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Old 03-Jun-2005, 13:18
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pcn1 pcn1 is offline
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Reliability .....

This is just an open question. Now the newer bikes from Ducati are in the market place, ST3 and Multistrade etc, have Ducati made improvments over the well documented weakness of some of the older models ?
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Old 03-Jun-2005, 13:19
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beancounter beancounter is offline
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pcn1, you don't spend much time in the 749/999 section do you !
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Old 03-Jun-2005, 16:04
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ariel ariel is offline
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Ducati Reliability

In the last couple of years I have bought two new Ducatis i.e. Multistrada 1000DS and ST3.I have to say the problems I have had with both bikes mean that I would never buy a new Ducati again.
I am still waiting for my dealer to sort out the lumpy engine performance of the ST3 at low revs. I asked about this before I took delivery of the bike but was told that everything was OK, yet I could tell it was not running properly within a few minutes of setting off on my first ride.
The demo bike I rode tested before I put my order in had been modified and was up to standard.
This is on top of leaking coolant and flat battery. These last two problems have been sorted out now.
There are a couple of other minor faults which I won't go into but when you buy a new bike it's not on that you should have to put up with this.
The Multistrada had a leaking fuel tank, leaking oil pipes, grabby front brake mirrors that were flapping about all over the place.It was in the dealers for sorting at a time when I wanted to be out riding the thing.
In short I would advise against buying either of these two models.
Perhaps Ducatis are really "Kit bikes" and the trick is to buy a used one that has been sorted by a clever owner!
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Old 03-Jun-2005, 17:11
Red Steve Red Steve is offline
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I too have an ST3 purchased new in September last year.The problems I have had are:
1) A dead battery after 2 weeks.
2) The digital dash packed up whilst in France a week or so ago for the Moto GP at Le Mans...the bike failed to start and we failed to get to the race, (compo claim underway with Ducati UK for cost of the tickets)
3)Lumpy running at low speed. Dealer says thats the character of the bike but I'm not sure. Going to get Louigi Moto to look at it for an independent review.

Apart from the above a good bike but not what I would have expected from an £8k brand new bike.
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Old 03-Jun-2005, 18:50
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pcn1 pcn1 is offline
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So far my ST2 has been OK. I read a lot about the known faults and repairs, maintenance etc before purchase and was comftable about this because the bike was a used model in excellent condition. I also perform the simple maintenace items myself.
I have never owned a new bike, but would be very dissapointed if I suffered some of the faults that even the newer models seem to be effected by.
If Ducati could (and they should) sort out these issuies then they could sell more machines.
Just think, a bike that looks great, sounds great and has no reliability concerns !!
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Old 04-Jun-2005, 00:11
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ariel ariel is offline
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Hi Red Steve

Sorry to hear about your problems with the ST3. The lumpy running needs to be put right under warranty. This is a known problem and normally requires a single spring to replace the two weaker springs which close the valves and a new ECU. I would advise you to get your dealer on to this right away.
Regards
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Old 08-Jun-2005, 14:27
Micko Micko is offline
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Red Steve,

My ST3 had the valve springs done last week. Tickover had become very rough and it needed choke until the temp got up to 65 degrees. Following the installation of the new springs it was spitting back something awful on initial acceleration and on overrun. Today it is getting the ECU changeover done. Hopefully I will get it back this evening.
Other problems were very minor.
The lever adjustment dials were rusting – replaced.
Slight paint chip on the air duct on the side faring – side faring replaced.
Clocks do mist up in damp weather.
Other than that I have had no problems.

Ducati Dublin gave me a 600 monster for the couple of days, great little runner.

Micko
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Old 08-Jun-2005, 15:02
guest1 guest1 is offline
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Quote:
Originally posted by Micko
My ST3 had the valve springs done last week.

I am preparing myself to be blasted for this but......
Valve Springs? I thought they were secondary to the desmo system and would probably not have had presented the symptoms you mention?
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Old 08-Jun-2005, 15:22
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John W John W is offline
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In contrast I brought a new ST4S in April 2004, and have had no problems that I would attribute to bad build quality.
Sure, the thing loses its back brake due to the fluid getting cooked by the master cylinder being bolted to the engine cases, but apart from that, no problems at all.

I have a 2002 998 too and on a recent trip lost the seat lock for the second time
The previous owner also told me it ate the cam belts at 1k miles

As others have said the bikes do need a bit more tlc and cost more to service than a jap bike, but imo give back far more riding enjoyment.
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Old 09-Jun-2005, 01:02
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YMFB YMFB is offline
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I bought a pre-registered ST4 last August and have done 2500 miles on it which is mainly made up of two long journeys, one 500 miles the other 750 the balance of 100 mile weekend jaunts. So far so good, one flat battery after the winter but I bought an optimiser and that seems to have cured that issue. We just went to the TT and rode in the rain for nearly six hours and it didnt miss a beat. Maybe i have been lucky but I have had far more problems with my BMW 525 D, which has been back probably 15 times for warranty work.
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