Dealership/Service experience

[unreale7ss]

Ducati motorcycles are superbly built machines, but require timely routine service to maintain optimum performance, longevity, as well as safety.  Please tell us about your experiences with different Ducati dealerships, good and bad.  Did you buy your Ducati at this dealer?  What was your experience following the sale?  How would you rate the service department?  Please don't forget to mention the region as well as the dealership name.  Thanks for your input!

[Grampa]

 

[psycledelic]

Are we being probed by aliens, cause I am a little scared. 

[trenner]

Are we being probed by aliens, cause I am a little scared. 

Assuming that the bit about aliens is true, I'll skip the details to protect the innocent:

I went to this Duc dealer in Portland, Oregon, and they offered really good service, and atmosphere as well.  But it wasn't cheap.

I went to this independent Duc mechanic in Portland, Oregon, and he was really really good.  Conscientious, thorough, and invested in getting the right outcome, and less worried about making a buck.  He shares a space with a YamaKaZuki mechanic who is similarly good, and for the same reasons.

[ducpainter]

Ducati motorcycles are superbly built machines, but require timely routine service to maintain optimum performance, longevity, as well as safety.  Please tell us about your experiences with different Ducati dealerships, good and bad.  Did you buy your Ducati at this dealer?  What was your experience following the sale?  How would you rate the service department?  Please don't forget to mention the region as well as the dealership name.  Thanks for your input!

How many of you are there?

[Statler]

Mike,

I think you'll find this discussion is pretty thoroughly covered in each of the local forums.   Even if you're trying to get a sense of how dealers are across the country, the responses here will be too few and scattered to mean much at all.    Check the New York local board for stuff near you. 

[Capt baz]

Ducati motorcycles are superbly built machines, but require timely routine service to maintain optimum performance, longevity, as well as safety.  Please tell us about your experiences with different Ducati dealerships, good and bad.  Did you buy your Ducati at this dealer?  What was your experience following the sale?  How would you rate the service department?  Please don't forget to mention the region as well as the dealership name.  Thanks for your input!

if you landed in my back yard(there is room for the mother ship) & said, "TAKE ME TO YOUR DEALER", we would go to razee's in rhode island & you would be pleased.

[ScottRNelson]

I guess one serious reply wouldn't hurt here. 

I bought my first Ducati - a 1997 M900 Monster - new from a dealer 160 miles away in Fresno.  That was because none of the six closer dealers had a red M900 in stock when I was ready to buy.  For obvious reasons I never took it back there for service.  I had my bike serviced the first few times by the closest Ducati dealer, which was basically a one-man shop and I was satisfied with the service there.  When the owner retired I had to find another dealer.

The next dealer, which no longer exists, was IMX in Fremont, a dealership that sold KTM and Triumph and had branched out to Ducati about the time I needed a new dealership.  They were the kind of dealer where the parts guy would look up the part number in the catalog when I needed a Ducati oil filter.  Note that there is only ONE Ducati oil filter for ALL recent bikes.  I wasn't happy with their service, since they were always trying to get me to pay extra for things I didn't really need and they lied to me about a few things.  After the second experience of them lying to me about service, I resolved that I would never go back there, even to look at bikes.  A year or two after that the place burned down and word is that the owner is now in prison for arson and fraud.

Since I needed a new place to get my bike serviced, I tried Nichols Sportbike Service, after hearing good things about them.  It was a truly wonderful experience to take my bike to a mechanic whose main goal was happy customers.  He charged less, did better service, looked out for the small things, and was willing to talk about any issues.  He even offered money saving advice.  I still take my Ducatis there and enjoy every visit.  I use it as an excuse for not learning how to do my own valves and belts, because I want to stop in there every year or two.

A few years ago a new dealership opened in the general area where I live, Modesto Ducati.  Although I've only visited them once, they're the kind of dealership that you want in your area.  The next time I'm ready to buy a new Ducati, they're most likely to get my business.  When Nichols Sportbike Service, which is an independent shop, comes upon a warranty issue, they refer the bike owner to Modesto.

I don't know if any of this is what you are after, but that's my experience.