An '04 749?

having had some defective parts replaced on both my present & also my last bike, I am full of praise for my dealer.
They collected the bike for me & also returned it to me, as I couldnt afford to take time off work.

Only downside was NO loan bike for longer than 1 day.

Maybe Ducati UK should assess the longer term view of the 'customer care' side of things, and at least provide a low spec model for customers who may/will be without their bike whilst a warranty problem is rectified.

C, thinking about changing her role to customer care:o
Peter/Iain - hope you are listening to these lads:puzzled:

edited: contact Peter Brooking, head of aftersales (nice bloke) at Ducati UK - or his colleague Iain Rhodes:
Avebury House, 201-249, Avebury Boulevard, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire MK9 1AU Tel: 0845 1222996

[Edited on 23-3-2005 by CK and AK]

Alan - I've just seen your new mood:lol::lol:
made me chuckle anyway, nice one.

Ducati Manchester have a bunch of demo bikes available but they can't be used as courtesy bikes. I've asked before when my bike has gone in for a service/setup. It's very frustrating.

I am really really trying to take a pragmatic approach to this, but seeing as the bike is, for me, a major investment then obviously my emotions do get the better of me once in a while.
At one stage I had even thought of cutting my losses and trading in for a honda blade, but it's the soul of the duke that makes me stick at it.
I even mused about making a statement with the bike and having it blown up on some men and motors type prog, just to try and get a point across.
There is no emoticon for my current mood.

lets not forget though, even Honda are far from perfect;)

you know the Honda -

that took 30 years to figure out how to make a camchain tensioner work or that chocolate wasn't the best material for camshafts on the first VFs.
plus big ends on CXs
cranks on CBX 750s
valve gear on CBX 1000s
early 'blade exhausts that paint flaked off almost imediately

and the Honda that still puts rubber brake hoses on it's sports bikes.

My bike has just had its 12 month service and the dealer said my fromt brakes were binding on slightly, so took the pads out and applied copperslip grease to the back of them, and the pin and the clip. I hadnt noticed them binding on but did get some brake judder on the way home from the service so I took the pads out and cleaned off what I though was excess copperslip (a tiny amount had gone on the braking material.) Ive been out on the bike and they seem fine now but why did the dealer look at them in the first place. was he just being good at his job or did he know something we dont ? The spaces for the pads do seem to hold the dust !

Could be a coincidence I guess? I've only done 1600 miles on my bike from new, so I'd be surprised if my brakes were binding due to the volume of brake dust being trapped somewhere. On your evidence, it sounds like a poor design if brake dust can cause binding problems :o

I was recently told that Ducati Manchester no longer do test rides or courtesy bikes full stop!

I believe they had a bike nicked last year, but surely you should let people test a bike? They used to charge 20 quid a go but at least you could.

My mate has had two bikes from them so far, gets all his servicing etc done there and buys aftermarket bits and bobs such as jackets etc and they still wouldn't let him test ride a bike that he actually wanted to buy!

Twin fan why should you call them (I know the answer) but they should be doing all the chasing daily and keeping you informed. You gave over a load of your hard earned to them the supplier you now as the customer should be treated better.

Personally on recent experience the apathy stems from MK down to the dealers. I paid for a termi exhaust 6 months ago, in december Im told dealer has it. Turns out when I want it fitted they never had it. Termignoni haven't even made the cpu yet as there are problems, dealer can't tell me anything.
Me (not dealer) rings Ducati UK ask to speak to Georgina who deals with parts etc, left my number 4 times, no call back. Eventually 5th time lucky, she doesn't know will call me back.
Nothing.
Fire of email and letter to MD of Ducati UK about all the issues and Georgina not ringing back, suggested if she had no news why not just ring and say so - GOOD SERVICE?
No reply. Biut I know she has a meeting at Dealers next day but not connected.
Two days later dealer rings, now remember this part isn't apparently made or avaliable anywhere - pick your bike up next week Ducati UK are trying to get the part in time etc etc.

Point is, if they value my custom why not respect my custom? Its not a perfect world shite happens but keep us informed and most of the anger / frustration etc is diluted.

Sorry, rant over.:flame:

mines just clocked up 2,300 miles and doesnt get used in the winter / rain etc so it should suffer from caliper corrosion etc. If it makes you feel any better I know that at least one Ducati UK employee does read this forum and word does get back to the factory about what is written on here.

I'm well aware that at least one person at DUK reads this forum...

Are we suggesting that trapped brake dust is causing the seizure?

Does it state anywhere in the manual that the calipers/pads should be regularly scrubbed?

I'm getting very, very worried now :puzzled::(

I'm not suggesting anything khu. If 1600m of brake dust is the cause in my case, that's a seriously cr4p design...

[Edited on 23-3-2005 by Twinfan]

I'd agree, mines done 2100 miles, and I haven't cleaned the pads or calipers at anytime! I am getting the judder when braking, and I'd say its more than occassional, perhaps its time to get off my arse and start scrubbing! If only to give me some peace of mind... :o

[Edited on 23-3-2005 by khu996]

Excellent point well made jobr. It's all about customer expectation management. If the situation changes, a proactive phone call adjusts the customers expectation and there's no surprises. Customer stays happy (in most cases, there are unreasonable customers too .. not saying anyone on here is mind, Twinfan knows my feelings ...)

It's a basic customer service premise ..

;)

Dont like the sound of all this!!

I've only had my 04 749s for a week with no problems, but i DO NOT like the idea of the front brake siezing!!

Tell you all something, if i get as much as a sniff of a problem, i'll be handing it straight back for a ZX10!!

:puzzled:

No doubt yours came from Charles Hurst in Boucher Road, check up the thread to necroscope(??????) his came from Hurst's unless you went to Ducati Dublin, don't know how old his is but they may of got 2 in at once?????????

Your right it is from Hursts, only had 300 miles on it!!

Maybe thats why i got a good deal on it- 'cause they know the brakes are dodgy!!

:o

And it is about one year old now!!! Which seems to be around the age of the bikes that are giving the trouble!!

Maybe i should approach them about this??

[Edited on 23-3-2005 by mab]

[Edited on 23-3-2005 by mab]

Mine goes back to the dealer a week Friday for its first service, I am going to quote a few experiences as reported on here and ask for the brakes to be fully checked etc. But like others I believe the onus is now on Ducati Uk to quickly report back to Twinfan and either take action or issue some form of clarification on what has happened to put peoples minds at rest.

I'll certainly let you all know what I'm told (as soon as I'm told SOMETHING...)

Any update on your bike necroscope ?

[Edited on 24-3-2005 by Twinfan]

Any update on yours twinfan?

I have spoken to ducati manchester regarding the judder I was getting at the weekend. They are unaware of any recalls etc but suggested I get the bike to them as soon as so they can inspect it. I must admit I did get the impression they appreciated the enormity of anything associated with malfunctioning brakes :)

No update on mine yet JPM. I'll be ringing DM in a short while to see what they have to say. I'll update this post when I've spoken to them...

Hmmm... So we have Stuart calling the same dealer as you Twinfan, and they seem to be blissfully unaware of any problem?

Well they're unaware of any recalls (which there aren't) but they have suggested he get them checked ASAP. That's about all you could expect really as there is no official word as yet.

Am i right in saying the 749/999 use the same discs/ calipers and master cylinder ?? if so has there been any 999 with the same problems ? :cool:

Well the R's don't use the same calipers, as you know

Sure its all the same for the 999 bip and the S ? But not the R :P But why only 749 :puzzled:

If we're talking about a batch of faulty parts there is an explanation. The way the factory works, it builds certain numbers of bikes at a time. One possibilty is that it was 'UK 749' day at the factory. They were building Darks, Bips and Ss for the UK market and during that time the pallet/box/crate of faulty parts is delivered to the assembly line. As the bikes are built it's a random call as to which bike gets a faulty part. For example, mine seems to have get a faulty RHS calliper but necroscope has got a faulty LHS and RHS.

It's probably a small number of bikes that have been affected, but 3 on this site makes it relatively common.

As far as I'm aware, all 749/999 models use the same braking setup except the 'R' models have the radial callipers. I think they all use the same master cylinder and discs?

I've just spoken to DM and my brakes got sent to the factory last week. However, the factory has now passed them on to Brembo...

So I'm still no closer to finding out exactly what was at fault, or what Ducati are prepared to do about my damaged bike. I guess at least another week will have to pass while they (and Brembo) work something out.

On the plus side, Ducati UK have agreed to supply me with a loan bike (if my insurance will cover it). I'm going to check that out now but it looks like I'll have an '03 Monster 1000 to tide me over :)

At least its good news on the loan bike if a bit slow in MHO.

Trouble is with Easter now its likely to drag again and you want answers.

Wahey!! About time!!

At least you now know that they are taking action. To be honest if it was a faulty part then this is exactly the path it would have to take (give or take a few weeks ;) ) so that's good news.

It's positive.

Partial result then TF. Best of luck with the rest of it.
Does that mean others should expect - nay - demand, the same treatment?

Well if a loan has been offered I would say that has to be a good sign of some acceptance of fault IMO.

Well it's been given as a 'gesture of goodwill', which I am glad to recieve and happy to accept :)

If the brakes have been sent to Brembo, then to me that indicates that Ducati feel there is a fault with them. I guess Brembo will need to confirm that's the case, see exactly what the fault was, and see how big an issue the problem is. The interesting bit after that is 'who pays for my damaged bike'?????

necroscope - sorry for the thread hijack! I hope you get your bike sorted soon, which you should do given that you were lucky enough not to crash.

no worries Twinfan, looks like the forum is doing it's job.
On the subject of insurance for the courtesy bike.... when I had the ECU replaced Hurst's offered me the R6 if I would sort out the insurance. However, my insurer's weren't interested, told me that it should be insured by the lender. Phoned Hurst's who after a bit erring and hmmming said ok. no problem. This time round Hurst's didn't even mention insurance. So, it could be down to DM, if your insurers don't play ball. Plus you can always mention that Hurst's in Belfast were happy (in the end) to cover the insurance. Seems to me that businesses always start of with a minimal offer and then you need to haggle!
Good luck!

Cheers matey.

My insurers will cover me and another bike, but they won't cover a Monster :puzzled: Because it's classed as a roadster i.e. a different style of bike they won't cover it. Bizarre, as the bike is less power and worth less cash than my 749S!

I'm waiting to see what else DM can offer me, and it looks like they've just sold the Monster I was going to have anyway!