Ducati Sporting Club UK > General > Idle Chat > Duc V Jap

[TopiToo]

Hello

Do you think this day and age there is still a stigma about Ducati's and reliability issues.

I work with two Jap owners VFR 750 and RGV 250, both have said they would never buy a Duc, the hours passed with alot of debate and it all boils down to "well Ducati's are know to have electrical issues" to some extent I agree with the earlier bikes how ever if you do some reasearch there are options avaiable which solve this problem.

Am I right in saying the newer models ie 749/999 etc are more reliable?

followed by "yea but the service costs are more expensive" are they?

If you do all the handy bits and leave the valves clearences, belts etc
to somebody who knows there stuff surely service costs come down.

Then we got onto parts and the cost,
I was supprised that RGV fork seals cost £80 from a dealer,
The RVG is still not running right or been on the road, the VFR is going back to the dealer at all costs even though out of warranty.

I hope I am right but I left work realizing that, owning a Ducati is not just about the cost its a passion . . . . just some thoughts . . .

TopiToo

[749er]

Originally Posted by TopiToo

Hello

Do you think this day and age there is still a stigma about Ducati's and reliability issues.

I work with two Jap owners VFR 750 and RGV 250, both have said they would never buy a Duc, the hours passed with alot of debate and it all boils down to "well Ducati's are know to have electrical issues" to some extent I agree with the earlier bikes how ever if you do some reasearch there are options avaiable which solve this problem.

Am I right in saying the newer models ie 749/999 etc are more reliable?

followed by "yea but the service costs are more expensive" are they?

If you do all the handy bits and leave the valves clearences, belts etc
to somebody who knows there stuff surely service costs come down.

Then we got onto parts and the cost,
I was supprised that RGV fork seals cost £80 from a dealer,
The RVG is still not running right or been on the road, the VFR is going back to the dealer at all costs even though out of warranty.

I hope I am right but I left work realizing that, owning a Ducati is not just about the cost its a passion . . . . just some thoughts . . .

TopiToo

Hi Steve
Last week on holiday in scotland I got chatting to a ZX10 owner who told me he wouldn't thank me if I gave him a Ducati. Had the same opinion about relaibility. He wasnt too pleased that out of all the bikes at the DSC track day, the only one known to me to have a problem was the Kwak that dropped oil all over the track.

Kawasaki want £30 for a key then there is labour for setting it up as you cant do it yourself, total comes to £70. For a 749, a key is £12, and you can program it yourself.

Servicing is every 4000 miles not 6000 miles. Working it out a Duke costs about 1p / mile more over 24,000miles.

My mate had a slow spill on his Kwak,10mph and the heads stock went, £200 to repair. Cant see that happening to the billet used on a 749/999.

Electrically, have had the fuel pump relay go. I do get a bit fed up with the dodgy electrics remarks in the press. This months Superbike magazine is a joke. The editorial blethers on about how we shouldnt have preconceptions about bike or tyre brands, have an open mind then in the 999/RSV1000R/GSXR review the same old comments about electrics and mirrors. Well I can say the 999 mirrors are easier to use than the Aprilias, and the Aprilia is off to the dealer to have an electrical problem fixed.

[Ian]

this is a topic that I would like to cover in Pronto, - as there is still this great misconception about Duc reliability. Any examples or comments please let me have.

I have first hand experience of 2 bikes right now, 1 Duc, 1 non Duc (and not Jap either). The customer service from the Ducati dealer and Ducati UK (who got involved with an out of warranty claim on my Numpty ) has been superb. I recently thanked Andy and Tim of DUK, -they did not know until then who owned the bike as I left everything in the hands of my dealer who was great. Now the non Duc bike has a warranty claim on it which the dealer has agreed is warranty, but they cannot source the replacement part, as there is no stock due to the amount of claims. There is about 3 months of warranty left on the bike and the dealer said to me that he hoped that the part would be available before the warranty ran out or it would be tough. From others that I have spoken to with the same bike this is not uncommon. If that is the case there will be aletter going to their Bracknell H/O.

[twpd]

Moto748, 748, 50k miles.

Enough said.

Ducati's rep stems mostly from the late 70's to the mid 80's when the bikes were unreliable with crappy electrics. Now it's mostly a myth peddled by jealousy and ignorance and perpetuated by lazy stupid jounos.
I ride with a lot of the lads from hartside.com and I'm sick of the **** they talk about Ducati reliability despite the fact that the only bikes that have ever gone wrong/broken down in the group are Jap bikes. I get all the **** about service intervals (despite the Ducs having longer intervals), costs (despite paying about 1/2 - 2/3rds of their service costs) , parts prices etc.

None of them have first hand experience of owning a Ducati over any length of time - yet time & time again the same rubbish is trotted out - it's always the same old friend of a friend nonsense. In 11 years of owning Ducs not one of mine had broken down bar my SP which, was down to owner-stupidity when I broke it.
I went to the south of France on my SP - my "mates" were runnng bets on it breaking down. It never missed a beat but, both Blades broke with electrical probs.
On Hartside we've had a Gixxer 1000's gearbox s h i t itself, ditto a Thundercat, a CBR develop fuel pump probs plus sevral other bikes go wrong. Meanwhile my Duca keep on running. Most amusing.

If people choose to be blind or ignore the evidence before them then there's little you can do. Life is too short.

[TopiToo]

Hello

748er

"Last week on holiday in Scotland I got chatting to a ZX10 owner who told me he wouldn't thank me if I gave him a Ducati"


This is what I am getting at . . . . I know a lot of people feel this way, but is this a handicap of Ducati marketing, clearly they are small fry against the might of the Jap manufactures, but we all remember the Honda adverts on TV, maybe in this day and age Ducati must look towards TV advertising.


Ian

This is a topic that I would like to cover in Pronto, - as there is still this great misconception about Duc reliability. Any examples or comments please let me have.

Ian that would make a change, real time issues, I never realised that peoples opinions were so strong with regards to Ducati reliability, what made me start this debate at work was due to a comment I over heard at Cadwell
on day 2. I was f**ting around near my tent, and two guys walked passed my bike one said to the other " Ducati’s are nice but a hassle to keep" which to be fair could mean anything.
But what does that mean?, obviously its a subconscious thing and if so are Ducati UK/Italy getting the message across, or is it always going to be a niche market we belong too.

twpd

my first engine (me 4th owner) went bang, so the guys know that at work, and will rib me to my grave, even though my new engine had a clean bill of health at 12k servive.

And yes they have never owned/ridden or even worked on a Duc, but you try and change their minds . . pointless

"If people choose to be blind or ignore the evidence before them then there's little you can do"

very true . .

TopiToo

[TopiToo]

Hello

maybe all's not lost

The catalogue of brands was drawn up by a panel of experts from advertising and marketing, along with television presenter Dermot O'Leary and DJ Carl Cox.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/2195536.stm


TopiToo

[Jools]

Putting an article in Pronto is a great idea, I would love to read it. It wouldn't do much to spread the word to jap bike owners though.

I agree with TWPD, it's lazy journos who can't be bothered to research a story that help perpetuate the myth of Ducatis being unreliable. Want to write a little filler story about the pros and cons of owning a ducati? Easy, just press this button on your word processor and it comes out Pros: Italian Style, sublime handling Cons: Dodgy electrics and service costs. The same thing has been in their cliché database since 1997.

Ducati UK haven't always helped themselves mind, there have been a couple of incidents where the Duke that the mags were given to test didn't start due to....yes, you guessed it....dodgy electrics. One of the first shoot-out type tests that the 999 was involved in I think. We also know that journos love to see themselves as riding gods - Wheelies, stoppies and knee down everywhere, and I've heard (anecdotally) that the Jap factories make sure that their test fleet is set up to pander to over infllated egos, so all their suspension settings are geared towards the sharpest turning, most track influenced handling (even on there less focussed bikes). Ducati on the other hand seem to just hand over a standard bike straight out of the crate. For example, everyone who has an ST knows that if you jack the rear ride height up by a mere 10cm over stock and adjust the pre-load properly, you can turn a soggy bike, slow turning bike into one that is pretty damn nimble for a bike of it's type - and yet, Ducati still seemed content to let their ST3 out in standard trim for a shoot out against the Trumpet ST and VFR

[doogalman]

It don't make any difference what make the bike is , all the different makes build bikes that break-down. Italian, German, British, American, japanesse, Indian, Austrian, Chinese. They are only pieces of metal and plastic assembled by man and machine. Talk to mechanics who work on the different makes and they are all the same, they all breakdown at some point . Be it a problem with a regulator or a blown engine.
Look at KTM Superdukes! they have been replacing engines that are barely run-in without even opening them up. No questions asked just swop it over and get the punter back on the road = happy punter=good reputation (even if some bikes have been a problem).

[DC]

Originally Posted by Jools

For example, everyone who has an ST knows that if you jack the rear ride height up by a mere 10cm over stock and adjust the pre-load properly, you can turn a soggy bike, slow turning bike into one that is pretty damn nimble for a bike of it's type

Eeeek. 10 mm surley??? LOL.

[749er]

Originally Posted by Jools

Ducati on the other hand seem to just hand over a standard bike straight out of the crate.

next months fast bikes magazine will have reviews of modded and properly set 999 and RSV1000R

Lazy journos always say 999 for the road and RSV1000R for the track.I have my 749 set up for fast A road/track. it can be a bit bumpy on some roads but was amazed by it first time on track at Cadwell. So am pretty sure a 999 can be set up to be as good if not better than the Aprilia. When you look at the RSVR website the advice on setup is "soften the the supension as much as you can" Seems to me the main difference is just how they leave the factory and that the journos are being lazy and not getting the bikes set up for them before they test, but maybe they dont get the time to play with them? Dont recall a Duke being used as a`long term test bike