appreciated if you had spoken to me as the owner of this business, prior to posting these pictures here but since that time has come and gone, I was going to email you or call you directly but I am happy to respond here as it seems evident this forum is where you would prefer to air these views. I will copy this post and put it on the other thread(s) started on this topic so that both you and our other interested members can make up their own mind.

I must admit I am a little upset at the apparent venom behind some of your comments and your attempt to trash our name with comments such as "i'll never use Ducati Glasgow again" and "this is the first time they have been caught", at other points you claim it is not our fault yet you still persist in your attack towards us, of course rightly or wrongly, that's your prerogative but you are clearly doing your utmost to do as much damage to my business as possible and obviously I take that personally. (I've spent 11 years to get this business to this level, how would you feel?)


Also as a minor side note, I have spoken to George (our Master technician with 40 years experience) and he did not, as you suggest say it was fine to post pictures. However I do not have a recording of that conversation to prove to everyone otherwise so will draw a line under this element of the topic.


To clarify, your 999 is in fact our ex demonstrator from 2006 and does not have a full service history i'm afraid, it was sold to you as that i'm sorry but you will need to take that up with the seller. Although we have serviced it at points over the years, for half of its life we didn't even see it! That is only a partial service history.


I’ll say right away, it's also impossible for me to get dragged into a private sale between two individuals, i'll not do that for obvious reasons. From a legal perspective, you bought the bike privately 'sold as seen'. This should all have been confirmed between both parties concerned.


As a quick point, it’s very easy to both remove the tank and pump on the 749/999 range, it isn’t a PITA at all, in fact it’s one of the easiest bikes in entire range, we do them all the time!

Basically, there are a few reasons your tank could be in this condition: -
1) You're right, it might never have been opened and cleaned but knowing the way I / we do business I know that this is frankly an absolute impossibility.
2) At any point in the last year your tank could have been left with a part full fuel tank and this could have caused your problem. It doesn't take long to happen.
3) It could have been left in a wet, condensation filled garage all winter with the fuel tank open for months if the owner was trying to prevent this actually happening. Are you convinced of how it has been stored for the last winters?
4) It could have had the tank replaced during the last year or any part of its life and we wouldn't be any the wiser. Did the owner replace the tank to sell the bike on to you? Has it ever been damaged / crashed and had a replacement tank? Has one been bought on eBay from a 2002 model? You obviously won’t know this and frankly, neither do we!! You're not going to be told that if someone is trying to sell it are you??
5) You have to bear in mind that this machine although ultra low mileage is 7 years old, things like this can happen. It's not the end of the world and can be resolved.

Absolutely anything is possible yet immediately you jump to "it's the dealers fault".


Assuming it is the original tank (which is still in question): -the blame falls on the fact that both previous owners have clearly left the bike sitting for extended periods of time and this is potentially what has caused the issue. (someone else stated this exact fact on one of the threads) Cleaning the tank would not have arrested this problem, of course I agree we will have spotted the issue but it's up to the owner to do something on the back of that info. Some choose to ignore our advice in their own infinite wisdom. Also, this corrosion could have happened in this last year - how is that our fault? Although it looks bad, I would be willing to bet money it's just a little surface rust and old fuel gunge. I can see from our records it's had two batteries in the last year from total lack of use - I am told by the seller that that is exactly why he sold it to you!

Once oxidisation starts in a tank (a reasonably common issue on older metal tanked machines that are rarely used) it's a bit like a runaway train until it is stopped with petseal or some other type of treatment, which incidentally is very effective and will completely resolve this issue for you.

Your bike has covered only 4,600 miles in its 7 year life, of course the tank will have been cleaned during that time. (although we didn't see it between 2009 and 2012 so have no idea what was happening then.)

We gave it a safety check in 2012 when we sold it again but frankly we don't pull the tank apart for that. (pressures, fluid levels etc)

It next received a battery from us in June of last year as it was suffering from lack of use.

Then in January the customer asked us to do a very minor oil change service including plugs and a safety check as it had only covered 800 miles since he bought it in may, i'm sure you are well aware that this is not a full service by any stretch of the imagination. I can inform you that at the request of the customer we did not open the tank during this minor ‘oil’ service.


However controversial that may seem to you and how you clearly consider that to be ‘poor service’, I totally disagree. The truth is that on older machines, there has to be a justifiable expense on servicing in view of mileage and time covered. This is what George means when he says some things are done but others are not deemed necessary. It’s not cutting corners at the expense of the bikes’ health, it’s an attempt by us to keep our customers’ running costs as low as possible.
If the bike is worth £5k and each year, irrespective of mileage and we insist on £400-£700 of almost needless work being carried out, no one would purchase the older machines and those that own them would find it crippling!! Surely you understand there is a bit of give and take based on decades of hands on experience and common sense??


Simply put, our aftersales department will sometimes give the bikes more work than a service demands if the bike requires it but conversely the opposite also applies if a bike is not being used. That is common sense and works in our customers' favour.


Lastly it received another battery in May of this year, due again to deep discharging / lack of use prior to your purchase.

There are a multitude of reasons your tank could have rusted but the last thing you need to do is spend a fortune on another one, that’s a bit of an overreaction tbh. Clean the tank and pump out (they are both very robust), fit a new fuel filter and coat the inside of the tank with petseal (under £20), refit and forget about it as the chances are it will never cause you any further issues.


[FONT=&amp]And next time (albeit by your comments unfortunately I doubt there will be a next time), pick up the phone and talk to me. I’ve got the authority to do more than anyone in this business.[/FONT] and I could have helped!

Mart

 

I never said I know better than the manufacturer, I do know how much money I have to spend though and I know I regularly change my fluids,service my forks ,brakes clutch etc and replace my belts...now why would I want that done again????oh and my bike is out of warranty so I will decide what I want done to it.

 

spent 8 years in total at a small indipendant dealership(fiat the best). after warranty expired you can service accordingly relying on the tecs expiriance with no hard sell. fair game in the show room but not the service dept. dealer service says just that, not that every opperation is carryd out, if recepts are available saying work was done done whare proved to be otherwise you may have a point
dont get payd for saying this or know any of them personaly but i wouldnt go burrning any bridges, because in over 30 years in the motering trade you couldnt ask for better aftercare.
tho total pisser that your filters feckt.
get on the phone sort it oot!.