So I did want a ducati

[Ten98_Ducati]

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The Less maintenance schedule basically half frequency of the previous schedule started with 2007 models. the 99x series is prior to that maintenance schedule so do not judge based on it. Dry clutches are not the easiest to launch and with a little bit of abuse you can wear them out way quicker than a wet clutch. That should not be an indicator of the bike though just the person on it. I have 23,000 kms on my 1098 and it is a race horse, ready for work every single time i turn the key. However if maintenance COST is an issue then dont kid yourself, even with half frequency changes, maintenance is still atleast double the amount of regular bikes. Parts are extrememly expensive and availability is scarce at times especially when all of italy closes for a month in august. My 1098 was my starter bike and only bike and there is not a bike that i would trade it for except another ducati (1198 R or desmo). You will only realize the emotion when you drive one ( and talk to it on late lonely nights in the garage!! )

 

[murf]

Want a reliable, cool Italian bike? Get an Aprilia.

I see alot of problems on aprillia forums

 

[RetroGrouch]

I bought an older Monster this spring. Went on the forums and found some great money saving tips. Blew a fork seal so I checked how much the parts would cost. Found that Ducati parts are 3x more costly than similar non-Ducati items. Since my forks are 41mm USD Showas, they use the same seals as a CBR600RR. You can save a lot of money by not buying genuine Ducati parts.

 

[Krime]

Where is your friend hearing these things? Who's telling him that all this is normal? Seems like there's a perception that Ducatis are the high-maintenance super models of the motorcycle world and whether or not this is true, he may be hearing it from people that still believe this "misconception".

The mention about the clutch wear was from the reputable Ducati Dealership he bought the bike from. They changed the clutch out the next day for him and were super accommodating.

The mention of the oil, I'm not sure who told him this.

Either way, not good news but I'm glad to hear this is not the norm.

 

[backmarkerducati]

Clutch and burning oil with that low of mileage just screams abuse and poorly maintained, which can happen to any brand.

 

[The Road Warrior]

So there you go, so many people and nobody has any problems with their Ducatis. Now go and buy one so you can see what it's all about, you won't look back.

 

[homme de fer]

I have Wingboys 900ss. I just rolled 46 000kms on although I'm not using it as much this year as last year when I put almost 20 000kms on it. The only issue I had with it is fouled spark plugs and messed up chain and sprokets (look up my 4000kms on a supersport thread to read about that). Wingboy showed me how to do the valve checks and belt changes, which is much simpler than I imagined.

The clutch is stock, I believe, and it isn't burning a drop of oil.

 

[SkyRider]

^^^ would a monster 796 or 1100 just as easy to work on? ie, valve checks, and etc

 

[omnivore]

The 999 isn't new. It also was the PRETTIEST one. And your friend bought it used.

Buy a brand new Ducati, THEN judge.

There- Ritesh I fixed it for ya!

 

[homme de fer]

If it's a two valve air cooled version, I don't see why not. Probably easier since you don't have to remove any plastics. That's the thing, Wingboy and I spent hours removing parts to get at the valves yet the valve check itself took no more than 15 minutes. The belts were easy as well since there is a way to lock the valves in place on my bike.

 

[Krime]

So there you go, so many people and nobody has any problems with their Ducatis. Now go and buy one so you can see what it's all about, you won't look back.

Done and done. Awesome to hear all the positive responses, keep them coming.

I'm back on the Ducati train, and am anxiously awaiting the reveal of the new superbike. If it looks anything as sexy as the 1098/1198 I'll be pulling the trigger - already have the future wife's consent.

 

[too much]

I hear people saying things I had no problemws except changing this and fixing that ... What about I had no problems, I changed tires and oil and I ride the bike ? Thta's what I would expect from a vehicle build this century

I wanted to buy a Ducati last year, I was VERY keen on the Multistrada 1200. So I went and rented one for a week touring the Alps. The bike was like 1 month old, 3000 Kms on it. I had to push start the bike 4 days out of 6. By the end of the tour the dash was falling appart due to the intense vibration of the engine. The gearing or the fuel map or both were so bad, I ended up clutching the bike in 2nd for most of the tour, as it was really diificult to get torque and control at a decent speed in the switchbacks. At the end of the tour I had a look around and I notticed a number of plastic parts not clossing properly, not sitting right in the place, etc. I guessed all that due to vibration ... Not so great for a 20K bike...

I can only assume that the other Ducati's are better built, and I still have to try the Yamaha Super Tenere to soo how it feels compared to the Multi.

 

[backmarkerducati]

Well to be clear, my bike is a 2001 and I have had two problems that were "Ducati's" fault:

I had the oil leak at the base of the rear cylinder fixed twice under warranty. This was a common problem for my year as they switched from an O-ring to just a gasket and the return passage would leak. The second item was the ignition relay, again common problem with my year covered under warranty. I had one recall but it may have been for one of the two previous items (I no longer remember).

There were some user errors of course, I rejetted the carbs and had back firing problems. Increased the jets but set it up leaner (oops), kept making it leaner (thinking the back-fire was due to too rich, after all I just increased the jets) and the back-firing got worse. Had to give my head a shake to remember back-firing through the carb is usually too lean! Cannot blame Ducati for this.... Mine was the last carbed model AFAIK.

Other than that, replaced the chain and sprockets at 20,000. Replaced the belts a few times (2 year or 20,000K). Replaced the tires, brake pads etc. I do my own valves and belts etc.

The parts are more expensive BUT there are some online alternative and there are also some online resources letting you know what fits from other sources (like getting the spark plugs at Canadian tire, headlight parts from BMW...).

All said and done, it is an Italian machine and the mechanical are as much about art as anything else so you can't expect it to be cold and calculated like a German or Japanese bike but they have made huge improvements none the less.

 

[Wingboy]

I hear people saying things I had no problemws except changing this and fixing that ... What about I had no problems, I changed tires and oil and I ride the bike ? Thta's what I would expect from a vehicle build this century

I wanted to buy a Ducati last year, I was VERY keen on the Multistrada 1200. So I went and rented one for a week touring the Alps. The bike was like 1 month old, 3000 Kms on it. I had to push start the bike 4 days out of 6. By the end of the tour the dash was falling appart due to the intense vibration of the engine. The gearing or the fuel map or both were so bad, I ended up clutching the bike in 2nd for most of the tour, as it was really diificult to get torque and control at a decent speed in the switchbacks. At the end of the tour I had a look around and I notticed a number of plastic parts not clossing properly, not sitting right in the place, etc. I guessed all that due to vibration ... Not so great for a 20K bike...

I can only assume that the other Ducati's are better built, and I still have to try the Yamaha Super Tenere to soo how it feels compared to the Multi.

If you want "bulletproof",buy a Honda Goldwing or St1300.Boring to the extreme,but they don't breakdown.Any rental bike is more than likely going to be a piece of junk,unless you get lucky and get one that's more or less new.With the starting problems you had,the people you rented from should have replaced it pronto.

 

[corbo]

nnn

 

[moto9]

I hear people saying things I had no problemws except changing this and fixing that ... What about I had no problems, I changed tires and oil and I ride the bike ? Thta's what I would expect from a vehicle build this century

I wanted to buy a Ducati last year, I was VERY keen on the Multistrada 1200. So I went and rented one for a week touring the Alps. The bike was like 1 month old, 3000 Kms on it. I had to push start the bike 4 days out of 6. By the end of the tour the dash was falling appart due to the intense vibration of the engine. The gearing or the fuel map or both were so bad, I ended up clutching the bike in 2nd for most of the tour, as it was really diificult to get torque and control at a decent speed in the switchbacks. At the end of the tour I had a look around and I notticed a number of plastic parts not clossing properly, not sitting right in the place, etc. I guessed all that due to vibration ... Not so great for a 20K bike...

I can only assume that the other Ducati's are better built, and I still have to try the Yamaha Super Tenere to soo how it feels compared to the Multi.

I have about 3000 km's on my '11 MTS12S (my first Ducati) in the 7 weeks I've owned it. It's started without problem every time, even after sitting for a week at a time on a couple of occasions. After riding I4's for many years, there certainly is a bit of adaptation required. To be sure, it likes to run above 4000 rpm but is certainly manageable below that with proper gear selection. Yes, it will shake the wind screen and instrument cluster if you accelerate from below 3000 rpm quickly in 4th gear or higher - but the gearbox is reasonably reponsive so it's pretty easy to down shift as may be required. Having said that, I am switching from the standard 15t front srocket to a 14t because the bike won't go slowly enough for some of my riding, and I'd like to be able to ride 1 gear higher around town. The 4 fuelling maps available on the MTS12S (and the std. MTS12) cover a broad range of responsiveness and available power and works well for me whether riding my favourite twisty pavement, gravel roads or double track - no clutching in 2nd gear required and relatively vibration free, and smoother at higher rpm. And, the 24000 km interval for major service is a big plus. Sorry you had such a bad experience on your rental last year - obviously, I'm happy with mine.

 

[corbo]

RE PARTS, What a lot of people do not know and was surprised to find out when I was at the Ducati factory is that Ducati out sources virtually every part of the bike except for the engine cases or the heads cannot remember witch, everyting from the tanks plastics exhaust wheels even the famous trellis frames are made by Verllichi . The good thing about this is that alot of the maintenance parts are also used by other manufactures, the belts can be had at half the price that Ducati charges , fuel filters are the same one's BMW($20 versus the $60 ducati charges) uses the oil coolers are made by KTM the throttle tubes are identical to a Yamaha r1 but cost $15 not $80 that Ducati charges, replacements are easy to get if you know what you are looking for
oil filters , K&N and fram both make them, etc etc etc, you can pay $500 to have the belts done on a liquid cooled via a dealer or you can buy a pair for $135 and spend an hour doing it yourself.Working on ducati's is easy get a workshop manual , and do not believe the the BS from dealers. All the tools down to the diagnostic software can be had with a little work. I run 2 bikes track onl, they take a beating compared to street bikes.

 

[tripletrophy]

I find the 1200 MultiStrada does not really like to run under 3,000 rpm, or at least accelerate from that rpm. Better to drop a gear or two. Having said that it is not unlike the BMW R1200GS I rode last year (useless under 3,000), and pales in comparison to the Triumph Trophy 900 (triple) which will haul from as low as 1800-2000 rpm with no complaint. So far, my first service was cheaper than the Trophy.

 

[kneedragger88]

I have a Duc. Sexy as hell. Overrated in performance and parts are retarded in price.

 

[regder]

Bikes just aren't that reliable. I have an 06 Yamaha FZ6 with 70k km, and guess what, it's needed a couple things here and there. This is a bike that I consider dead on reliable, but nothing is perfect. Probably the first 30k km needed nothing, after that things start to wear out

As for your RENTAL Multistrada, you can't genuinely judge a bike by one rental you had. We all know the abuse that rentals go through, and who knows how many times that thing was dropped and crashed.

I hear people saying things I had no problemws except changing this and fixing that ... What about I had no problems, I changed tires and oil and I ride the bike ? Thta's what I would expect from a vehicle build this century

I wanted to buy a Ducati last year, I was VERY keen on the Multistrada 1200. So I went and rented one for a week touring the Alps. The bike was like 1 month old, 3000 Kms on it. I had to push start the bike 4 days out of 6. By the end of the tour the dash was falling appart due to the intense vibration of the engine. The gearing or the fuel map or both were so bad, I ended up clutching the bike in 2nd for most of the tour, as it was really diificult to get torque and control at a decent speed in the switchbacks. At the end of the tour I had a look around and I notticed a number of plastic parts not clossing properly, not sitting right in the place, etc. I guessed all that due to vibration ... Not so great for a 20K bike...

I can only assume that the other Ducati's are better built, and I still have to try the Yamaha Super Tenere to soo how it feels compared to the Multi.

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