17 DVT, had a ride out to devils bridge the other day when it was roasting, saw 30 on air temp, anyhoo noticed the black infill panels (where the DIN socket is) on both sides vibrating more then usual. When I next stopped I had a look, found them to be quite loose, nothing I could do then as no tools. On return home, I had a good look and found both completely loose now, and the edges where the infills tuck under the headlight fairing beads of semi solid glue? Doesn't look right to me fellas, that was the LHS, RHS with the DIN socket and the wireless coil attached just the same! Had a look at the diagrams on DBP, which shows the headlight fairing part number 1, the part number on the back of infill panel, which I searched for on DBP gave no results! Any guru able to enlighten me, as I cannot believe Ducati would just bond these together with a feckin glue gun! Also a pic of space underneath the LHS infill looks a bit bare! am I missing something?
Looking at the parts fiche it makes me think that the red front cowl and those black infills all come as one part.
Had a pull at mine, and it doesn't seem to come apart. Indeed feeling underneath, it does feel like it could be glued together !!!!
Glued together with a glue or process not fit for the application, same as the fasteners they use I guess. They should go through Crest Tests to alleviate these problems at the prototype stage - but it could be that the hot melt was too cold when applied of course. Clean it of and re glue it properly if your out of warranty and Ducati won't help
Yeah just been to see my mate who has 1260, had a look with a torch and dentist mirror thing, and it is just glued!!!
I think you're spot on chief, furry soft fasteners from Cadburys and now glues from the knackers yard! This is supposed to be a premium brand! Probably Vito was late back from a smoke break when he glued mine, the gun wasn't up to temp because he'd smoked a couple more than usual!
Have you had this bike from new? This part would typically be plastic welded or "riveted" through those holes. Looks like someone tried to repair with the wrong hot glue product
Nah chief not from new, until me old mate Marky Mark gives me an opportunity to strip a few panels off his bike and have a proper look, you could be right, deffo not riveted but the holes for the hot glue to flow through until it goes off, maybe!
They're heat-staked together - effectively a short plastic post goes into a hole and is either melted with heat or vibration to mushroom over the end. For whatever reason yours has been pulled apart, and someone has tried bodging it back together with hot melt. Hot melt is no good because it doesn't chemically etch the surface, hence why it's come apart again. The whole piece is an absolute arse to get off - the screws hidden underneath are really tricky to get at, making it a bit of a pain to get them undone. If you can bond the black section back in without having to take off the red bit you'll save yourself lots of time and faff!
Thanks mate, think you have the definitive, I'm gonna take it all apart, give it all a good clean, fit one of those USB voltmeter units, maybe a TPMS unit too, then bond back on. The hidden screws are in an arse of a location but if I need to strip in the future they'll be more accessible with the tank cover off!
I took mine off for exactly that purpose - I fitted a USB/voltmeter unit, plus a switch for some auxiliary lights. I'd have left it on, except I needed to take a feed off the Hella socket on the other side of the headlights.
That's my intention too chief, take power from back of the din, do you have any pics of finished article?
Happy to help! Really pleased with it - the unit I bought (£13 off Amazon, I seem to recall) seems well made and charges at the higher rate, so it still charges my phone, even when using GPS (sometime GPS can deplete the battery faster than you can charge it).
