Had increasing hassles with Multi cutting out , things came to a head Friday eve and Sat morn when I tried to boot the bike up as they say and it appeared to be electrically dead ! , Bearing in mind my hassles the previous week with a battery that had flatted itself while the bike was switched off ( I belive the fuel pump had been still running as I noticed a very distant whirring sound just before I tried to fire the bike up ) I am now boiling with rage having bit my lip and made countless excuses for this bikes behaviour over the last 8 months since purchasing from new , I asked the dealer to come and pick the bloody thing up to which they replied if I continued too shout at them on the phone they would hang up ! , Fair enough ... I took a few deep breaths and composed myself a bit , bottom line was they wanted me too ring Ducati assistance to get bike collected , They do have a large van and are are only 17 miles away ! , I had one more crack at booting the bike the bike up and it decided too come back to life ! , On engaging first gear it promptly cut out yet again , Deciding it wasnt worth trying too ride it down to them I called them saying I would ring my Ducati assistance number and hung up still in a bad mood Ducati assistance process was fairly pain free apart from what was obviouisly a Italian lady in some central European call centre struggling with my unusual surname and address , Having crossed this hurdle I was told the bike would be picked up in 2 hours ... After 2 hours I had a call saying sorry we will be another 20 mins , I was gratefull for the communication and bang on 20 mins later a AA guy arrived and we loaded the bike onto his truck and off it went , result! .... on the Ducati assistance front anyway , Not sure what this week holds with regard to getting my bike back , fixed or otherwise , but I will keep posting Summary of last 8 months...... Bike bought new and collected 17th of September , Initial feelings are very pleased although rough and lumpy compared too Jap bikes Noticed a couple of split second cut outs within first few hundred miles , didnt tell dealer , took on the chin , no big deal False neutrals , especially between 4th and 5th , annoying but improved with a increasingly positive foot movement , took it on the chin didnt tell dealer Exhaust flapper issues start shortly after first service , dealer cleans and corrects , points out that I have been riding it on salty roads ! More exhaust flapper issues .... dealer cleans and corrects twice more if I remember rightly Couple of unexplained cut outs on charity bike ride outs .. bike restarts each time , took it on chin didnt mention too dealer More exhaust flapper issues , dealer says he will get new unit ordered which he did and replaced ... no more probs so far , but then ... havent ridden in bad weather since Dealer notices while having bike in for ex flapper replacement my fork seals have blown ! , takes a week to get the wrong seals! , another few days to get correct ones and replace , no probs since with fork seals A couple of times tripmeter has refused to reset after repeated attempts pressing the button , eventually cures itself , not told dealer as yet Condensation under instrument glass on a few occasions , took it on the chin , not told dealer , will if it persists or gets really bad Centre stand rubber burns away , told dealer , happy to buy another which i did , they tell me im the only guy thats had a centre stand rubber burn away ! Flat battery !!! , unexplained in part , charge up myself , cutting out issues persisting but now becoming intolerable Theres prob more that ive forgotten as well ! , hope youve enjoyed this information.... lovely faultless bike too ride... performance , handling comfort etc , the best ! Reliabilty? ..... Rubbish ,unforgivable , misery , embarrasing , most troublesome motorcycle I have ever owned bar none! since my 10 year old BSA C15 I had back in 1976 !!!!!!!!!
Christ what a horror story and on a brand new bike. Hope it gets sorted for you. Will be interesting to see how your dealer and Ducati UK respond. Keep us informed and hope it all gets sorted for you.
Sorry to hear of your problems Dave, and it doesn't fill a prospective owner of one of these machines (me) with a great sense of comfort knowing these issues can arise on a new motorbike! Keep us informed of your situation and hopefully Ducati UK will do the decent thing and get you on the road as quickly and safely as possible.
Im assuming the dealer will fix the latest saga , will prob be a new kill switch and side stand cut out switch judging by other posts on here , I,ll be taking the bike back down to Somerset in a week or two and Riders who I have more faith in will have to bear the brunt of any future probs , Will keep posting updates
I noticed that in my original epic post I said I bought the bike on 17th of September ... this is a typo , I actually bought the bike 17th December 2011 , Its a 2012 model, has now covered just over 8.000 troubled miles and is now just about 9 months old
Looking at that little lot, it looks like you picked up the "friday" afternoon bike. IF issues continue after this "fix" I would look towards legal action under the Sale of Goods Act either towards the dealer or Ducati themselves.
Oh dear! What a horror story. I've a 2012 Multi ST bought in April this year and thankfully it's been trouble free. Having said that I haven't done that mileage or ridden through a winter. As a matter of interest I'm with you on the rough and lumpy running and the false neutral issues. In addition I've got clunky forks which have been shimmed up but still noisy. Hope you managed to get the satisfactory outcome you deserve. As I owned an equally troublesome BSA C15 back in the seventies I can relate to your level of distress.
I think the weather and the milage are compounding my troubles but this should not be the case , the bike is sold as a Multi purpose magnificent game changing all rounder with even off road capability ! I dread to think how long it would last if I rode it across a few muddy fields ! Also on the winter weather front my bike is a corroded mess of fasteners , Far worse deterioation than on any bike ive ever owned even the BSA C15 ......
Mine was bought July 2011 has done 7k of all year round riding. Apart from a misted up indicator LED front has been fine. Ditched standard system so never had butterfly valve issues. Unfortunately they are mechanical items and sadly things can go wrong. I've worked for many major car manufacturers and everything goes wrong. It's frustrating but as long as its rectified that's all that matters. Still the best bike I've ever owned and will take some beating.
Really sorry to hear your tale of woe. You're right in that a bike sold as a Multi- purpose machine should not have had so many faults. It might be a bit late to get Ducati UK to change it under the sale of goods act now, but maybe if you show them the list of faults with a time line, and your dealers response to the problems, and suggest you might take the issue to Watchdog, they might just be a bit more helpful.
Bad news indeed Dave! I am sure they will have to sort it for you I have an early 10 model with 14000m on it and have ridden it through all weather conditions , I work away a lot so the bike is just left in the garage for a couple of months at a time on occasion and no optimiser ...Starts first go and apart from a few niggles have had no trouble and the local dealer has been very good.
I think the chances of getting a dealer or a manufacturer too replace a machine are very very slim , As you said they will want a specific breakdown timeline of faults and issues as and when they occured , In reality I doubt anyone has the foresight to do this , I certainly didnt , You just crack on and hope each hurdle will be the last , eventually the whole thing becomes a mess of confusion and misery and regret , I did work for Riders of Bridgwater through the 1980s in there formative years and I remember a few disgruntled customers , Kawasaki and Harley then ... I cant remember a bike with as many issues as this one I have now ! I have seen many a customer get enraged over far less than I have had too endure though , the other reason a manufacturer or dealer will not replace a vehicle is that if they do so it then opens the floodgates to everyone that has made a rash purchase and then regretted doing so , I,ll be happy if it gets fixed and is ok in the future ... Im not holding my breath though
In this case however, it appears that this particular bike has not been right from the outset. You are entitled to purchase a bike that goes someway to doing what it says on the tin, and expect reasonable use out of it. I could understand some issue if you were doing the Paris Dakar every day of the week, then you could expect issues in line with that amount and type of use. You should not be expected to put up with the issues you are experiencing through normal use. What I am saying is, that unless you get the bike sorted to your satisfaction then legal action is still an option. I do understand a reluctance to go down this route as Ducati is more than just a name but they are manufacturing bikes to make money and at the end of the day £15000 is a shit load of money to fork out for a faulty bike.
