Should I dump it

Captain Greg said:

Thanks for the guys who added constructive comments, as for south africa it seems no extended warranty is available as an option.


Never thought of myself as a cry baby......but then I have never had to spend hours on the side if the road with a broken down vehicle


I suppose the cry baby comment comes from a tosser who has only recently purchased his first new ride and has years of exp battling with unreliable .....

I am simply tabeling my concerns regarding the bikes reliability...... yet some guys feel it's a platform to urinate down my throat.

Having been fortunate in the past (after years if hard work) to own one it two new machines and taking the emotional decision to buy a Ducati I'm just surprised as to how temperamental they are.

Further to this for those wise ass guys who have not yet suffered a fault with miss Pani 1299 let me add that the dash replacement had I paid for it (it's under warranty) it would have cost almost 12 % of the purchase price of the bike.

So raising concern seems to rub some ......s up the wrong way? Why I'm trying to acertain if it's a isolated case or if owners world wide with varying riding skills and demands on the bike are seeing similar problems, simply put I am trying to make decision based on facts and not emotion.

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Captain Greg said:

Well Ducati SA do not offer a extended warranty, they do however offer a ride plan for around 1000 USD for a 12 month period depending on a inspection of the bike, this would cover all parts and any component that could break or become faulty, the inspection would cost around 100 USD (I was quoted in ZAR but put it into normal currency for guys that dont understand our money system) the plan would expire once the bike hits 15000Km.

Then I was at home today and a fine day in Cape Town it was, I set out this morning to go and look at what else is out there, Superbikes only with the possibility I would maybe get a new bike for 2018.

Well, boys (and girls) here is my story and as we say beauty is in the eye the holder.

I went and looked at a high end Fireblade with The suspension and all the toys, my god the Honda is really not pretty (sorry if Im annoying Honda owners)
Then I toodled off to Yamaha and well was told that 2018 has no new R1 M spec and its the same as the 2016 bike, in fact I was offered a 2016 Yamie?
The I went to Susuki, its also fugly IMO unless you like bikes that advertise other products on the plastics...
Finally I went to Kawasaki and again the bike is like a lot of shapes one would expect to find in a transformers movie, so again in my opinion not nearly as pretty as the 1299, I accept that some of the Jap bike have similar performance and may even be more powerful, and may i say it yes they are possibly more reliable?

However I put my pride in my pocket threw my leg over my 1299 and went home thinking this is still the Taylor Swift of the bikes,just my opinion, and I am going to live with her period and bad mood from time to time but for me coming from Jap and now to the 1299 I just cant see me replacing the 1299 with a jap offering and will hang on and see what the V4 brings to the table and if I can afford it I may take the plunge.

Thanks for all the comments and suggestions

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able duc said:

Poor Captain his life was in turmoil for a short time, now all is well again.

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Mutt1979 said:

You know I read the forum a lot and read about a lot of the issues people face with these bikes. I've read other forums, including cars (cough), different brands and they are no exception. Problem after problem and issue after issue. It's very rare we all sit here and gush about how wonderful their bike is.......... not that I'm biased, but my 2015 R is mental, fantastic and better than anything else out there! But here we have a collection of knowledge sharing based on the issues and looking for advice.

I've had issue with front brakes and a cracked thermostat housing, casing coating flaking off, fell off on track and had a woman knock my bike over while stationary. Everytime my dealer has been faultless even when I questioned their mechanics over my brakes. Both times the bike was on the deck they came and picked the bike up which they had no obligation to do. A couple others were warranty issue (melting lower fairing, rear shock recall) and all dealt with minimal fuss.

I think the bottom line here is we all know our bikes can have faults, some of us are luckier than others. But know this, it won't be any different with any other brand. But I think the key component is the level of support you get from your dealership. I know mine also won the award for best dealer in 2015 I believe (maybe 2016) and that shows. If you have an issue and it's not resolved properly or the dealer isn't helpful then that will reflect negatively on the brand. I've all but forgotten any issues I've had because how quickly and easily they were sorted by good after sales service, that is the key to a good relationship with these bikes I think.

As for the cry baby and other negative comments...... come on man, you've come to a Ducati forum saying the bike is basically sh*t and you want to know if you should get rid of it? Wrong people to be asking really pal, just saying

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Captain Greg said:

Well Ducati SA do not offer a extended warranty, they do however offer a ride plan for around 1000 USD for a 12 month period depending on a inspection of the bike, this would cover all parts and any component that could break or become faulty, the inspection would cost around 100 USD (I was quoted in ZAR but put it into normal currency for guys that dont understand our money system) the plan would expire once the bike hits 15000Km.

Then I was at home today and a fine day in Cape Town it was, I set out this morning to go and look at what else is out there, Superbikes only with the possibility I would maybe get a new bike for 2018.

Well, boys (and girls) here is my story and as we say beauty is in the eye the holder.

I went and looked at a high end Fireblade with The suspension and all the toys, my god the Honda is really not pretty (sorry if Im annoying Honda owners)
Then I toodled off to Yamaha and well was told that 2018 has no new R1 M spec and its the same as the 2016 bike, in fact I was offered a 2016 Yamie?
The I went to Susuki, its also fugly IMO unless you like bikes that advertise other products on the plastics...
Finally I went to Kawasaki and again the bike is like a lot of shapes one would expect to find in a transformers movie, so again in my opinion not nearly as pretty as the 1299, I accept that some of the Jap bike have similar performance and may even be more powerful, and may i say it yes they are possibly more reliable?

However I put my pride in my pocket threw my leg over my 1299 and went home thinking this is still the Taylor Swift of the bikes,just my opinion, and I am going to live with her period and bad mood from time to time but for me coming from Jap and now to the 1299 I just cant see me replacing the 1299 with a jap offering and will hang on and see what the V4 brings to the table and if I can afford it I may take the plunge.

Thanks for all the comments and suggestions

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RD16RR said:

..you said it all !

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Captain Greg said:

RD you have missed the point of the thread.....like many newbies I have had to teach the basics of Helicopter control...middle and lower intellect take longer to grasp the basics....

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Prince Albert said:

Perhaps a good tea-bagging is in order to solve the issue...

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