A friend of mine has had his V2 a few months and it needed new fork seals within 1000 miles. Today his exhaust snapped where the link pipe joins the silencers. After looking the part up it seems there is a new part number so is this a common issue. Anyone else had this exhaust issue ?
Found out that this is a common issue and an updated exhaust is available under warranty. Looks like they have just fitted a brace.
Somewhat horrified at the standard of welding on Ducati's stock exhausts. I remember taking mine off the last two V4s. Some of the welds were truly appalling. Not just in terms of aesthetics but they did not look as if they were fully formed with blistering, spatterng everywhere and air pockets in amongst the weld lines. A fatigue crack waiting to happen methinks. I'm assuming these are outsourced and bought in by the factory en-masse for fitting to production line bikes, so it's not entirely impossible that Guido, having welded his twentieth exhaust for the day, might not be as diligent or focused on the job as he perhaps ought to be. Then again, perhaps they are welded robotically, in which case there is even less of an excuse for not producing consistent quality parts and/or standards control. At least they have recognised a weakness in the design by introducing the brace, which is likely a cheaper solution than redesigning the exhaust entirely.
Ugly, and rubbish. Surprised (apart from to save money) they have made all that one piece in the first place, the physics of metal, welding, vibration and flex seem to think it shouldn't be one piece either.
Years ago all exhausts had the silencers that slid over the link pipe and held on with springs. Now standard exhausts are made as cheaply as possible and in one piece in this case which means that you cannot just replace a silencer for example. Quite how hey can price his for near enough £2k is beyond me.
I guess the answer to that Ian is because they can. More expensive than ever before and of a lower quality. Without a reduction in the uptake of accessories, they will just keep on churning them out. For a similar if not cheaper price, Arrow produce a system which is infinitely better in terms of fit and finish, but Ducati have engineered the outcome such that if you choose to go down the third party route, they will wash their hands of you and your bike in the event of any warranty claims. I've never been swayed by their tactics as I believe the consumer should have the right to decide what they fit and what they don't as long as it can be proven such parts do not inherently affect the functionality and/or compromise the safety of the bike. Won't be long before manufacturers will be getting us all to sign disclaimers on the purchase of a new bike, to prevent anyone but themselves from conducting modifications. By design, a business practice slated as a means to protect the lowest common denominators from harms way if they make a Horlicks of the installation and penalise everyone else with an ounce of common sense, whilst still boosting one of their most lucrative revenue streams.
Wonder if the exhaust had a KTM-C stamp on it? My top radiator for my 899 did. KTM Austria manufacture a lot of components for other brands. My new 899 top rad pic.
Anyone else on here watch Matt Armstrong's videos? Not the same but he's having similar problems with restrictive practices from Ferrari and Bugatti. There's quite a buzz about it and references to the Right to Repair EU legislation.
in last night’s video Ferrari have now helped him with the 296. You’d like to think they’re hoping to avoid looking as much of an arse as Bugatti….
