Seoul, South Korea, 2025. The humid summer air weighed heavy over the city as I rolled my Ducati Scrambler Nightshift into the local Ducati service center. It was supposed to be nothing more than an annual service: change the oil to let new lifeblood flow, inspect the chain, check the brakes — the same ritual this machine had known since it was born. But machines always keep secrets of their own. This young Scrambler, not even 5,000 kilometers on its clock, began to lose its grip — quite literally. When shifting from 5th to 6th gear, the transmission slipped into neutral, as if it could not decide what it wanted to be. In that moment, the bike lost all driving force, the engine howling in high-rev free-spinning, echoing a hollow wheeee across the street while the machine felt suddenly weightless, drained of power. It was terrifying. And then the clutch itself began to fail. The slave cylinder was bleeding out its hydraulic fluid, no longer able to push fully to disengage the gears. Inside the sparkling glass-walled Ducati Korea showroom, polished so clean you feared leaving a fingerprint, the staff shrugged politely. “It happens,” they said about the missed gear. “Shift more aggressively.” As if this was simply an Italian character trait to be accepted. But a motorcycle losing its gear on the highway is hard to accept. So I turned to the mothership in Bologna, Italy, and wrote a letter explaining the hours of waiting, the frustration of a failing clutch, and the fear of a bike that could not hold a gear. The first email bounced back — “User Unknown,” a cold message from the server like a door slammed shut. Undeterred, I used Ducati’s online contact form. A few hours later, I got the automated reply: “Your message has been received. We will get back to you shortly.” And now, in the humid streets of Seoul, I wait. I wait for a small clutch part to travel half the world in a month-long journey, and for an answer about whether a ghostly neutral between 5th and 6th is a defect or a trait I just have to live with. Meanwhile, Ducati Korea stands by, their hands tied by approval processes and slow parts supply. Their emails, too, seem to vanish into the gears of an international warranty machine. No one means any harm, but the process moves at its own measured pace. In the end, I’m left — like so many riders before me — with a motorcycle that demands patience. Even the morning commute becomes a quiet act of faith: faith in engineers a continent away, faith in the global logistics chain, and faith, most of all, that someone, somewhere, will eventually make it right.
인사말! / insamal! I hope the clutch problem is soon a near forgotten memory, washed away by visceral grunt of the bike & floods of adrenaline. Otherwise you might just have to console yourself with some frolics in Jeju?
Welcome. I have the ghost happen but for me it’s just I haven’t lifted the gear lever hard enough on my Ducati Scrambler Urban Enduro.
Welcome and enjoy. I love your post. I sometimes get a false neutral between first and second, but generally when I shift gears lazily. I don't see it as an issue with the clutch, rather as a quirk of his the gearbox is designed and manufactured.
Update: International Call from “Ducati Italy” – Gear Slip Under Global Technical Review ⸻ Following up on my original post about the persistent gear slip and clutch issues with my Scrambler Nightshift, I’ve had two significant developments over the past two days – one with Ducati Seoul, and another directly from Ducati Italy. ⸻ ️ Timeline Update: • June 24, 2025 My dashboard had been displaying “Annual Service” for some time. I made an appointment and brought the bike to Ducati Seoul for its scheduled service. During that visit, I also reported: • Intermittent gear slip between 5th and 6th, present since the bike was new • Clutch slave cylinder leaking hydraulic fluid, preventing full disengagement • July 8, 2025 I called Ducati Seoul to ask whether Ducati Italy had approved the warranty replacement of the faulty clutch slave cylinder. → Their response: “No, we haven’t received approval yet.” • July 9, 2025, 5:06 PM (KST) I received an international phone call from +63 905 104 2254. A woman speaking English (with an unfamiliar accent) introduced herself as calling from “Ducati Italy.” She clearly referenced the issues I had submitted via Ducati’s contact form. ⸻ During the call, she repeatedly said: “This issue is under internal review.” “It is being reviewed internationally.” “It is being coordinated across departments.” She also asked if the bike had been dropped off at the service center. I explained that it had not been, and that I am still riding the bike, as instructed by Ducati Seoul. The local service center told me it was safe to ride, as long as I shift carefully and use rev matching to avoid false neutrals. ⸻ Technical Issue Recap: 1. Ghost Neutral Between 5th and 6th • Intermittent since new • Drops into neutral instead of 6th gear • Complete loss of drive at speed – engine free-revs 2. Clutch Slave Cylinder Leak • Loss of hydraulic pressure • Clutch can’t fully disengage • Warranty approval from Italy still pending as of July 8 ⸻ ✅ Current Status: • Bike is still being ridden – not yet dropped off at the service center • Ducati Seoul is waiting for HQ approval to replace the clutch part • Ducati Italy confirmed the issue is under internal and international technical review ⸻ This call suggests that Ducati HQ is officially aware of the issue and that it’s now being reviewed by technical, warranty, and quality control departments. I’ve requested a follow-up via email. Once I receive any written reply, resolution, or further updates, I’ll continue to document it here. Thanks again for following along. If you’re experiencing similar symptoms, I highly recommend logging it officially. It mattersmore than we think.
