My 916 has been into my Ducati dealer 3 times in the last 18 months at a cost of nearly £500 a pop............ (and I thought my RD350 was expensive to keep on the road). This in my life has become unsustainable. It's off the road again due to burning oil so I have the heads off now after a quote of £1200 from the dealer or £650 from CJS. About to investigate this myself when I get a few special tools at the end of the month (when I get paid) which should save me loads in the long term. I'm investigating further savings on parts after a post on one of my threads about not paying VAT in Jersey, so, I'm awaiting a reply to an email sent to Riders in St. Hellier if they will send Ducati bits to me here in NI.
You could save some £'s by doing the fluids, oil etc. yourself. There's only two factors... cost of the parts and cost of the labour. Parts for the 'stretta motor are pretty expensive though and that makes up a fair slice of the bill. Save on the labour and just get the more specialised operations done and you save. Depends on what you want to do and if you have the time to do it. I do belts and valves, fuelling etc. for quite a few customers whilst they're happy to change the oil, brake fluids, coolant etc.
Apparantly by not having full ducati history effects the resale of a ducati, even tho it's got full history with receipts. well that's what I've been told a few times and by people looking at mine, I just don't think spending £700 on a bike only worth 3.5 k is worth doing
A good service history is obviously worth having when coming to resale, but don't get hung up on it being the be all and end all. Having the bike looked after will reap the benefits whilst YOU OWN the bike. If neglected or not set up right, they can be notoriously finicky and is one of the reasons they used to get such a slagging off for reliability etc. saving money now and then missing that sunny Sunday when you have a day pass ain't worth the aggro. changing oil and fluids isn't rocket science, changing belts isn't too difficult. Valves, fuelling etc. is doable to but you need to be clear where saving a few quid negates the benefits of having it done correctly and also on your own abilities/ equipment to do the work properly. Having any work you've done checked over whilst the bike is in a workshop doesn't have to mean that the service history is any less complete.
I cant do any work on them myself, haven't a clue how to do it. Not it tight, but £700 is a lot more than I expected ive always used jhp for the ducati's I've owned, but never been this much. Looks like I'll have to find an independent to do it thanks for replying
Sounds like JHP are taking the mick! I've just had my 1198 serviced by Italia Moto at Lincoln (see thread service myself or dealer). Had a full service so all fluids, filters, coolant, brakes and had the belts and tensioner bolts changed then had a new left panel and still got change from £730! Dropped off in the morning and picked up same day. Excellent service and customer care
