Ducati. Really.

[Garandman]

Went to a dealer yesterday to check out a Ninja 1000 ABS. Also looked at a Tiger 800 (nice but pretty close to the V-Strom), and a Ducati Multistrada. The Multistrada is light, powerful, and sophisticated, along with the relaxed riding position my knee needs these days.

But I have three friends who have purchased Ducatis in the last three years, and each of them have had problems ranging from annoying to disturbing. And issues like the infamous fuel tanks, Multistrada fueling, etc. A fair amount of hate and discontent on Advrider, but folks are far more likely to complain than start a thread "My bike doesn't suck." The dealer maintains that they are pretty reliable or they'd be sunk, since the warranty is two years. Coming from two V-Stroms that run like clocks, the naysayers have created some concerns/

One friend who has an older touring model hasn't had problems, but has only ridden 4,000 miles.

So, lumping all models together, if you are a retail customer who has purchased a new or newish Ducati in the last five year or so, what has your experience been? Lets define problem as anything requiring a return to the dealer for other than scheduled maintenance. I've split out new and used since used bikes would for the most part be on the owner's dime.

[whynot]

Had a Monster S4R (2007) for a couple of years. No problems whatsoever. I just change bikes a lot. Go to Seacoast or Great Bay, otherwise, don't bother.

[Lucas]

The starter went on my 2011 monster 796. Ofcourse it was covered under warranty.

What's more important is where you buy your Ducati.

[slammp]

Talk to DucDave. He swears by the multi and loves them.

[timmyho414]

Mine are older so I'm not taking the poll but I will add...
'01 748 that had some common issues know to that bike. I've fixed them and raced one season, no further issues.
'01 Monster 900. Love it! Only issue is/was the fueling. Seacoast will be fixing that for me with a Power Commander this spring.
'04 749R raced it one season so far, no issues. Amazing!

I've test ridden a bunch of the new bikes. They are all very nice. I really want the Monster1100EVO. The tank issue is due to the ethanol in the fuel. Blame the EPA on that one, other manufactures are. Ducati is standing behind there bikes and replacing the tanks.

I really won't worry about it.

Good Luck!

[Marc R]

Happy owner here, no plans on selling my bikes:
- '06 Multistrada 1000ds: bought new, 25k miles. Two issues: stuck starter relay (warranty), valve work.
- '05 749: bought used @ 4K miles, now 9k miles. No issues.

my 2 cents: the dealer does the regular maintenance for me (ie. valve adjustments). With this choice, I have to accept my cost of ownership is more than a Japanese brand. Budget for the maintenance and add another 20% for "surprises". If cost of ownership is a #1 priority, I doubt Ducati is going to win that contest.

[Garandman]

Happy owner here, no plans on selling my bikes:
- '06 Multistrada 1000ds: bought new, 25k miles. Two issues: stuck starter relay (warranty), valve work.
- '05 749: bought used @ 4K miles, now 9k miles. No issues.

my 2 cents: the dealer does the regular maintenance for me (ie. valve adjustments). With this choice, I have to accept my cost of ownership is more than a Japanese brand. Budget for the maintenance and add another 20% for "surprises". If cost of ownership is a #1 priority, I doubt Ducati is going to win that contest.

My riding opportunities are too limited to want to be hanging around a dealer - at all. If cost was the primary consideration I'd buy a used "other" or just keep the V-Strom, one of the most reliable and durable bikes extant.

I had a co-worker who purchased an early 848. It had many problems and he rode a loaner for a long time. And there are a significant number of problem threads on Advrider, some rational, some not. The dealer [Riverside] swears the current bikes are quite reliable. Hence the poll.

[Kurlon]

2004 ST3, first gen 3v motor, only issue was slightly rough low throttle fueling due to weak valve springs. Recall corrected it, no more issues.

[TheIglu]

2000 Ducati 900SSie



No issues, loved the motor/brakes. Sold it because it was my only bike at the time and I needed something more comfortable. Hope to buy it back from the new owner one day soon.

I'm not a Ducati fanboi, but I gotta say, they have soul.

As far as mechanically, I would have no problem diving into one. They are made well and it shows in the details.

[scottieducati]

Picked up my ST2 for ridiculously short $ and didn't quite get thru it before I had to get it outta the old shop. Only problems I've had are ones I knew would exist and didn't get a chance to address. No problems w/ the 749R, except me crashing it. Same can be said for my 848, 748... always had good luck w/ the middleweight Superbikes.

[DuncanMoto]

2003 ss1000ds Bad starter, relay and wiring harness in 1st 1,000 miles.
All replaced under warrantee.
Thought to have been one bad wire pinch caused all problems.
No problems since.

2007 1098 - Stalling problem at idle started at 400 miles.
Took to dealer, could not find a problem.
At about 1,000 miles stalling happened leaned over in a corner with no bad incident, but scared me.
Dealer replaced ecu and no problems since.

2 recalls were taken care of including new sprockets and chain at 6,500 miles.

I love Ducatis. I'm willing to take the time to iron out any initial problems and Riverside has been great at taking care of the issues.

[markbvt]

Can't comment on Ducatis, but I can tell you that you might want to take a second look at the Tiger 800. Having put 40,000 miles on my Wee-Strom in three years before buying my T800XC, I can honestly say that the Tiger is twice the bike the Wee is.

And Triumph is doing as well as the Japanese in the reliability department these days. I've had no issues whatsoever in over 10,000 miles so far. Absolutely awesome bike.

--mark

[R1]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

Shouldn't you be reading consumer reports for this stuff?

[whynot]

How 'bout the same poll for Triumph?

Regulator-rectifier failed in first 100 miles on my '10 Street Triple R 675. Check the forums. Some say there was a 40% failure rate, no recall, Triumph just let them fail in use, stranding riders. A friend with a Daytona 675 had his R-R catch fire. Mine just melted, fortunately, and I made it home.

[sveesix]

Paging Kenn and Dave..

[DucDave]

72k on an ST2
37k on 1st gen Multi
19k on 201o Multi

One catagory you didn't have was, Problems - Fixed under warrenty

After the beating I gave it on the Trans Lab last year there were a few items that Kyle picked up and fixed under warrenty.

I think one critical issue with Ducs is having a shop you know and trust.

And...you know who that is for me!


At the end of the day, if your catagories are Price, Performance and Reliability you'll be hard pressed to beat any of the UJMs...Take your 10-15k, stick it in the money slot, pick your brand, style and color, and pull the lever....

My catagories include "character"...plus I've become a Duc Snob on the last 10 years. So, discount my input if that doesn't apply to you...!

[Garandman]

[SIZE=1]Shouldn't you be reading Consumer Reports for this stuff?

No, I should be posting on this forum so I can balance the actual ownership experience of people - many of whom I've met - versus the statements of a dealer salesperson who has a financial stake in the matter and a small group of other owners who are hatin'. What is your experience with Ducati ownership?

72k on an ST2
37k on 1st gen Multi
19k on 201o Multi

One catagory you didn't have was, Problems - Fixed under warrenty

After the beating I gave it on the Trans Lab last year there were a few items that Kyle picked up and fixed under warrenty.

I think one critical issue with Ducs is having a shop you know and trust.
//

The dealership most convenient for me is Riverside Ducati/Kawasaki/Triumph.

[R1]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

[SIZE=1]Shouldn't you be reading Consumer Reports for this stuff?

No, I should be posting on this forum so I can balance the actual ownership experience of people - many of whom I've met - versus the statements of a dealer salesperson who has a financial stake in the matter and a small group of other owners who are hatin'. What is your experience with Ducati ownership?

72k on an ST2
37k on 1st gen Multi
19k on 201o Multi

One catagory you didn't have was, Problems - Fixed under warrenty

After the beating I gave it on the Trans Lab last year there were a few items that Kyle picked up and fixed under warrenty.

I think one critical issue with Ducs is having a shop you know and trust.
//

The dealership most convenient for me is Riverside Ducati/Kawasaki/Triumph.

Love it.

But I love it for almost the same reason as my Audi. There is a soul to the bike that is worth putting up with the little issues.

My first valve check is coming up. I had done regular oil changes (I think lol) I've had the cold stalling issues. (still happens) other than that I have a long list of things that would make the hyper the perfect bike. But a short list of things that I don't like about the bike. Non of which fall under anything other than cost.

The cost of ownership is much higher than any bike I have owned.

[Garandman]

Another [former] owner posted elsewhere "Just try and get any parts in less than six weeks. Is parts availability much of a problem?

[Charlief]

05 S2R bought new.

Tank replaced under warranty--- due to shitty gas

Other than that no problems at all.

[DucDave]

Another [former] owner posted elsewhere "Just try and get any parts in less than six weeks. Is parts availability much of a problem?

Do you really want a Ducati? I'm thinking you'll be way happier with something else. Seriously...

[Wanderer]

17k so far on my Multistrada 1200, pretty much nil issues.
A few recalls, nothing overly dramatic.

(Contrast to my Bmw, weeping transmission seal (they all do that...) and a few other irritations.)

My only gripe with it - it rather drinks gas. On the other hand its an upright, comfortable, superbike. Its really very hard to compare it to the R-GS, Tiger, Strom type machines, because aside from some cosmetic similarities its really a very differently focused beast.

[Wanderer]

I'd echo Dave's comments on dealership being particularly important (I'd also say the same regarding BMW).
Luckily Seacoast is one of the best in the Northeast, and I now live near WM Snell here in the UK, who are also excellent.

[Marc R]

Another [former] owner posted elsewhere "Just try and get any parts in less than six weeks. Is parts availability much of a problem?

Yes, some parts may take several weeks. My experience with Seacoast: valve guides and clutch issues were diagnosed before they failed (during routine maintenance). The bike was rideable while the parts were underway. Routine maintenance takes one day and you get a courtesy bike for the day (so far that meant riding an M696, M796, H796, RSV4, MG Breva 1100). Never had to drive around in a cage waiting for Ducati parts.

[Garandman]

Do you really want a Ducati? I'm thinking you'll be way happier with something else. Seriously...

Wayne's World(1992)[1080p].avi - YouTube

Your real-world experience might counter some of the derogatory information in the "I'm just gonna have to say it. Ducati makes junk" thread - which is now 20 pages long. I'm trying to get to reality, as those same owners who get emotionally involved in the brand get very emotional when things go south.

One would think the true Ducatisti would be mentioning the unique characteristics of the brand and the distinguishing attributes of the bike in question. How dare I question its' worth? For $20,000 there are a lot of options and in the end it's just another motorcycle, albeit with eight stage programmable traction control.....