Adios to the Ducati mecs: or how I saved over $4500

[pespina]

I crashed during a weekend ride in the twisty roads of Morvan (a region about 200 km south-east of Paris). In short, I was going too fast for my abilities, I let my survival reactions grip me, and I hit a road sign at about 80 KPM.

Lucky for me, I escaped without a scratch, but the Ducati was not so fortunate. She had a gaping hole in the clutch cover, a semi collapsed horizontal head exhaust pipe, and misaligned front wheel. Once again, luck came to my rescue in the form of a local machinist, who happened to be at the wheel of the first car that stopped at the crash side, and who told me that he could patch the hole in the wet clutch cover at his girlfriend's house, 1 km down the road. To the amazement of all, the guy took the bike apart over an old blanket and placed an epoxy patch that allowed me to limp my way back to Paris. That is when things started going wrong.


On Monday morning, I dropped the bike at the Ducati shop off the Avenue de la Grande Armée (near the Arc de Triomphe). By Friday, they had not yet given me an estimate so after some pressure, at 5:00 pm, they faxed me an estimate for $6125 (about the current value of the bike). To make matters worse, the estimate did not include the horizontal head exhaust pipe ($425) nor the clutch cover ($552) â€" two of the main reasons why it was in the shop to begin with. What the estimate included was $5000 worth of things that were not affected by the accident but rather looked their proper age for a bike that has 30000 km in the odometer.

The next Monday, I went to the Ducati shop to disallow all but one item in the estimate. The Chief of the Shop explained that the estimate was meant to make the bike “look like if it was new”. The mechanics were especially annoyed at my refusal to change the front wheel ($978) and the front disks ($568), which they said were bent. I said that I would have them straightened at a shop in the south of France, which specializes in bent wheels, but they told me that such repair would be a safety hazard.

I imagine that to the Ducati mecs, I am a stubborn foreign idiot that cannot speak French worth a croissant, but what they do not know is that: (a) I have a PhD in Mechanical Engineering and (b) I work at the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM) which is the center of the metrology world. I knew that the wheel was not bent because it did not wobble during rotation â€" thus the only possibilities for the misalignment were that the fork was bent (and idea that they had already rejected) or that the axle was bent (something they never bothered to check).

I took my wheel and the disks to work where the same machinists who craft the precision instruments that enable the most precise realizations of units of measurement, checked them. The wheel had a maximum deviation of 0.8 mm and the disks less that 0.1 mm. When I went back to the Ducati shop and told them to reinstall them, they made me sign papers releasing them from liability for my “poor decision” and, with their body language, made it clear that they would be all to happy to never see me again. $1330 later, I was out of the Ducati shop but my front wheel was still misaligned.

Friday (two weeks after the accident) I took the bike to a little bike shop next to my work where a lone mechanic smokes 30 cigarettes per day and fixes anything that has two wheels and a motor. I like Phillipe because he allows me to help him work on my bike, but the main problem is that we barely understand each other. Phillipe and I took the front wheel off, and immediately, we both knew what was wrong â€" an $88 front axle which was so bent that you could see it with your bare eyes. I was pissed! The Ducati mecs had had that axle out and they should have seen it. Further, when I asked them, they said that it was OK.

Not being one for creating problems, I went back to Ducati and bought a new axle. Their body language said it all â€" “Oh, so now you think that you will fix all your problems with that little part?” I left with a polite “bon week-end” and two hours later, Phillipe and I were looking at a front end that worked as well as ever.

So you might ask yourself, “why don't you always take your bike to Phillipe?” Because, Phillipe does not stock Ducati parts and Ducati does not give discounts to independent repair shops. So if I go to Phillipe, I have to ride Metro to the other side of town, whenever he needs a part. But the moral of the story is that the Ducati mecs are not Gods and sometimes it pays to get a little greasy and do it yourself.

[somegirl]

Glad to hear the story had a good ending, nice job.

[corndog67]

After talking to those hacks, why would you let them work on your bike in the first place?  It's obvious that they thought you were going to put their kids through college for them, or at least be a major help with it. 

[He Man]

never give the waiter/ress an attitude and expect clean food.

Glad you got through it though. Maybe they were just busting your balls cause your not french?

[DuciD03]

Not being one for creating problems, I went back to Ducati and bought a new axle. Their body language said it all â€" “Oh, so now you think that you will fix all your problems with that little part?” I left with a polite “bon week-end” and two hours later, Phillipe and I were looking at a front end that worked as well as ever.

So you might ask yourself, “why don't you always take your bike to Phillipe?” Because, Phillipe does not stock Ducati parts and Ducati does not give discounts to independent repair shops. So if I go to Phillipe, I have to ride Metro to the other side of town, whenever he needs a part. But the moral of the story is that the Ducati mecs are not Gods and sometimes it pays to get a little greasy and do it yourself.

First; I'm glad to hear you walked away for that crash without a scratch; but I always say you have to be good to be lucky ...

... "bon weekend" ... part priceless!; ... LOL ....

difference between a mechanic & a parts technician ... a good mechanic isn't lazy; he is knowledgeable and listens to his customers; he has a good eye, brain and hands; is sympathetic and empathetic to the customer and mechanical problems, he is a mechanical problem solver and genius .... a parts technician replaces as many pieces as possible so that everthing isn't fixed its replaced ... there is a small bit of logic to replacing parts ... but it isn't being a mechanic.

glad to hear you went to a smart mechanic.

[pespina]

After talking to those hacks, why would you let them work on your bike in the first place?  It's obvious that they thought you were going to put their kids through college for them, or at least be a major help with it. 

That is a most fair question. I guess that I was too much of a wimp to risk angering them by telling them that they were crazy. This is actually difficult to explain. When you live in a country where you do not speak the language, generating a rapport with local services is essential. There are not that many Ducati dealers in Paris - you tell them to go to hell, soon enough you are going to run out of places to buy your parts. And the mail-order services in France are in the infancy compare to those in the US. No overnight delivery of parts here - it is not the way the French do business.

For example, the Ducati parts desk at the Avenue de la Grandee Armee is only opened Monday to Friday from 10:00 to 5:00 with an 1 hour lunch - this means that every time you need a part, you need to take off from work to go get it. You need a replacement light bulb on Saturday? You are screwed! (For example, yesterday I visited 8 moto stores before I found a Phillips replacement tail bulb).

Essentially they are the only game in town and they know it. I was telling my wife that there is a business out there waiting to happen: a Ducati mail order parts service that stocks parts from salvaged bikes, has a real-time on-line catalog with schematics and alternative part numbers, and who can deliver overnight for a fair price.

[desmopr]

Glad everything worked out.  Nice place to live and work.  I don't have a Phd, but hire me.

[corndog67]

That is a most fair question. I guess that I was too much of a wimp to risk angering them by telling them that they were crazy. This is actually difficult to explain. When you live in a country where you do not speak the language, generating a rapport with local services is essential. There are not that many Ducati dealers in Paris - you tell them to go to hell, soon enough you are going to run out of places to buy your parts. And the mail-order services in France are in the infancy compare to those in the US. No overnight delivery of parts here - it is not the way the French do business.

For example, the Ducati parts desk at the Avenue de la Grandee Armee is only opened Monday to Friday from 10:00 to 5:00 with an 1 hour lunch - this means that every time you need a part, you need to take off from work to go get it. You need a replacement light bulb on Saturday? You are screwed! (For example, yesterday I visited 8 moto stores before I found a Phillips replacement tail bulb).

Essentially they are the only game in town and they know it. I was telling my wife that there is a business out there waiting to happen: a Ducati mail order parts service that stocks parts from salvaged bikes, has a real-time on-line catalog with schematics and alternative part numbers, and who can deliver overnight for a fair price.

I didn't mean to insult them by telling the real story of their actions, I meant, well, sorry guys, no hoy dinero today, can't afford it right now, I'll be back later and go somewhere else and do your thing.  I try not to burn any bridges when I'm dealiing with any locals.   You're right, you never know when you might really need something from them. 

[mitt]

After living in Grenoble for 2 years, I can't imagine having to rely on a Ducati shop in Paris as a foreigner.  That is just too easy a target for them to screw.

mitt

[BastrdHK]

What did they fix for $1300 then?

[Raux]

by the way, i'm in kaiserslautern, germany. if you come out this way or i head that way, let's get in touch.

[RB]

quite interesting story, glad you fared well.
I agree with you not wanting to mouth off to the well deserved mechanics at the Ducati shop, only makes sense. But i sure as hell wouldn't by any parts from them....but i guess you probably hadn't any other shop to get parts from.

cheers,
RB

[OT]

Good for you!

I suspect if one took one's broken bike to a Ducati shop next door to the Plaza Hotel in NYC (roughly equivalent to the neighborhoods around the Arc de Triomphe), one would get the same treatment.   

Don't worry about offending anyone.  Those fellows certainly had no qualms about trying to pick your pockets...a few o-la-las would have done the trick

[pespina]

What did they fix for $1300 then?

For $1300 they replaced the clutch cover ($552), they changed the headset bearings which were already giving signs of impending death (nothing to do with the crash), and they had to make an oil change (because of the change of the clutch cover in a wet clutch engine. The killer was the 5.5 hours of labor at $97 per hour but event the headset bearings were a rip-off at $21 each.

[pespina]

After living in Grenoble for 2 years, I can't imagine having to rely on a Ducati shop in Paris as a foreigner.  That is just too easy a target for them to screw.

mitt

Yes, in this sea called France, sharks speak French and unless you want to be served as lunch, you better learn how to speak "Shark".

I am an idiot when it comes to languages; I have been here 4 years and I am yet to fully understand everyone, much less be understood. I have little trouble understanding educated French people, but mechanics & cops speak a "street" French that for the love of God I cannot understand. At times this has worked on my favor (like when cops send me away after they realize that I am an idiot foreigner) but you should have seen me passing the French permit moto two years ago when I spoke even less French. One more reason why I will not accept any jobs in Germany (I just can't do it all over again)