Split fork
 

It's as painfull as it sounds!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Went to put my bike back together after a long winter of cleaning it and I have noticed that the left hand forkhas a split in it:barfy:
It is about 10mm long and goes right to the edge of the fork.
I've had the bike about 6 to 8 months and have never noticed it before, where do I stand legally (if anywhere) with the shop I bought it from or with Ducati as it could be a fault.
The bike has not been abused and I've covered less that 2000 miles (as I was saving for a big service)
Any idea how much this will cost to repair.:flame:

Can you post up a pic so we can get a better idea?

Where exactly is the split? Can you post a picture or describe it further?

I'll go take one now.

TTFN

:sniff:

Its difficult to see in the piccie, but I assume its the area just above the fork bottom.

That kind of thing, although I've never seen it before, looks like either some form of manufacturing fault or something that has been caused by the forks suffering from some form of impact at some point.

Could you give us some more details on the bike...age/history etc. You say its only dome 2000 miles, is that from new?

If its a manufacturing fault then I would say you had a good case against Ducati for a replacement FOC irrespective of if the bike is out of warranty or not. If there is an issue of possible past crash damage...then obviously not!

Any chance of a couple of clearer pictures.

Sorry I wasn't clear...the bike has done 11k but I have only done 2k, I've had the mudguard off before and I never noticed it and a duc mechanic up in Lincoln has had the wheels out of it and given it a good look over and had not noticed it.

It's a 1999 996, I am the second owner and it has not been crashed as far as I'm aware, it's not been around the track or wheelied and no stoppies.

It was bought from Hughenden M40 m/c just off of the M40/A329 (you might know it)

I'll go and take some better pictures.

Thanks for the reply

Dave

That's real strange.
I have never seen a fork leg like that ?
is there oil coming out or is it just the plating that's gone strange ?
first impression was impact damage. but difficult to see

If it was an actual crack then you would expect oil to be coming out i would have thought. Maybe someone has used a screw driver to get the oil seal out at some time and its cracked the anodising which is now lifting away as the leg corrodes under it.

Second hand standard forks appear on Ebay quite often for not much money.

here's 1

here's another

There is no oil coming out of it, it you look at the last pic , in the middle of the pic it is also starting to lift.

doesn't look good.
id want to drop that leg out and have a good look at it.
it doesn't look like plating just lifting.

Unfortunately I don't have the means to drop out the fork and as I've never done it before I would be sh*t scared of damaging something else.

Knowing my luck at the moment I would!!!

best take it back to the shop then.
but got a feeling they will say its impact damage i.e stone or road debris.
don't know till you try though

Just sent a pic of to OYB. They don't think ducati will do anything with that as it is out of warranty but will get back to me on that one.

Certainly looks like you'll want to get the fork leg replaced. If you don't have the means to do it yourself (or a mate) then best take it to a shop. It's an easy job, should take more than 1 hour if you're replacing the complete fork leg. As already mentioned, the stock Showas pop up on Ebay quite often. Have a browse, but get it sorted.

That’s odd it would take some force to do that damage at that point, so it could be a manufacturing defect but I wouldn’t imagine Ducati letting something as obvious as that through quality control. Has the bike got any other signs of damage have a look at the stops on the bottom yoke and front of the headstock at the bottom to see if they are still there or have been damaged. I wonder if it’s had a chain or something around the wheel and been driven off?

I don't think it can be debris from the road as that part of the fork is protested by the mudguard...I could be wrong:puzzled:

someone said earlier it may have been done by some ham fisted whatsit changing a seal or something.
otherwise what force made them come open ?
but your right about the mudguard protecting that part.
VERY STRANGE

and the fact its located at the front of the fork (although it could have been rotated at some point) suggests that it is not due to it hitting something from the front (ie a curb) as the force would be taken at the rear of the fork...and also there would be lower fork damage if this was the case????

I imagine this kind of thing could occur from hamfisted wheelies?

I have seen a bike with the same sort of thing somewhere a couple of years ago and that was where the leg had stone chips to the outer and had been left to corrode from under the anodising giving the same symptons as yours

Give John Hackett a call at Ducati Coventry 0247 633 5300-he has seen your posting and has a spare outer leg for you. You can either get it changed yourself or get the damaged leg to him and he will change it over-all it will cost you is about 1 hours labour.

John

That's quality service that is.

Hats off to JHP.

Cheers guys
Just left message for John.
Monty you are a a superstar mate, thanks vvvvvvvvv much.:sing:

Ducati themselfs were not interested as the bike is out of warranty.

That is cool.

Thats where genuine customer service shines! Big up to JHP for helping someone when they're down.

Im taking mine there for a dyno run soon, John (and the other staff there) were pleasant and helpful, more than I can say for PDQ!

A BIG thanx to everyone for your help and advice.

I'll be getting the fork changed out next weekat JHP

:bouncy::bouncy::bouncy::bouncy::bouncy::bouncy:

That really is great service, its good to see a dealer with a heart, i should think JH will be getting a bit more trade with deeds like this one.Gee, Wish his shop was closer to me.:(

Mine are exactly the same - it's corrosion damage caused by water getting in under stone chips and rotting away the fork body. It looks like crash/wear damage due to it coming out in big flakes, but it's not.

Funnily enough, mine are in exactly the same place - that could be a pic of my forks!

I wonder if John has got another couple of spares for me too? :D

If your forks are still structurally OK, why not have them stripped and re-anodised? You could even have them done in a different colour, eg Ohlins style gold, black, blue, red etc etc etc . . . . . . just a thought!

Now that would be really, really funny if it wasn't me that was selling those...!

Sorry mate:lol: