FUBAR WARNING!

A certain wise sage,(FUBAR) advised me not to buy a Ducati,but of course I went ahead! Bare with my little tale.....

As soon a I bought the bike I was in touch with the nearest Ducati dealership to organise a Termignoni exhaust kit for the bike, when doing this I also spoke to the mechanic who agreed that the due service,(based more on it now being 12 months old rather than mileage) could be carried out when he fits and sets up the bike with the new zorst. Especially as I had the oil and filter changed when I got the bike back to Marbella.

Anyways 4 weeks on and I decided to treat myself to a very sexy set of Dainese leathers,(with a hint of Ducati red thrown in!) from the Ducati dealership. When there I was informed that there was still no date for the zorsts arrival. Based on this I thought,ok on Monday I need to organise for the service to be done as I cant wait forever(the workshop is not open on Saturday y'see?)

My increasing desire for the service to be done sooner rather than later was due to me noticing over the last couple of weeks that the bike was proving to be a little b*stard to get in to neutral when stopped at lights or junctions,also it has a tendency to cut out when stopped.

Well decided to go for a little spin on the local race track yesterday and noticed on a couple of occasions that the clutch action going up through the box was not as smooth as normal.Definitely got to get it in I am thinking.

On heading back home,on a couple of occasions I got to my braking point on a few curves and was either finding false neutrals or the lever needed far more pressure to get it to shift than was correct. Finally I am hooning toward another bend and all I got was a false neutral with bend fast approaching, had no option but to free wheel round the bend in what felt like a totally out of control manner and cruise until I found somehwere to pull up.

The gearbox is stuck in a false neutral between 2nd and 3rd I think and was making lots of horrible false neutral noises,(as they do!) The gear linkage is way lower than normal and it could be just that this is the problem,it has moved so that effective gear changes are impossible. The clutch has not lost any fluid and so I am at a loss as to why that should have been feeling off. Dont tell me it's gone through a set of plates in just 5500km's???
Being a tosser I had left my mobile at home! But a nice German guy on a TL1000 that was as rough as hell and leaking oil! Pulled up and let me use his.Anyway the indicated half hour wait for the pick up truck stretched to 2 hours and I was cooking in the sun. Due to politics the bike had to be taken to Ronda and now the recovery companies are to battle between themselves to see who takes it to Malaga!

Sorry to hear that Peter, wish you the best of luck (and here's possibly yet another reason why I shall always admire Ducatis from a distance rather than my own padock stand).

However maybe it's a continental virus as it certainly seems to have spread to BMW. The new GS1200 is so full of faults you wouldn't believe it, with things like final drive failures occuring left, right and centre. Only on Friday I talked to an owner of one who said he's only just got it back from the dealers for a warranty repair, it's less than a year old and this is the eighth time!

I'm seriously thinking of sticking to "jap-crap" as reliability is something I prize highly.


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Jonboy...Strewth! BMW and problems are not normally associated are they? I hope that this is just me being a touch unlucky! To think I was put off going for the Aprilia Mille due to warranty problems!

Peter, what can i say m8, sorry to hear about the damned DuCaTi dropping its gears on you, whatever bike we may ride they are like everything else, women/computers/cars they are ok till they go wrong, lmao!!!

Here`s hoping that it is just a gear linkage problem m8, let us know how you get on and i was only joking about not buying one, but like above i would only admire from afar and not on my own paddock stand, lol..

cheers m8y

type soon ya hear !!!

Well, were not so smug now are we

Apologies Peter but I just had to get that one in while I could

Sorry to hear of your little problem, but no doubt a few hundred Euros will put it right....

And guys, I know a guy on his 3rd BMW R1100S (the one with the underseat pipes) as 2 have died on him. 1st the gearbox siezed at 70mph throwing him into a hedge and the bike into an oncoming van. He refused to have the original back and blamed BMW for the accident and they eventually conceeded. The 2nd had an electrical problem and caught fire at the dealer..... He says he's going to buy a Honda next time

So it's not just Italian handywork that can be a bit dodgy......

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Christ bad news Pete

but you do know how tempremental and high maintenance, these mistresses can be

still sorry to hear your bad news, and just glad she didnt lock up on ya or anything nasty like that .

I am sure you will have her to fine fettle soon.

It's so sad that one of the most desirable bikes has such a **** reputation for reliability, especially after the dosh you have to fork out for them.

I too will remain a distant admirer of such merchandise, (until i win the lotto, then i can have a permanent mechanic on call :P )

hope its fixed soon mate , so you can go hoon around your "local" racetrack.

Fubar...Thx for that matey. Well it only took until 4.00pm for the recovery people to decide who is to take the bike to Malaga tomorrow! I have also spoken to the Ducati mechanic and he appeared to be very sympathetic to the situation. I get the impression that if there are any warranty issues he will push them through for me.

I could not help thinking yesterday when the German guy pulled up on his totally tatty TL1000,(that appeared over due for being thrown on the back of Steptoe's cart!)that looks just aren't everything! His looked a complete mess yet he was heading to Granada which is a fair old ride!
Mine was glistening in the late afternoon sun and looking oh so sexy...but it wouldnt go properly!

Sounds bad Pete, hope it gets sorted before the winter arrives and spoils your fun.... Wait a minute

THV....I hope it doesnt take until winter arrives! That is a long time coming here! Hopefully I should have the full diagnosis in the next couple of days.
My gut feeling is that the main problem is the clutch,could be new plates needed or an outside chance that the slave cylinder for the clutch,(which was a known weak spot on the 99 could have gone,but I have seen no leakage of fluid. The clutch not working has caused more pressure than normal to be applied to the gear linkage which has pushed it out of position.
I am wondering that due to the generally hot temps here,if I should get myself a ventilated clutch cover.

Marko...It does rankle a little I must admit. The long list of Jap bikes I have owned never had any problems at all apart from those created by me binning them!

I will keep you posted.

Well 7.00pm Tuesday and received a call from the mechanic telling me that the bike had finally arrived! He is going to start and investigate what the actual problem is,sort that and do some service issues.