Ducati Sporting Club UK > Model Specific - Discussion, Technical Problems and Help > 999 / 749 > sump smashing on 99905 model

i have this years model and while riding at high speed i cornered. on doing this the sump smashed causing the oil to spill out over the back wheel. this caused me to nearly crash. Ducatti fixed the bike but are deniing that it is a fault. to draw attention to this dangerous problem on these models i am looking to see if anyone else has had the same problem.
the dealer fixed it as per ducatis instruction. they raised the ride hight on th back and lowered the forks which totaly upset the handling of the bike. on getting the bike back i immediately knew it wasn't right. the dealer had told me this has happened to 3 other uk owners. if any are on line or you know of someone let me know as ducati are denying there is a problem.

[swannymere]

Welcome to the madness,don't recall anyone else bringing up this problem,but someone will probably let you know,sooner or later.
Whilst your here,it's customary for board virgins to get a round in,mine's a Gin & Tonic with lime,Thanks

[Nigel C]

Yes it has been on here before please read this

http://www.ducatisportingclub.com/xm...10635#pid87826

[Real McCoy]

I rang evey dealer in the country when it happend to me, most had heard of it happening, some had more than one bike back.

Most of the dealers were in the North (hilly roads etc) I came across over 10 casses of this happening.

Contact Riverside as they now doan exchange sump plug that is flat on the bottom, cant believe there hasnt been a recall but there you go, maybe there waiting till someone is killed

[andyb]

Im sorry but how do you smash your sump on a road?

[Gizmo]

On an 04 mono the rear spring is 64 nm as stock, even I run a firmer spring - 70nmm and i'm 65 kg and can bottom the rear in a big dip. 05's get heavier springs (70nm for a mono) but may run a different leverage ratio. Like Karl I ride north Yorks, lakes bumpy stuff and need the suspension to work so its a fine balance between having it soft and not bottoming. thats been the same for every bike I've owned although none have grounded before but that might be down to them always being oversprung.

if you are heavier, ride bumpy roads and land in compresion dips and haven't put the correct spring/preload on or lifted your ride height theres a chance it'll do it, Comes down to correct geometry and suspension settings really. I doubt it'll do it cornering as fairing would grind first.

[andyb]

There is such an infinite number of adjustments on these bikes, that you have to set it up individually.

I would go as far as to say, anyone that owns a Ducati should have it set up for themselves straight away.

[Gizmo]

Originally posted by andyb
There is such an infinite number of adjustments on these bikes, that you have to set it up individually.

I would go as far as to say, anyone that owns a Ducati should have it set up for themselves straight away.

Agreed Andy but the good old owners handbook doesn't say that it might be unsafe. I always aceept that i have to swap springs out as i'm not the average weight bike makers use for suspension but to spend 10 -20 K on a bike then have to work on it to a lot of folk is crazy, they just expect that it'll work and be safe to use. Ultimate performance does require adjustments but should you need to do that to have a safe bike?? the real problem lies with the deep sump bit which does hand down a long way below belly pan.

As bikes leave factory the front is quite high as is the rear so in theory provided spring isn't bottoming out it should be ok, if you drop forks through 4 lines and set rear to 285 then i guess thats the owners fault if it does catch.

[Real McCoy]

Mine bottomed out after wheelying over a crest, the roads round here are a lot more undulating than the south, were not making this $hit up Andy

There must be a problem becouse Ducati repaired the bikes, some were a lot worse than just replacing the plug

[Real McCoy]

PS ALL the bikes are checked by Ducati techs before any repairs are undertaken