- Joined
- Jan 4, 2025
- Messages
- 7
- Location
- Calvert County, MD
Hey guys
I'm new to the forums. I posted the other day in the newbie section but now I'm making my way through all the forums. I recently purchased the 2025 Panigale V4S and will slowly begin a full build starting with the GP exhaust install. Hopefully I can get it to the shop this week. We just had a foot of snow hit our area so it may be a few more days before I feel comfortable loading it in the truck.
I also own a 2016 959. I love this bike. I decided to keep it since my wife likes to ride with me on occasion. Over the years I have done just a few mods for aesthetics. I have not done exhaust yet because of cost. (I know....I just bought a V4S and I bitch about cost. Makes no sense. LOL) I did replace the air filter with a K&N which, as we know, requires removal of the fuel tank. Or at least a hard pivot. I removed it completely to make things easier. That lead to an issue that kept the bike off the road for an extended period of time. When I reconnected the fuel pump harness I somehow bent a pin. After a few weeks of not figuring it out I reluctantly took it to the Ducati shop. They figured it out after a few hours of charged diagnostics.
Outside of all that, leads me to carbon fiber. I replaced the exhaust heat shield with a beautiful red and black weave cf piece. That was a pain in the ass to replace but I persevered! It looks amazing, even if the red is muted slightly by the black weave. I purchased all my parts initially through Moto Composites. Never again will I order from these guys. The heat shield was the only large piece that actually fit properly but the bolt hole that connects to the subframe (top mount) was not the same thread pitch as stock even though they "assured" me it was stock fitting. Well, my stock bolt says otherwise. Most parts required a little boring of the bolt holes due to the gloss finish which is to be expected. But the one-piece key surround and air duct cover requires some major tweaking to fit properly. The front fender and rear mud guard were terribly made resulting in many phone calls with customer service, emails with pictures AND video and tons of aggravation. At one point they finally said "destroy the pieces, send us pictures of the destruction and we'll talk to our manufacturers about checking their molds. Your replacement parts will take another 6-8 weeks." All in all, I spent the better part of a year dealing with them only to find the replacement parts were equally as screwed up. Another round of destruction and money refunded.
At that point I went to Motomillion. These guys are excellent with customer service! However, they don't do 959 carbon fiber parts anymore. All orders are custom which costs more money. And, unfortunately, the front fender and rear mud hugger are still not fitting right. I have to do some major crafting to get them to fit properly. All in all though, I'm much happier with Motomillion. They will get my business with the V4S project.
I am a professional detailer so I have every square inch of this bike coated in a 7-year ceramic. I polished all the fairing, tank and carbon fiber parts prior to coating. While I had the bike apart I polished the factory pipes to a high shine. Looks amazing! I have the requisite NRC fender eliminator which really cleans up the tail. I'll post pics at some point real soon. I gotta break out my detailing hard drive to retrieve those photos.
Anyone have any similar issues? So far as I'm concerned, the 959 is done. I'll get an Akra slip-on at some point. I'm nervous about carbon parts for the V4S if there's a ton of modifications that have to be made in order to install. I work overseas and detail when I'm home so finding time to do this work is difficult.
I'm new to the forums. I posted the other day in the newbie section but now I'm making my way through all the forums. I recently purchased the 2025 Panigale V4S and will slowly begin a full build starting with the GP exhaust install. Hopefully I can get it to the shop this week. We just had a foot of snow hit our area so it may be a few more days before I feel comfortable loading it in the truck.
I also own a 2016 959. I love this bike. I decided to keep it since my wife likes to ride with me on occasion. Over the years I have done just a few mods for aesthetics. I have not done exhaust yet because of cost. (I know....I just bought a V4S and I bitch about cost. Makes no sense. LOL) I did replace the air filter with a K&N which, as we know, requires removal of the fuel tank. Or at least a hard pivot. I removed it completely to make things easier. That lead to an issue that kept the bike off the road for an extended period of time. When I reconnected the fuel pump harness I somehow bent a pin. After a few weeks of not figuring it out I reluctantly took it to the Ducati shop. They figured it out after a few hours of charged diagnostics.
Outside of all that, leads me to carbon fiber. I replaced the exhaust heat shield with a beautiful red and black weave cf piece. That was a pain in the ass to replace but I persevered! It looks amazing, even if the red is muted slightly by the black weave. I purchased all my parts initially through Moto Composites. Never again will I order from these guys. The heat shield was the only large piece that actually fit properly but the bolt hole that connects to the subframe (top mount) was not the same thread pitch as stock even though they "assured" me it was stock fitting. Well, my stock bolt says otherwise. Most parts required a little boring of the bolt holes due to the gloss finish which is to be expected. But the one-piece key surround and air duct cover requires some major tweaking to fit properly. The front fender and rear mud guard were terribly made resulting in many phone calls with customer service, emails with pictures AND video and tons of aggravation. At one point they finally said "destroy the pieces, send us pictures of the destruction and we'll talk to our manufacturers about checking their molds. Your replacement parts will take another 6-8 weeks." All in all, I spent the better part of a year dealing with them only to find the replacement parts were equally as screwed up. Another round of destruction and money refunded.
At that point I went to Motomillion. These guys are excellent with customer service! However, they don't do 959 carbon fiber parts anymore. All orders are custom which costs more money. And, unfortunately, the front fender and rear mud hugger are still not fitting right. I have to do some major crafting to get them to fit properly. All in all though, I'm much happier with Motomillion. They will get my business with the V4S project.
I am a professional detailer so I have every square inch of this bike coated in a 7-year ceramic. I polished all the fairing, tank and carbon fiber parts prior to coating. While I had the bike apart I polished the factory pipes to a high shine. Looks amazing! I have the requisite NRC fender eliminator which really cleans up the tail. I'll post pics at some point real soon. I gotta break out my detailing hard drive to retrieve those photos.
Anyone have any similar issues? So far as I'm concerned, the 959 is done. I'll get an Akra slip-on at some point. I'm nervous about carbon parts for the V4S if there's a ton of modifications that have to be made in order to install. I work overseas and detail when I'm home so finding time to do this work is difficult.
