POLL: Where do you get your scheduled maintenance done?

[junior varsity]

I think there's an absence of an option. There's a difference in a "dealer" itself, and a ducati shop. Corse Motorsports (Nashville) sells zero used bikes. But its more than a mechanic alone, its a full fledged shop. Same with Ducshop (ATL), or Rust Restorations (DFW). These are schooled Ducati mechanics who have their own shops. So although I sometimes use an actual dealership, other times I'll use a Ducati shop that does everything but sell new bikes. (They get parts and everything just fine though)

[jwoconnor]

Dealer maintained doesn't mean a whole lot to me. I've been to dealers I wouldn't take your bike to. I've seen private mechanics that are totally anal about everything.
You can buy a bike that has been maintained by a shop and still have the rockers flake or the tank expand or the guides wear out. Hell, they could still be setting the belts to 140hz!

[Langanobob]

Here's my take. I take it to a Duc dealer for resale purposes. If I ever sell, I'll probably make up a fair percentage of what I paid for having a bike with all the records. I personally would never buy a Duc that was maintained by a shadetree mechanic, you have no idea how mechanically in/de clined they are.

It's not accurate to idly toss out blanket derogatory terms like "shadetree mechanic" to describe those who do their own work.  From what I've seen most if not all the Duc riders who do their own work and independent shop owners are very conscientious, even to a fault.  Not so for many dealers who have a reputation for overcharging and doing things like overtensioning cam belts and generally not knowing much.   I personally would be more comfortable buying an owner maintained bike than a dealer maintained bike, unless the dealer was one of the few with an exceptionally a good rep.

And of course there are a lot of variables but I'm not sure how much of  the high cost of dealer maintenance is recoverable at sale time.

[bigiain]

It's not accurate to idly toss out blanket derogatory terms like "shadetree mechanic" to describe those who do their own work.

In his defence, from the potential buyers point of view it's a fair bargaining-point-assumption. _I'd_ certainly use that exact phrase as I was negotiating the price down.

big

[Langanobob]

Understood, and in order to get quality work done, don't you guys have to ship your bikes to NZ?