cracked cases?

[Raux]

Hi guys.
I'm the poor bastard Paul is refering to. Just started surfing the web to find out if this is a common problem. I will post pics tomorrow for others to check their bikes.
Thanks for starting this Paul, appreciate it.
I'm taking it to the dealer next week when I get a chance with a view to Ducati doing hopefully the right thing.
I don't flog the bike. Its never looked like going down and don't wheelie it or even pillion it so am at a loss as to how and why this occurred.
This bike gets better looked after and pampered than my kids.
Bevan at Eurotwins said this can happen when engine mount bolts are lose. Mine were not as the fault was discovered yesterday by him doing the 20000k service.

Been told the fix is to drop the entire engine out, strip it down, get it welded and re-painted then re-assembled. Cost from $1300- 1500 all up.

cheers

you can drop the engine out yourself and go get it welded for WAY cheaper

[pju]

how do you post pics on this site guys?

[bigiain]

how do you post pics on this site guys?

We don't host pics here - you need to post them elsewhere and link to them. Some instructions for a few different pic hosting options are here:

http://ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=109.0

cheers,

big

[pju]

thanks Big.

[brad black]

the problem with warranty in a case like this is that it'll pretty much have to be an italian approval as nfi aren't going to pay for it and they'll give you parts only (set of cases) and then say it either has to be done at a dealer with you paying labour or (but i doubt this anyway) you bring in your old cases and you get the new ones.

if it has to be done at a dealer then i'd expect them to charge your 25 or so hours labour for it.  so it's still not at all cheap.

the ss frame thing was a widely known and documented issue.  i've never seen a non crashed bike do this, altho i believe others if they say they've experienced it.  but it may be hard to prove if it ends up in court given the low occurance and how much unknown their lawyer can stir up.

but remember it's not up to the dealer and realistically not up to nfi either.

[pju]

Thanks for the feedback Brad.
I'll keep you all posted.

[loony888]

but remember it's not up to the dealer and realistically not up to nfi either.

you're joking right?
realistically, if an official importer doesn't have the discretion to approve a claim for a manufacturing defect for a product they represent and make a profit from then they're not much of an importer! and frankly, the dealer that sold the bike should be doing all it can to help a customer as well. it's all fine and dandy to make a tidy profit when everything is sailing along nicely, but when problems arise too many folks are too quick to cut the cord and let the poor bastard who bought the defective product to wear it. and i for one say that's crap! whether you think pete has crashed his bike or not doesn't matter, i've known him since before he owned it and can say he hasn't, frankly i'm glad he's not bringing it to you for a claim, here's hoping the dealer he does take it to has a more customer oriented focus than you do. 

paul.

[bazz20]

how it was explained to me was the dealer dosent have the say nfi does but if the dealer thinks its no fault of the owner then they tell that to them , when i contacted nfi they said there wasnt a problem with cush drives but when i asked  my dealer they said there was and had all ready fixed one bike out of warranty so with my dealers help they have now come too the party  but they will only supply parts but thats fine for me ,cheers bazz

[CairnsDuc]

Paul, I don't think Brad means The dealer or NFI are washing there hands of the problem, I think he means for a repair of this size/magnitude some of the cost will have to be carried by Italy,

I know we had a bike that was 6 month's old burning through 3 or 4 liters of Oil every week, We sent a request to NFI for Authorization for an engine tear down/repair/rebuild, We had to send down detailed reports, parts list and Many photo's, after about a week they approved the hours and parts request.

They advised for a claim of that size, the final say had to come from Italy.

I know many dealers that go out of there way to get things through for there customers, but many times it get's turned down by NFI, you can only help out your customers so much before you are losing money. I lost count how many times in the 3 months I was dealing with Ducati parts and Warranty claims I had to be the Prick and ring people and advise them there Warranty claim had been turned down. and some of the reasons for turning down a claim would be very tenuous. but we had no choice.

[Spider]

you're joking right?
realistically, if an official importer doesn't have the discretion to approve a claim for a manufacturing defect for a product they represent and make a profit from then they're not much of an importer! and frankly, the dealer that sold the bike should be doing all it can to help a customer as well. it's all fine and dandy to make a tidy profit when everything is sailing along nicely, but when problems arise too many folks are too quick to cut the cord and let the poor bastard who bought the defective product to wear it. and i for one say that's crap! whether you think pete has crashed his bike or not doesn't matter, i've known him since before he owned it and can say he hasn't, frankly i'm glad he's not bringing it to you for a claim, here's hoping the dealer he does take it to has a more customer oriented focus than you do. 

paul.

Paul, you chose a bloke who does more for his customers than anyone else I've yet met....and you try and give this serve whilst going off the handle....at the point where your going off on one of your rants (this time, well and truly misplaced) at Brad....well mate....time to either stop drinking or start drinking, cause you've lost the plot on this one.

he's telling us about the chain of business decision from headquarters to the importer. We're fortunate we have someone on the site who can shine a light on the sometimes strange workings of NFI.

Your lucky I'm not a moderator, cause if I was, I'd suspend you for sheer stupidity on that misplaced, unfounded attack.

[loony888]

yeah, i'm a Brian W.  make the beast with two backs you.

no, no no, make the beast with two backs you!
it's all well and good to say it's not the dealers problem but really, if it's not the dealers or the official importer who sells the bike and turns a nice profit from it then who's is it? you want to chime in and say that pete is likely to be left out in the cold then that's fine, it's your point of view, you're entitled to it, doesn't seem very supportive for the poor customer though does it? is that how things were where you worked before? must be a winning formula eh? gone broke haven't they?
nice language by the way, do you talk like that to everyone who disagrees with your point of view?

paul.
p.s, spider, i haven't lost the plot, nor have i been drinking, the business decisions made by nfi or the dealers are what they are, but for a small business owner to casually dismiss any responsibility on behalf of a dealer or distributor isn't really a ringing endorsement of going to bat for a customer.
i'm lucky you're not a moderator huh? well no offense mate, but i don't really care about being suspended for speaking my mind, and as for rants, i hope yours gets you a discount on your next service from brad, cause from what i've heard they are bloody expensive

[loony888]

http://ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=27429.0


oh my god! frasers honoured a warranty claim! will wonders ever cease.

[Raux]

WOAH...

come on... we are all Ducati riders and LOVE our bikes. a cracked case can be discussed all day long and poeple will give tons of different opinions. some from the customer perspective and others from a dealers'. sometimes they don't jive.

but please stop the personal attacks. we all need the input from both perspectives (well i do cause i'm the idiot who took my bike apart)

'can't we all just get along' 

[Raux]

http://ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=27429.0


oh my god! frasers honoured a warranty claim! will wonders ever cease.

Loony888, this is what Brad was alluding to... not to pick sides...
"They then needed to get pre-approval from Ducati." That's how Frasers covered the warranty.

I worked Service at a car dealer before, and depending on the manufacturer, yes sometimes warranty work needs higher approval. apparently Ducati needs it to be at the top.

[loony888]

Loony888, this is what Brad was alluding to... not to pick sides...
"They then needed to get pre-approval from Ducati." That's how Frasers covered the warranty.

I worked Service at a car dealer before, and depending on the manufacturer, yes sometimes warranty work needs higher approval. apparently Ducati needs it to be at the top.

i get that, and given that pete's bike is just out of warranty it would definitely have to be approved by ducati themselves, it's the dismissive tone and the ease with which brad can dismiss what is a large expense and a huge worry for a customer. brad doesn't know the bike, yet infers that the cases only crack when bikes are crashed, well, pete's hasn't been crashed, the engine mount bolts were tight according to the mechanic who did the service and found the cracks, so there's no valid explanation for the failure. i referenced the 900 SS frames that were a problem and replaced well outside of warranty but that's different because there were many claims and it was well documented. well, it's no different, it's a defective product, just because there's not as many instances _ yet_ makes it no less valid a claim.

paul.