Quote:
| Originally Posted by JPM Billy? not an authorised dealer and doesn't do servicing as such, all his engines are done by Gtec (Geoff Green ex JHP), he's more bolt on thus the name bolt on billy  |
John, thats well out of order, and to post that really is a bit of a cheap shot.
Lets get the facts here.
Most full rebuilds are done by geoff green and customers are not duped and are made well aware of this. We are talking race stuff and RS's here. Road or race bikes requiring top end work or work with the motor in situ is done on the ramps.
All servicing is done in house either by billy or ducati trained lads.
As for authorised, i think you will find that now with the backing from ducati manchester he is not far from being authorised.
Also worth noting, the dyno is not far from completion.
To say "bolt on" is harsh, he knows his stuff and i have no problem entrusting my full top end rebuild to him, and can confirm that the bike since i have had it back and managed over 1200 miles on has never felt so good and ran so well. Ok it may be an old crappy 916 which hardly is the latest cream of the crop, but it still requires the same eye for detail and effort spent in setting it up. The only bolt on bit was the ducati tool which detected a faulty coil when plugged into my ECU which i didnt even know about when riding it.
I think anyone thats had anything done by billy would have no problem in using him again, and was more than happy with the service he offers. Granted being a mate i would say that, and i am always at the back of the queue for work done, but having seen him work and his knowledge even if i didnt know him i would still entrust him with my bike. Besides if he was simply bolt on why is he always busy with a long waiting list for work to be booked in ?
If it wasnt for people like billy and nelly's then i bet that there would be a large chunk less of people owning ducati's. Its these guys that keep the small guys like me living the dream and offering workmanship and service that the majority of the dealers can only dream about and picking and choosing the work they take on. Infact if more people used good independants like the two above then perhaps some of the dealers would find it hard to keep going if they didnt have that little rubber stamp for the service book and people so worried about ducati's warranty.
However the way i see it, with sales figures dropping for the superbike range, it will mean alot less bikes needed the dealer stamp in the near future, and once the 3 years is up these owners may look at getting work done elsewhere as that ducati stamp is less of an issue.