1299 Stranded with Mechanical Issue

Hello all,

New member here but long time faithful Ducati.ms member (same handle).

The good news: I recently purchased a 2016 1299 with 2,000 kms on it. Bike was cosmetically new and ran like new...until today.

The bad news: After giving the bike a full once-over to ensure that the previous owner hadn't done anything stupid, I took the bike out for its first real ride. Did about 100kms of mixed, easy riding, then stopped for lunch. Bike is fantastic. Couldn't have been happier. Not 10 minutes into the post-lunch ride however, I came out of a corner and downshifted. Felt like the bike had WAY more engine braking than normal. Even at steady throttle now, the motor felt like it it was running very rough and off-throttle, felt like 4x normal engine braking along with a loud clatter (The motor is loud under normal circumstances but this was another level). Fearing the worse, I immediately pulled over and turned the bike off, thinking that perhaps something in the electronics had gone awry and that turning the bike off and back on might resolve it.

Waited 30 seconds, fired the bike up, put it in a different ride mode and left off. Same problem so killed the engine immediately and called roadside assistance (bike is a 2016 so still has 1+ yrs warranty).

So, here I am 3 hours later, sitting on the side of the road waiting for a flat bed. It's Sunday so dealers are closed. Will have bike towed there tomorrow so that an investigation (and hopefully some repairs) can begin.

I know it's incredibly difficult to diagnose these problems with just a written description of the events that transpired but if anyone here has ideas of what could have happened, I'd be happy to hear it.

Will keep this thread updated as the saga unfolds.

That sounds just like when I broke the rear belt on my 900ss.

Hope that's not your issue.

Aye. Sounds like timing gear. Hope it's simpler.


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Do keep us updated. Sorry for the problems.

Yeah. That's a definite possibility. Bike is at dealer now to open the motor and answer the million dollar question.

Let's play out a couple possible scenarios:

1) obviously, the best case is that it wasn't anything major, that they order the parts and fix it under warranty ("praying emoji")

2) next would be that somehow, the whole motor grenaded and needs to be replaced -obviously under warranty. Would be Bike-less for a good few weeks or months but at least issue would be resolved.

3) then, we get into not-so-good scenarios where for whatever reason, warranty doesn't cover it despite lots of back-and-forth and I end up having to pay for repairs or at worse, a new motor

Hoping things don't net out at #3 obviously but as a data point: does anyone know what a new 1299 motor costs or if it's even possible to buy one from Ducati?

Well hope it's easy repair

Good luck and let us know what it turns out to be

Timing gear issue on my 1299s. Very low miles road bike ( 560 miles) undiagnosed but teeth turned up in the oil.
If it's a recurrent issue Ducati hopefully more likely to assist future similar problems.
Hope your on the road asap. [emoji106]


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I think a new motor in the crate from the dealer is in the 15-17k range or at least that was a quote at one point in 2015. I have a couple of very low mile 1299 motors I picked up for 3-4K.

ChrisE said:

That sounds just like when I broke the rear belt on my 900ss.

Hope that's not your issue.

Click to expand...

No belt on 1299.

Update:

Heard back from dealer. They fired the bike up and hear the horrendous sound.

They pulled the oil and it was full of bearing pieces. At the moment, they suspect it threw a con rod but have to request a full motor tear down from Ducati before digging in.

Will hear more later this week but they are trying to figure out what rebuild would look like or how long it would take. Will update further once I hear back.

Such low miles. I wonder what caused the failure?

While I'm aware that these things can also happen on a brand new bike with 0 miles, this exact thing is what will always keep me from buying a used bike (unless it's dirt cheap like my cbr was). You just never know what kind of abuse a used bike may or may not have gone through.

Hope DNA doesn't try n pull a slick one on you and deny anything. They have denied motor work before n it can be costly.

GL

I hear what you're saying. At times like these, the only recourse is to ensure you have a good lobbyist in the chosen dealership. In my case, I have a good relationship with them and have high confidence they will go to bat and do what's right. I share your point of view though in that there are horror stories about claims being denied for all kinds of absurd reasons. Remaining cautiously optimistic.

The guy bought the bike with 2000km, in my opinion even if it was thrashed it's still a race bike and it should be a bit more robust..
Show me a rice burner that can't take a beating for 2000km?

I hope it's a isolated fault because my bike is coming out of warranty in 6 months, I don't get to ride it much but fuc I will be annoyed if it broke like this.

I feel for the OP, big time my advise is let the dealer advise what they will do then if your unhappy seek council

Please keep us posted on this one I'm certain you have all our attention

Captain Greg said:

The guy bought the bike with 2000km, in my opinion even if it was thrashed it's still a race bike and it should be a bit more robust..
Show me a rice burner that can't take a beating for 2000km?

I hope it's a isolated fault because my bike is coming out of warranty in 6 months, I don't get to ride it much but fuc I will be annoyed if it broke like this.

I feel for the OP, big time my advise is let the dealer advise what they will do then if your unhappy seek council

Please keep us posted on this one I'm certain you have all our attention

Click to expand...

"SHOULD" being the key word but the reality is that it doesn't matter what the bike is classified as, race replica or not. There have been forum members who have gone through scenarios such as engine failures n DNA denying claims. During these incidents, we as consumers are at the mercy of an approval by DNA. Having the support from your local dealership is great but in the end, no matter how much they're willing to do, they can only do so much. Approve such claims isn't one of them. Offer to cover all labor costs is one of them and that's if you're even lucky enough to get that. If a tear down was to reveal any obvious signs of abuse, then he would be the one that's screwed since he purchased a used bike. There's no way anyone can prove who may be at fault to start pointing fingers at.

I'm hoping you have all the support you need in this situation n that things work out in your favor. If I were you and this was to get sorted out the way that benefits you, I'd suggest you look into an extended warranty. You may never need it but any repair bills post warranty can n will be expensive.

When you first described the issue...I had flashbacks to my R doing the exact same thing. Spun a rod bearing which then trashed the engine. They denied mine b/c it was a "track-only" bike.

Good luck!

MMC said:

When you first described the issue...I had flashbacks to my R doing the exact same thing. Spun a rod bearing which then trashed the engine. They denied mine b/c it was a "track-only" bike.

Good luck!

Click to expand...

What a croc of .... there's plenty of jap bikes that are only track bikes their whole lives perfectly fine.

MMC said:

When you first described the issue...I had flashbacks to my R doing the exact same thing. Spun a rod bearing which then trashed the engine. They denied mine b/c it was a "track-only" bike.

Good luck!

Click to expand...

How did they know it was a track only bike? The reason I ask is, I was ask by the service department how I used my 1299. The dealer said, DNA wanted to know so they could track the failures (my 1299 had failures on multiple occasions) and improve upon their product. But, I now wonder if it's DNA fishing for ways out of a warranty repair.

Track bodywork...plus I'm just honest.

this reminds me of Art's (@azimmerlyjr) ordeal... hopefully not a reprise of that situation.

Any luck yet in finding the exact cause [emoji106]


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