look what MY BASE does!

i think i either weld the bolts to the head or safety wire them. safety wiring already started on other parts of the bike...

Clearly Phil, you actually ride your bike or this wouldn't happen. Half the people here either don't ride theirs "regularly" or use it as a super sexy (and expensive) credenza in their living room. Once "those" people start accumulating some miles (cough out of warranty time) I'd put down big $$ they have this problem.
Ducati failed, its quite evident.

White13Pani said:

See stw. Thank you. Thats the major friggin problem here. I haven't touched my other thread because I knew it would ultimately be full of wise ass ...., and I just haven't had much time and have only spent about 30minutes on here in total since I posted the thread as I've been working like a crazy man.

This shouldn't happen! No matter what! There is absolutely no excuse. Peoples warranties are going to begin expiring within the next several months (the early buyer with no extended warranty) and then what? Because Ducati makes a .... bike we should have to spend hours of our time fixing their screw up from the factory? Or are you going to bring the bike in to your dealership to have this "fixed?" I'm sure they'd charge at least $400 + tax, + pickup fee if this was done at my dealership. I have NO idea on how long this would take, so I'm just assuming three hours. Its pathetic. Anyone making excuses for 100's of these bikes leaking oil are fools. I've never seen any other motorcycle forum have anywhere near as many reported problems with a single model as this bike.

Enjoy your 1199's, I'm just gonna ride mine until it blows up

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contact DNA.

that's what i'm gonna do.

without any emotions. just plain engineer talk.

mark419ny said:

ducati thinks things through fully half way

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Hey, 60% of the time, it works every time.

Looks like you were working that back tyre, what shock is that on the rear. I have not had my valve covers off yet, my guess is that they must not be o ringed.

White13Pani said:

See stw. Thank you. Thats the major friggin problem here. I haven't touched my other thread because I knew it would ultimately be full of wise ass ...., and I just haven't had much time and have only spent about 30minutes on here in total since I posted the thread as I've been working like a crazy man.

This shouldn't happen! No matter what! There is absolutely no excuse. Peoples warranties are going to begin expiring within the next several months (the early buyer with no extended warranty) and then what? Because Ducati makes a .... bike we should have to spend hours of our time fixing their screw up from the factory? Or are you going to bring the bike in to your dealership to have this "fixed?" I'm sure they'd charge at least $400 + tax, + pickup fee if this was done at my dealership. I have NO idea on how long this would take, so I'm just assuming three hours. Its pathetic. Anyone making excuses for 100's of these bikes leaking oil are fools. I've never seen any other motorcycle forum have anywhere near as many reported problems with a single model as this bike. ( I know I'll be flamed for saying this but also, those other models run for 1/3 the cost!)...

Enjoy your 1199's, I'm just gonna ride mine until it blows up

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The outrage . You going to be Ok . Need a hug ?

centeroff said:

Looks like you were working that back tyre, what shock is that on the rear. I have not had my valve covers off yet, my guess is that they must not be o ringed.

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no, the tire had a good life. i had the TC set to 5.

shock is a bitubo. search and you will find bellissimoto has good deals

White13Pani said:

See stw. Thank you. Thats the major friggin problem here. I haven't touched my other thread because I knew it would ultimately be full of wise ass ...., and I just haven't had much time and have only spent about 30minutes on here in total since I posted the thread as I've been working like a crazy man.

This shouldn't happen! No matter what! There is absolutely no excuse. Peoples warranties are going to begin expiring within the next several months (the early buyer with no extended warranty) and then what? Because Ducati makes a .... bike we should have to spend hours of our time fixing their screw up from the factory? Or are you going to bring the bike in to your dealership to have this "fixed?" I'm sure they'd charge at least $400 + tax, + pickup fee if this was done at my dealership. I have NO idea on how long this would take, so I'm just assuming three hours. Its pathetic. Anyone making excuses for 100's of these bikes leaking oil are fools. I've never seen any other motorcycle forum have anywhere near as many reported problems with a single model as this bike. ( I know I'll be flamed for saying this but also, those other models run for 1/3 the cost!)...

Enjoy your 1199's, I'm just gonna ride mine until it blows up

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I think most readers on here are left in no doubt as to your understandable frustration and it appears, at least from your own personal experience of the brand, that you have been exceptionally unlucky. I make no excuses for Ducati but I would prefer to be banging on their door to fix it, as opposed to venting my spleen on here. Have you tried to contact Ducati N.A. directly?

We have a trading standards government department in the UK, which under the consumer act, allows a buyer to return goods that are deemed unfit for purpose. Can you not exercise similar rights? I'm not sure I would condemn the entire bike, on the strength of a leaking gasket however. It's easily cured by a knowledgable mechanic. You might also wish to write directly to Ducati in Bologna or Tweet on their Twitter feed. Companies hate bad PR and are more likely to try and help you resolve the problem, if you have exhausted all other avenues with your dealer and make public your feelings directly with the factory. You wont get a favourable response with your choice of language, so you might want to consider a firm but fair argument in your favour. If all else fails, is there a mechanism for you to return the bike, or part-ex it for an alternative make and model? Access to the valve covers is time consuming on this bike due to the level of dis-assembly required to reach them, hence the cost, but this should be swallowed by the dealer and not you. In cases where people have gone directly to the organ grinder and not the monkey, they have achieved much quicker and immediate results.

White13Pani said:

This shouldn't happen! No matter what! There is absolutely no excuse.

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If things like this shouldn't happen for any reason, why does damn near everything have some sort of a warranty?

My $0.02: Sell your 1199 and get something else. Otherwise, accept it for what it is and stop complaining.

talked to my tech last night. valve cover leaks occur. (still better than flaking rockers (916 era), or dismounting con-rods (S1kRR))

mainly for bolts coming loose. not an issue to me.

regarding warranty, he mentioned, ducati is generally pretty good about it.
he refrained from safety wiring, as it could be seen as race prep., what is considered out of warranty though.

Phil said:

after session 3 at Roebling i detected a minor oil leak, called it quits for the day.

had done an oil change the night before (20W-50 valvoline full synth), had some smoke at startup in the morning, checked the level, all fine.

well, anywho, had the bike picked up by the dealer all under warrany, ducati roadside assistance ...

mechanic took it apart. leak came from rear cylinder head valve covers - because the valve cover screws became loose!!!

i told him to loctite them , i will see what safety wire options there are.

almost 10k miles on the bike, not any issue until now.

no reason to rant over a bit of oil, right

bike will be running again tomorrow.

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Sorry about giving you bad news but my dealer did the same foking thing and the leak was still there right after I left the shop, Went back thay going to order a valve cover gasket.

CW AF 03 said:

If things like this shouldn't happen for any reason, why does damn near everything have some sort of a warranty?

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Because its a competitive market and if one manufacture releases a 5yr/100k mile warranty others are obligated to do the same or level the playing field with something of equal or similar value. In no way do manufacture warranties reflect the reliability of a vehicle, nor do they excuse a manufacture from producing functional and reliable products in the first place.

Besides, from a business perspective, if every product a manufacture produced came back on warranty claims they'd lose their ass and file for bankruptcy as well as lose all credibility in the public eye. No customer or manufacture wants to deal with warranty claims, irrelevant of being offered in the first place.

I have same issue I have left it alone for the past 4000k has not gotten any worse I will have them fix it when 24000k service is do. that way my labour cost will be a bit lower.I do have a couple other things wrong with it but there minor.Some of them I fix my self nearest dealer 400k away. I love this this bike 22000ks and never let me down

fixed under warranty and back on the road since last friday. took it up for a spin in the mountains, all went well.

Phil said:

fixed under warranty and back on the road since last friday. took it up for a spin in the mountains, all went well.

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When is your next track day? That will be the true test when you get those sustained RPM and temps you mentioned. Come down to Jennings GP in FL, it's the best season to ride right now. It was 85 yesterday

I'd love to, but i've pushed the trackday expenses this year a bit. i will have to see how it can all work out next year. I think i will do Barber with US desmo in April.

Phil said:

fixed under warranty and back on the road since last friday. took it up for a spin in the mountains, all went well.

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Did thay put new gasket.

CEROVA1199 said:

Did thay put new gasket.

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yes, they installed a new gasket (that's why it took 10 days and not just 2, it was not in stock) with sufficient sealant.

he also used a stronger sort of loctite for now. i suggested safety wiring, what he wouldn't propose, as for the fact, that ducati has issues warranting bikes that are safety wired (race use).

i am on the fence of getting the extended warranty, as i think, there's a solution for everything, and most likely, i will be able to solve the issue myself.

bottom line, it's a bolt coming loose, not that this has never happened before in the world. there are solutions.

Phil said:

i am on the fence of getting the extended warranty, as i think, there's a solution for everything, and most likely, i will be able to solve the issue myself.

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Would this be a Ducati warranty???? or 3rd party???

Phil said:

yes, they installed a new gasket (that's why it took 10 days and not just 2, it was not in stock) with sufficient sealant.

he also used a stronger sort of loctite for now. i suggested safety wiring, what he wouldn't propose, as for the fact, that ducati has issues warranting bikes that are safety wired (race use).

i am on the fence of getting the extended warranty, as i think, there's a solution for everything, and most likely, i will be able to solve the issue myself.

bottom line, it's a bolt coming loose, not that this has never happened before in the world. there are solutions.

Click to expand...

Thanks alot for your info.