Ducati Monster Forum

I'm writing this as I sit in my car because I have lost my temper. I took my wife's bike to the only ducati shop in ri to get new tires put on, and she decided to ask for an oil change at the same time. We drove out to grab it and I was going to ride it back. Start out and I notice the neutral light is always on, try to honk the horn to get my wife's attention since she's driving on front of me and left switch cluster starts rotating. We pull over and I confirm that the light wasn't stuck on when she dropped it off. So we head back all of 30 sec and the bike starts gasping and stalls out when I give it gas. We are literally in site of the dealership. I can't get the bike started until I put the fast idle/ choke all the way , pull in and I'm already fuming. All of my friends with ducatis have warned not to get anything done here, but we assumed a tire change would be harmless.

They took the bike in back, and I excused myself because I knew my temper wouldn't help. Up until now the bile has been serviced at bcm exclusively, and had run exceptionally well with a lot of smooth power for an '00 750. The wife came and got me to tell the tech what was wrong, and as soon as I walked in the guy wouldn't look me in the eye. I told him the neutral light  issue and he said that the battery light was stuck o, and that there's a short. The battery light has been on since we had the bile, and bcm always said they could fix it but it wasn't a concern (unless we didn't mind $$/time tracking it down)since everything else  works fine.  I told him that and he made a wrinkly 'whatever you don't know anything' face. This set me off again so I said I don't give a shit about the light I just want to know why the bike which ran perfectly now can't make it 500 feet without dying, to which he said something about aftermraket parts, which is make the beast with two backsing rediculous since it has clip ons, cores pipes and a tach kit for 5 years with no issues. At this point he just told me they'd come get me if they found something so I sit waiting. Not sure where the wife is, but I am absolutely perplexed how changing the tires and oil led to the self destruction of a completely perfectly running bike. Clueless really what could have happened in the past week they've had it other than somebody joy rided it to deathor they ducked with it because a little woman dropped it off so they thought they could get some extra work.  Been sitting a long time because I was able to write this on my phone which is designed for gerbil fingers. Ugh

So an update, carbs full of water, been raing the whole time it was at shop. We keep bike in garage always, guessing they had it outside. Bike does have a cut airbox, so it probably sat out while they had it filling with water. What the make the beast with two backs, aparently the carbs are rusted up or something. Is this going to be my buck because the airbox is cut? We don't ride in the rain, well I do on my bike sometimes on a commute but the wife isn't wild about it. >:(

damn dude, sorry to hear about your bad luck.

Hopefully the dealer will get it right

hang in there  [thumbsup]

or

go have a  [drink]

Dealer  can't fix neutral light, says we should have told them the airbox is cut. Bike is running supposedly and I think they think that is good enough. Is it?

They got a new tech to look and discovered that actually the switch was dead not a short, and they are going to see if they have a switch to swap. I'm thinking if they fix that and it runs I'll take it to riverside or bcm to get the carbs taken care of. I'm still making up my mind about who's to blame. Most of me is of the opinion that the bike shouldn't be any different than how I left it with them other than new tires and oil. I don't like the idea of a dealership leaving anyones bike out in the heavy rains we've been getting, cut airbox or not.

IMO - they are.  The bike was in there care, and these issues were not present before you handed it over.  You don't have to be a genius, nor know that a bike has an open air box, to know to that leaving it outside, presumably un covered during a downpour has a myriad of potential consequences.

Just got home, bike runs ok, def not as nice as it was, much less smooth. There's some rubbing sound coming from the front wheel, at first I thought maybe new tire sound, but it is enough I can feel it in the handlebars. Shop closed so I just headed home, where upon my wife told me that she had to buy the switch. I can't believe they even made her pay for the switch. What make the beast with two backsing ass holes. I don't know what to do, so I did the responsible thing and told her its her bike, she can determine the course of action. She's out riding it now to hear the noise.

razee's? the last time i had an oil change there, they forgot to reset the service light on my bike and somehow got shit all over my brand new seat. it took me 10 minutes of scrubbing to get the spots out.

Go back and raise hell if my bike was left out in the rain i would be so incredibly pissed off i can't even begin to describe it.  The only time it should be in the rain is when i get stuck in it while riding.  If the carbs are rusted because of it sitting out in the rain while at the shop it is THEIR fault.  No bike should sit out in the rain open airbox or not.

yep sounds about right.

So I had a therapeutic beer and set about investigating wtf they could have done. Took off the front brake caliper(dark, only 1), since I had it off put some new pads on that I had from my old monster, and reseated. Then took a look at the back wheel. Chain tighter than a banjo string, adjusted that, checked the brake and took it for a quick zip up and down the test track that is our street and the noise appears to be gone or at least lessened. Lesson learned, not even a tire change is safe at that place.

If it was my bike maybe I would do this, but the wife doesn't want to deal with them anymore period having wasted an entire beautiful sunny day being blamed for all the problems and dropping $400 on tires and pain. I also don't want them touching the bike anymore, if a retarded rabid monkey bit me, I wouldn't ask it to help with the stitches.  Best tell anyone here to stay away.

Yeah, sometimes it's better  just to move on than to go back again and try to get something made right at a bad  place.

My wife doesn't have her own bike, but I have similar problems with her dealing with her car maintenance.  The simplest solution for me was to just take over the responsibility for maintaining her car, either doing it myself or taking it to a shop, because every single time she had something done it ended up as a problem that took more of my time and energy than if I'd just handled it myself to begin with. You'd have a hard time convincing me that some shops don't see extra $$ when a woman brings in a bike or car for service.

I agree, move on. You've spread the word and everyone is fairly warned. You can always find someone who has had a bad experience with any shop. It happens sooner or later. Luckily never to me.

Last year a friend borrowed my trailer to take his older (can't remember the year) Triumph to a local BWM/Triumph/Ducati/MV Agusta shop to get it revived and back on the road after it sat for several years dead in his garage. A fairly common thing last year with $4.00+/gallon gas. Lots of older bikes got back on the road.

Simple enough, right? Tires, battery, carb overhaul, etc. Wrong. They had it for six months!!! Oh, and they leave their customers bikes outside, uncovered in the elements too. Our sons play baseball together so at every game I would get the latest update. Which usually amounted to nothing other than my friend venting and getting more pissed off.

Finally last October they said it would be ready on a Thursday for pick up. He waited until the following Saturday to pick it up. Yep, you guessed it, it wasn't ready and was still apart! He rightfully went medieval on their ass and they stayed after closing to button it up and turn it over to him. Yep again, didn't run worth a s#@t... stalled, sputtered, died all the way home! Next business day the bike was back. Six months and this is what he gets?? The place should be nuked from orbit!!

How some shops stay in business is beyond me. ???

This is all at Razee's in R.I.?

not fastwin's story as far as I know, no Triumphs and MVs at razees, just yamaha, honda, kawasaki, ktm, ducati, bmw and moto guzzi :)

Absolutely not. The un-named shop is in the DFW, Texas area. Don't think it's my place to name the shop since I personally don't use them and have never had a problem because of that reason. I do know some folks who have had good experiences with them. Not many but some.

Just used that story as an example of how bad a shop can be. I do know a local Duc rider who had another bad experience with them and went to the Ft. Worth offices of the Texas group that had major financial interest in Ducati a while back. He told them of his woes and they took good care of him, got the problem straightened out and gave him $2,000-$2,500 credit toward Ducati goodies! Can't remember the exact figure but it was somewhere in that amount. If he see this post maybe he'll give the details in his own words. It's one of the best stories I have heard regarding making things right between a customer and a shop. [thumbsup]

Cutter,

Call your credit card company and tell them you want to reverse the charges, and you want to use "article Z" to do so. YOu are dis satisfied with the work, the condition the bike was returned to you in, and that they took such poor care fo the bike as to cause further damage, that will require another dealer to do work on the bike, as you dont trust them.

They will send you a form to fill out, and then will credit you the money.  When the dealer calls, tell them they either need to issue you a full refund, or that they will need to sue you for the tires and oil change.

I had to do $1400 in repairs to a clients bike that a delaer in central LA left out in the rain, did a burnout on, and ruined the STM slipper clutch. I had him to the same thing. They wont DARE goto court, as it makes thier mis deed a matter fo public record, and you can have the local papers publish the court records, and hurt the srappy shop even more.

Good luck

Will

Do you have a repair order for the tire?  Written estimate or some paperwork for the tire change?

As a previous shop owner, I've had stuff come in the door falling apart before that people thought I should have to fix on my dime.  I'm not saying your bike was falling apart, just looking at it from both sides. 

How is getting a slipper clutch wet going to ruin it, or doing a burnout going to ruin a clutch (assuming the tire was spinning :D). 

Do what I did when I was 16 and got hosed by a shop.....start buying your own tools and doing everything yourself.  Tires arn't something I have time to screw with, but I wouldn't take the bike anywhere (just the wheels).

Threads like this make me love my local shop even more. I've never had an unkind thing to say about crooked river in Akron.  [thumbsup]

I will bring this up with my wife, i don't know how she paid so it might not even be an option.



Yes I completely appreciate this aspect of it, and I understand the tech wanting to jump to assuming there was a previous issue/short causing the neutral light issue. I just got set off by his tone and misdemeanor, and the fact that they gave no weight to anything we said and took no ownership of any of the issues that developed when the bike was at their shop. I tried to shift the focus away from the neutral light and on to the larger issue of the bike not running, but was basically told I don't know what I am talking about and the 'aftermarket' card was played and told to leave, so that sort of shows the mentality going on.


Don't think I haven't dreamed of this out loud on more of a professional level with a good portion of my friends. I do a good portion of the maintenance myself on my older bikes.

Taft,


if you get the sureflex non sintered clutch plates wet, rev it to the limiter and then slip the hell oout of the clutch it de-bonds the material from the plates, much like how the Barnett units will debond if left soaking in water and then flogged.

I dont know HOW they did it, only THAT they did it. The point is that is that if I had to take my bike to a dealer and they pulled some Shyte like that, I would have been in handcuffs after breaking fingers and arms.

Cutter, Hope you can get all your money back! The aftermarket BS doesnt really fly in todays world... There are SOME junk makers out there, but by and large, most are pretty good!

Will

Wow what a hassle ,tell everybody you know about that place and stay away.

Hmmm . . . I had only heard good things about that shop until now.

Me too, that's why I was wondering...

Interesting, and shocking all at the same time!

The sales people are nice enough, and the guys up in the parts/accessories area are decent. I don't want to say everyone at the place is a prick, in fact a lot of the people I have talked to there were decent and friendly, but I think the real test of any organization is when something goes wrong. I think I have to let this lie now, my wife doesn't want me to even mention it now, and just get it fixed. Now I have to decide whether to drive up to Riverside or BCM which is where we usually go, but is a long trip up and down twice (in some sort of rental crate that will carry 2 bikes).