Told you so

What do you base your experience on? I had a full service
on the 600SS lump which included a full valve check,
replacement belts *and* the big-bore kit fitted. The
cost including parts was £177.

How much was the last full service on your bike?

 

Just from the menu prices at On Yer Bike.

300 quid for a service and belts on an air-cooled, 600 for a 916.

Dunno, it's not seen a dealer since I bought it - apart from for it's
MOTs.

 

And, the cunts who are supposed to be supplying my Sport 1000 next
month.

Another email, I suppose...

 

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, Ben Blaney

Have you considered the possibility that someone is trying to tell you
something, Ben?

--
Wicked Uncle Nigel - Manufacturer of the "Champion-105" range of rearsets
and Ducati Race Engineer.

WS* GHPOTHUF#24 APOSTLE#14 DLC#1 COFF#20 BOTAFOT#150 HYPO#0(KoTL) IbW#41
SBS#39 Enfield 500 Curry House Racer "The Basmati Rice Burner",
Honda GL1000K2 (On its hols) Kawasaki ZN1300 Voyager "Oh, Oh, It's so big"
Suzuki TS250 "The Africa Single" Yamaha GTS1000

 

Ben Blaney says...

Oh dear. Not looking good, is it?

Have you thought that maybe your dad's big boss may be trying to tell
you something?

 

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, Lozzo

UKTV!

--
Wicked Uncle Nigel - Manufacturer of the "Champion-105" range of rearsets
and Ducati Race Engineer.

WS* GHPOTHUF#24 APOSTLE#14 DLC#1 COFF#20 BOTAFOT#150 HYPO#0(KoTL) IbW#41
SBS#39 Enfield 500 Curry House Racer "The Basmati Rice Burner",
Honda GL1000K2 (On its hols) Kawasaki ZN1300 Voyager "Oh, Oh, It's so big"
Suzuki TS250 "The Africa Single" Yamaha GTS1000

 

Wicked Uncle Nigel says...

Oh fucking bloody bitching arse, ginged by the Eaton.

 

I want that bike.

 

Ben Blaney said

Certainly sir. We will deliver it together with a flying pig.

Thankyou for your custom.

 

I'm not that bothered. It doesn't really matter where I get it from,
because I'm planning to leave it in the crate.

I would hope he's given up.

 

Major service, with shims, then. On a par with a major service and shim
job for yer average Jap four. Cheaper, probably.

Minor service is just fluids, visual checks, consumables, etc ad is far
cheaper.

 

Heard about this last week just after they closed their doors.

As I know Marchello, the owner, and a couple of the guys who
work(ed) there through their entry into the race series. Its
always a shame when people lose their jobs through no fault
of their own.

Having said that, there were often reports of not quite
favourable customer relations from the shops, to the point
where it seems they were only worried about selling bikes
and not with aftercare. I'm sure the adage about "people who
get poor service tell everyone, those who get good tell no-one"
applies to some extent here, but you have to wonder how much
that kind of thing plays a factor, especially given the
current market (downturn) out there.

I always thought they were on hiding to nothing with their
Chelsea shop, as it was small, tucked out of the way and they
even took the bikes to DLS for the servicing anyway. The rent
must have been burning the cash something rotten.

There is a market out there for Ducati, but you're correct that
they've just not got it right at the moment. Whether they will
survive this lull in the market (both in general and their own
sales) will be interesting. Will the v4 be the saviour, much
like the 916 was back in the early 90s? If the market continues
as it does I doubt it will. They're not going to sell many of
the Desmosedici RR bikes at 35 grand a pop and the real road
versions won't be ready for another 2 years after that. Is
it more a question of *will* they market a cheap bike rather
than *can* they? Depending on the success of the Classics
range, I reckon we'll be seeing a Sport 620 and 800 before
long.

Talking to a few more dealers and specialists its going to be
a really tough winter for them. Ducati owners traditionally
wrap them up for winter and leave servicing and toys until
the spring, so I really doubt this will be the last casualty.

 

Is that statement based on experience? I didn't think the servicing
charges were any worse than on a modern Jape sports bike when I was
running a 748.

 

FFS, I've been ginged by someone with webbed fingers.

 

As I've said elsewhere, it's based on the servicing menu at On Yer Bike.

It certainly suggested that an aircooled bike was roughly comparable in
costs to a Jap. bike, but that a liquid cooled bike was about double the
cost to run.

 

You're still talking bollocks. Servicing costs on a water cooled
Ducati are no way double the servicing costs on a comparable Jap
sports bike. I'll not even mention VFR Hondas because that'd be
unfair.

 

Yes, VFR VTECs are an exception, however, when was the last time a
normal 12k miles service on a Jap. sportsbike cost £600? - That was just
the cost for the scheduled items.

I know the scheduled service on most bikes at that mileage is just to
change the oil and filters - everything else is a 'check only' item.
Even my VFR 16k mile service with valve clearances shouldn't cost £600.

 

SteveH emerged from their own little world to say

You don't seem to have done your research very well, Steve.

When you say most bikes only have a minor service at 12k you are very
wrong. BMW & modern Ducatis have 6000 mile service intervals. Therefore,
the 12k service is a pretty major job rather than a mere lubrication
service.

£600 service bills at 12k are not uncommon for BMW owners, especially if it
is one of the monsters that needs a fairing removed. This may sound
expensive to you but bear in mind that in 12000 miles a BMW has 2 services
whereas a Honda would require 3. On my boxer twin a 6k service is about
£130 and a 12k is about £330.

If you check http://www.ducatistore.co.uk/ducati_servicing_uk.shtml you
will see that they are routinely charging over £600 for such a major
service.

 

You're quoting the price when it's due for a belt change. Are you
related to Tallbloke in some way?

 

Your point being?

If you're comparing bikes you can't discount the cost of a belt change
just because most bikes don't have them.