jhsracing.co.uk - Bristol
wlracing.com - Oulton Park
gtecperformance.co.uk - Stoke Albany,Nr Market Harborough,Leicester.

I rate this thread a 5 :)

More F words in one thread than i've seen on the whole forum in a year LOL

I like the bit about . . .
 

"get Khushy to do it" - LOL!!!!

But in REAL terms - I'd like to see another "customer" maintained bike as good and as well prepared as mine - its actually not that difficult or expensive to look after your own!

OK I am no race mechanic - but anyone who has seen my bikes (I hope) will agree they are VERY well cared for.

Its not difficult - why dont we spend some of our energy teaching each other Ducati maintenance - I would be up for that (LEARNING) and that would be a REAL benefit for the DSC members - rather than all the bull*it that goes on here most of the time.

I have also often offered and helped out other owners with general work on their bikes - the offer is still there as is the use of some of the specialist tools I have acquired over the years.

Just think, if we all acted as "club" we could save a bundle?!?!?!? Think of what you could spend that extra cash on - track days, bling, more track days etc etc

I would still only allow a specialist to do the shims/rockers etc - until I learn how to do it - I know that some people here can. EVERYTHING else - I will have a go at - knowing that it will be done properly without major expense - safely and to the standard that I am happy with.

Khushy

Have you got a mathesis tester khushy?

sorry . . .
 

no I havent!

Khushy

If somebody in the southeast could show me how they do the belts, shims and rockers on a 4 valve pre testeretta engine i'd be greatfull. So if anybody wants to let me stand by while they do theirs please let me know.

Excellent, a lets drive Nelly from the DSC thread.

There has been somu unadulterated ******** in this thread.

Khushy, whatever your gripes with dealers and servicing this I feel isn't the thread to air them on.

Nelly can't win here, on the one hand we ALL know what a cracking service he provides whether it's for you 583 Monster or 996R and everything in between.

The guy goes well beyond the call of duty for no premium and often very little thanks.

He quoted what he was asked for subject to the information given, a more vanilla quote you will not get.

A 999 is a specialist bit of kit, how about someone ataches the completefactory specified 12k schedule for Daz's bike and we'll see the scope of the work, as that what he has been quoted on.

We have all in the past cut bills by skipping certain bits that aren't essential due to time, miles etc .. but thats not what daz asked for.

There is no way that Nelly would be quoting £300 more than the likes of Ducati Leeds and Glasgow if they have answered the same question.

Just my opinion .... and if you don't like it, i really don't give a flying f***, this place disgusts me at times.

Well said Dibble, a bit more eloquent than my comments earlier.

I have no gripes . . .
 

£830 for a service is taking the p*ss - no question.

Maybe its time to shake things up and start working together as members of this forum/club to help eachother save some money and gain some useful knowledge during Ducati ownership - thats what other clubs do. Workshops etc!!

MAYBE THEN DEALERS WOULD BE ABLE TO HOLD A GUN TO OUR HEADS WHEN SERVICE TIME COMES ALONG!!!!

It seems to me that certain dealers/service bods associated with Ducati think they have a monopoly - thats why they take the p*ss out of all of us. The hero worship and clique that goes on here does not help everyone else at all.

If you want to join the Nelly/JHP etc fan club - I am sure they will be delighted to take your money - but I for one refuse - they are not that good and as far as I am concerned - their customer service/knowledge is sh*te - except for a few specialist areas - I can do a better quality job myself.

Why do you think Nelly goes "out of his way" as you say - he is a business man first and foremost - he needs to make money - he aint a charity - thats for sure (£830!!! LOL).

The other thing is - if you only want people here to agree with everything that you say - you need to get real and come back to planet earth - you are dreaming buddy - it will NEVER happen.

Others may not say what they feel - but I would say that most agree with what has been said especially with this particular post!!!

Those FEW that have disagreed - I assume only to remain popular with the worshipers - seem only to be able to make personal attacks as to my abaility to service a bike - and they dont even know me - have never seen my bikes - more fool you!!!

I for one will continue to say what I think is right - thats what a public forum is all about - so if you dont like it - you know what you can do!!!

Khushy

Doogalman . . .
 

If I knew how to do that job - I would be delighted to help out.

Should you successfully find someone to show you what to do - can I come along - would love to learn!

Khushy

Khushy,

If you want to rally round, run workshops, educate the masses, assist people with getting their bikes up to a certain standard, then great, all power to you.

Like most things in life though a general confidence with things manual and mechanical is required, I for one don't have that, I have undertaken tasks on my bike that i may not have done so in the past usually as i have a spanner in one hand and my mobile jammed in my ear as either Nelly, KeefyB or Rattler has tried to talk me through what I'm doing, I've never seen an invoice for it though ....

I have also on numerous trackdays been able to assist non DSC members by calling on DSC help and getting issues resolved, I've had help from Nelly, JHP and even P&H, yet to see an invoice for that either ....

Value is added in so many different ways and assistance is priceless.

But to vilifie Nelly for answering a question is short sighted mate.

Nelly has a shop to run, his own bills to pay and a shedload of knowledge, his customer service is second to none and to caim you are more expert / knwledgable is just a tad arrogant.

Do you in your chosen profession not expect a premium for your expertise or do you just work at lower rates than all your competitors because your conscience says profit is bad ???

When i shop at certain places I pay a premium because I know I'm getting more han just the initial service, that goes for all things I have, the cheapest service may be adequate, but it may not be the best.

Like it or not the Ducati motorcycle is a premium brand, much the same way BMW, Mercedes and Audi are, all with c£100 per hour labour rates, we knaow what we are buying into.

Reinds me of those glammed up Footballers wives wannabes "all fur coat and no knickers".

I work hard for my money but also believe that value is more important than cost with some things.

I haven't knocked your mechanical abilities, i have no idea what they are, but as has been suggested why not PM daz and offer to do the work for him ???

Then he can save a load of money and we can all move on ...

Dibs

Dibble . . .
 

you need to remove your head from Nelly's arse and think about the bigger picture. Nelly this - Nelly that - are you on commission?

If Daz was as happy as you seem to be with Nelly - he would not have asked for opinion in such a public way.

One man's opinion leads to a rather healthy debate which leads in turn to some other options for Daz - which is what this thread is all about - what are my other options???

Get off your high horse and see the bigger picture.

8-)

Khushy

Kushy, I would love to be in the situation where i am happy to do the top end stuff. I have started another thread in 916/996 section with regard this, who knows something may come of it. This is the only bike i've ever had to have someone service for me.
Even if i never did the shims myself it would be great to know that i was anle to.

Doogalman . . .
 

I agree - would love to have the ability to do that job myself.

With the right tools it cant be that hard.

I bet someone somewhere would teach us - then we could all chip in for a box of Shims and help eachother out and save a load of £££.

Please let me know if you find someone.

Khushy

Khushy,

I choose to spend my money with Nelly because I get true value.

When that changes I will move on and withdraw such obvious support, but I know I am one of many that entrust him, its not having my head up his arse, its supporting someone that I believe in.

Daz asked the question here not because he was unhappy with Nellys answer per se, but because he found it shocking, and as Nelly has stated, he just answered the question he was asked, so why we are getting hung up on his quote is beyond me, if what he has quoted is ithin the guidelines set down bu DUK in connection with the work asked for then so be it.

Daz is quite rightly free to seek a cheaper alternative, but as has been stated the £830 is "worst case scenario" not a fxed price, likeliehood is it will be less as "worst case scenarios" rarely end up being the reality.

How much worse would it be to get quoted £500 and then get a £900 bill because the worst had come true and you were never aware it could be that bad ???

Looking at the bigger picture works both ways Khushy ..... :)

Dibs

To Daz . . .
 

If you think that the comments made about the £830 service and subsequent comments about service etc - are harsh/uncalled for - why dont you nip things in the bud and delete this thread - I am sure that would make a few people happy?

Khushy

Will do mate.
By the way, my wife used to work for a Harley Davidson dealership that charged £75 / Hour. Typical service charged 3 hour. Good techie used to be able to bang them out in less than 45 min. Robbery, She has since moved on.

To Dibble . . .
 

If you think that the comments made on this thread about service, prices, poor old Nelly etc are uncalled for - why dont you use your talents and influence with the webteam and get this thread deleted.

You seem to be getting really upset!

I just think its hilarious 8-)

Khushy

who would it please, I have no issue with someone challenging something they find expensive, but the uneccesary haranquing of the supplier is OTT.

maybe what Daz should do is contact all the alternatives, ask them the full price warts and all service cost then post them up, true transparency .....

not upset, just find it all uneccesary, and as for the WT & MT, leprosy would be more popular than me in those circles mate ....

Dibble . . .
 

why do you feel that you should be answering for Daz/Nelly???

I dont get it - are you on commission - maybe you are Daz - maybe you are infact Nelly - who knows?

8-)

Khushy

I'm just suggesting alternatives mate, or maybe that would only serve to prove that things aren't as you claim .. and you wouldn't want that would you ...

Am I Daz or Nelly, hell no, that would involve living north of Watford, get a grip man ... !!!

What have I claimed . . .
 

you need to get your facts straight!!!

All I said and still say is that £830 for a service is taking the p*ss + stealers are f*cking useless (in general terms) . . .

I am not out to PROOVE anything - LOL!!!

8-)
Khushy

nothing "general" about that mate....

so stop backtracking before you fall out of the patio doors and into the garden ...

hey guys, i have not posted this thread on here to upset any one ,but just to get an idea of what people are paying for there servicing ,,,ive heard nellys reputation and workman ship is second to none but that is not the problem.there is no way on this earth that i could ever afford the prices of main dealers being just a joe bloggs factoryworker and the reason why most people dont moan about the high prices of servicing at main dealers is because money is not a problem and have very good jobs and have there own business wich is all well and good

Duc Daz, i'd second that.

daz, you haven't upset anyone, and looking to get maximum value for money is quite right.

you'd be surprised the professional scope of the DSC with everything from warehouse oprators at Tescos, Postmen and factory worker like yourself all the way up to MD's and Lord rattler (ahem .. lol).

none of us take money lightly mate .. just look at the DD debate about the cost at Donington and the whole one race scandal .....

this is probably the tightest bike club on the net !!

keep aking your q's, and you'll keep getting answers mate ..... if i knew somewhere cheper i trusted and coukd get the same job done, i'd use them as well ...

good luck mate.

Wasn't there talk from Ducati of getting service costs and time down to a level of the jap 4. Allbeit with future models.

that would mean getting serviced 3 times eavery 12k rather than twice, as most Jap bikes run 4k intervals.

also IL4's are generally cheaper to maintain ....

I'm sure as the engines get more advanced we will see some change but on many of the legacy models we are stuck with what we have to work on ...

Serviceing costs are the biggest obstacle to people buying dukes and the factory are aware of it.
MDracing for me for the bits i am not happy doing.

Daz needs to move down to deepest Devon..had my 916 serviced a few months back,belts,plugs,fuel filter,air filter,throttle balanced,shims checked and 3 new rocker arms,came to £380.00...

Mike Dawson, he's a good guy, doubt you'll go far wrong there ... quite handy on a DD bike too .... :)

that was by the local JCB dealer though !!!!

Thats why all the filters were yellow..!!

Nothing wrong with JCB's, they are building one to grab the speed record.
http://www.pistonheads.com/news/defa...?storyId=14759
Plus the engines have massive service intervals.

How does that work then when the rockers cost over £100 each on their own? Genuine question cos my bike will need some soon!

Baines do re-con rockers,for the miles i do a year,seemed like a good option..half the cost of new ones..

That is a good option.

had u2u of a mate about bike tec in tamworth where i live has any one else used them????

Well if people are chipping in with servicing recommndations, then I ought to include louigimoto, near Bristol, who does a superb job of keeping my bike (and quite a few other DSC members bikes too, most of them much tidier than mine:) ) on the road and in fine fettle.

And I'll give my two-penn'orth again on this shims business.

1. Shims shouldn't need changing often. If they do, it indicates some other problem with your bike.

2. It shouldn't be necessary to check then every five minutes. Many mechanics just do a compression test initially, and leave it at that if the results are within spec. If they appear a bit dodgy, the shimming is checked. There's nothing wrong with this approach.

3. On my last two Ducatis I've done (thus far) about 95,000 miles. That's ninety-five thousand! In that times, shims have checked 4 times (I think), twice on each bike. Of those four times, shims were actually changed only once.

4. The labour time spent checking shims that were only looked at a few thousand miles previously could be better spent on things that aren't part of the official service schedule, but still are well worth doing, such as stripping and thoroughly cleaning brake calipers, doing the same to clutches, and so on.