Very serious question

Sorry Brother. The mechanic should be fired.

I'd be on the phone with DNA first, and then the dealer. Let the dealer know you have already talked to DNA.

Document everything. Every conversation. Keep copies of all/any emails/letters, etc. Its probably a good idea to talk to a lawyer for an initial consultation. The hardest part will be keeping a cool head as you talk to and wait on the original servicing dealer to provide a path forward. Its good that you got the Police to file a report, since it legitimizes your claim. Take a deep breath...

ttkarp said:

Suing works like this: You get an overpriced lawyer, who sues the dealership and their overpriced lawyer. You try to get them to pay for all the repairs and ask for 10.5 million dollars or so for pain and suffering. After paying several thousand dollars in legal fees, you settle out of court and you get your bike back like it never happened. I think that about sums it up.

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Yes and then basically bump the price of everything else up for everyone else to compensate for this pay out. So everyone else has to pay more for insurance etc...!

just a suggestion, since it is an authorised Ducati dealer, you should forward the whole incident, including pictures and whatever written document you have, to DUCATI and ask them to advise you what to do.

In a certain way, it is understandable that you are really pissed. But it might be a wiser move to ask Ducati what to do (to make them commit themselves) rather than jump to your on conclusion of what you want to do.

Good Luck

ttkarp said:

That's awful.. I would give them a chance to make it right, and if that doesn't happen I'd think of a legal route. Going in threatening a lawsuit will only put them on the defensive and make matters worse. Just my 2cents. Good luck man!

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Thats what I plan on telling them, they can either deal with this internally or we can go to external legal help. I couldve been injured for someone slacking and not doing his job right.

Rhino said:

No disrespect but what you've been through has nothing to do with it.
If something is mechanically suspect (with anything), shut it down and get it looked at!
It may have stopped it catching fire at all.



Can someone walk me through this whole suing business please?
Since we're just not 'into' it over here.

What we would do, is have the bike replaced (I certainly wouldn't settle for any kind of repair in this instance), that's what a warranty is for.
And I'd get the dealer to throw something in for the inconvenience. (They may or may not feel obliged to depending on what caused the problem).
A service, merchandise... something.

Who would you sue? Ducati or the dealership?

Why would you sue them?

What would you sue them for, in terms of compensation (or whatever)

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1. Negligence to do a proper maintenance resulting in a very extreme engine damage

2. How would you like to have been on the bike if it caught fire?

3. I would sue them for a new bike, get my money back, and then some type of compensation. Free service or some performance upgrades.

This scenario could have been much worse, and my military experience has every bit to do with both of our survival. Him and I are both mechanics and we now what happens when something starts to go south from a major fault, It'll only get worse from there. I don't see how you think I WOULDN'T be able to sue them, they started all this. There is no doubt about it. Something with the oil system failed and they were the last ones to touch it. It is NOT a coincidence.

ttkarp said:

Suing works like this: You get an overpriced lawyer, who sues the dealership and their overpriced lawyer. You try to get them to pay for all the repairs and ask for 10.5 million dollars or so for pain and suffering. After paying several thousand dollars in legal fees, you settle out of court and you get your bike back like it never happened. I think that about sums it up.

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Except on the postivive side I have USAA insurance and the have some VERY well paid lawyers to do the job for me.

Sucks !

With all due respect, this being my first post response here; I noted your previous thread "this thing is stupid fast".... That's a lot of "street racing" as you claimed. Might all of that racing prior to first oil change and during brake in period which is not to exceed 6000 rpms bave had an impact on the function of your bike regardless of the oil spill? You may have grenades that cylinder for all you know... I'd not let the dealership know of your special activities prior to first oil change. Loss of compression may have been occurring progressively and the dealer may bave finalized any structural damage in his test ride, thus the need for a oil clean up.

Just another angle of thought on this.

Hope everything works out.

If The ECU records any data at all, such as revs and oil pressure, the read outs will probably confirm this if it turns out to be the case. might want to look into this prior to going in and accusing the tech of any wrong doing.

elitesoldier357 said:

Except on the postivive side I have USAA insurance and the have some VERY well paid lawyers to do the job for me.

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Good point. Did you call your insurance company to put them on notice? Do that right away because they could deny a claim based on late notice if you wait to long.

SOULRIDER said:

Sorry Brother. The mechanic should be fired.

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Yeah! Shoot first, ask questions later!

Do you know what caused the problem Soulrider or if the mechanic was in any way at fault?

elitesoldier357 said:

1. Negligence to do a proper maintenance resulting in a very extreme engine damage

2. How would you like to have been on the bike if it caught fire?

3. I would sue them for a new bike, get my money back, and then some type of compensation. Free service or some performance upgrades.

This scenario could have been much worse, and my military experience has every bit to do with both of our survival. Him and I are both mechanics and we now what happens when something starts to go south from a major fault, It'll only get worse from there. I don't see how you think I WOULDN'T be able to sue them, they started all this. There is no doubt about it. Something with the oil system failed and they were the last ones to touch it. It is NOT a coincidence.

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1. Seems reasonable if they didn't cooperate. But I don't think suing would be the first avenue. Maybe a quiet chat before coming in all guns blazing would be a better approach? You've just been extremely unlucky.

2. I would not have been on that bike. I would have stopped riding it. :S

3. A new bike is a reasonable request. Your money back, ie a free bike? WTF would or should they do that? Warranty covers replacement. Job done.
Some bling or something from the dealer as a show of good faith, not unreasonable for having to potentially wait for another bike.
That could be broached in the first discussion. A law suit shouldn't be required unless the dealer and / or Ducati are being complete arses about it.

I never said you WOULDN'T be able to sue. I asked why you should. I would expect it to get resolved without any problems or requirement for a law suit but you seem to have jumped straight into angry mode a bit early. Don't get me wrong. I understand the frustrations. Clearer heads usually prevail though.

RSR Racer said:

With all due respect, this being my first post response here; I noted your previous thread "this thing is stupid fast".... That's a lot of "street racing" as you claimed. Might all of that racing prior to first oil change and during brake in period which is not to exceed 6000 rpms bave had an impact on the function of your bike regardless of the oil spill? You may have grenades that cylinder for all you know... I'd not let the dealership know of your special activities prior to first oil change. Loss of compression may have been occurring progressively and the dealer may bave finalized any structural damage in his test ride, thus the need for a oil clean up.

Just another angle of thought on this.

Hope everything works out.

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Yar. This adds to my points I guess. You may want to tread lightly. First impressions and all...

Good luck with it.

Well I contacted my insurance and they are breathing down the dealers neck to figure out what exactly went wrong to almost potentially injure me. I left DNA a message and hopefully they call me back soon. But my suspicion is that they did something wrong during the oil service to cause this, like I said before, after they test rode it they put it back on the stand to "blow some oil off". Then BOOM! Oil fire the next day. not coincidence. Anyways, going to take the bike in tomorrow to have it looked at and going to talk to the main manager to see what they can do for me. But what I am afraid of is them covering up their mistake, just fixing what they need and giving it back to me with a "Sorry for your trouble" and nothing more. That is what I DONT want to happen. Imagine if you will that your gas lines on your house were do to be replaced but you have been using them for a while longer, then someone comes and replaces them, forgets to seal up the hose and the whole house goes up in flames... they replace what is damaged but make no note that it was because the guy forgot something as simple as sealing the line, said "Sorry for your loss" and went on their marry way... How furious would you be? If that happens in this case I will surely sue. I have talked to other Ducati owners too and this isnt the first time this has happened. They dont have the right to walk all over people and do whatever they want. I bought the bike, the should ensure proper care of it. On another note, me riding the hell out of that bike and running it hard had no effect BEFORE the oil change, why would it have an effect on it AFTER? There really is not much you can do these days to damage a modern bike, I took it easy for 4 to 500 miles, then I ride it like I stole it. Again, I cant stress enough that it was no coincidence that my bike had an OIL FIRE the day after an OIL CHANGE. I beat the hell out of my 848 and put 18,500 miles on it in 6 months and had no problems with it, why would this one be any different? If it wouldve broke because I rode it too hard, it wouldve done that shortly after I got it and started riding it hard, not 2000+ miles later.

Keep us updated if you can.

When I had my first service / oil change my bike was smoking too. It was oil caught in the aluminum cover on the silencer. My tech took a pressure washer to it and blew the oil out . I'm sure that's what your tech failed to do and it resulted in a fire. He suggested using a piece of tin foil to cover the exhaust on the next oil change to prevent oil from accumulating in between the cover .

I know your very pissed off right now, and should be, but I believe your dealer or DNA will try to resolve this quickly for you and get you back on the road. I worked for a time as a service tech and can tell you first hand mistakes are made, and its not always the fault of the tech and could be blamed on the service management equally. Keep use posted on how your treated.

After my 1st service I came back to find oil under my bike. I made them get the tech out, check the sum plug was properly installed and clean it up. Glad I did now! It was dripping off the fairing just behind the front wheel, I still have no idea how it got there!

You think he's spilled a load whilst refilling or when removing the filter? Can't see how else they would have done it given the location of the sump plug.

Best of luck, again will be interested to know what the investigation reveals.

WOW, I guess my bike sitting the shop for a week seems like a pretty lame thing to be pissed about after reading this....
It really bugs the crap out of me that we competent souls can not service our own bikes during the warranty because they need a qualified Ducati technician to do the work and clear the oil change alarm with their DDS. Complete rubbish in most cases as they clearly document all of the items that need to be checked and I would be more than capable of doing the work. However, what if I had done the work and not cleared off all of the oil, then there would be no recourse and I would own a very expensive fix.
Looking at the damage, the only oil service that would have been done in that area is the refill. Did the oring come off the fill cap? The oil filter is a cartridge type on the left hand side of the bike by the battery so I would not expect that to be the cause of the issue but maybe it ran down between the cans and went of the right side of the bike. In either case, that really sucks and we all need to take a look at our exhaust post service.

this isn't entirely true.

In a few months I'm sure the VDST people will come out with single user software for this particular ECU, they have on all the other ducs. So you'll be able to check errors, clear them, clear service lights, etc. As well as reset tps

www.desmotimes sells the vdst software and as soon as ones out for the pani you can buy there or elsewhere, about $280.

here's the web page of the vdst software http://www.technoresearch.com/index.php?pid=2#1

In the US, a manufacturer cannot require an owner to go to an authorized dealer fro service. Warranty work of course but not service work. Just keep your receipts. This is also why the original plan of governing the bike performance until first service was nixed.

Chris

mavic said:

WOW, I guess my bike sitting the shop for a week seems like a pretty lame thing to be pissed about after reading this....
It really bugs the crap out of me that we competent souls can not service our own bikes during the warranty because they need a qualified Ducati technician to do the work and clear the oil change alarm with their DDS. Complete rubbish in most cases as they clearly document all of the items that need to be checked and I would be more than capable of doing the work. However, what if I had done the work and not cleared off all of the oil, then there would be no recourse and I would own a very expensive fix.
Looking at the damage, the only oil service that would have been done in that area is the refill. Did the oring come off the fill cap? The oil filter is a cartridge type on the left hand side of the bike by the battery so I would not expect that to be the cause of the issue but maybe it ran down between the cans and went of the right side of the bike. In either case, that really sucks and we all need to take a look at our exhaust post service.

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If your dealer wont do anything I'm pretty sure that Fire Insurance will cover that damage. I asked my insurance broker when I added Fire and Theft insurance on my bike if the garage I store the bike in caught on fire would I be covered. She said no thats house insurance. I said so the bike has to catch itself on fire without being in an accident...like just sitting there alone and bursting into flames...she kind of paused and then said yes. I started laughing and said how would that happen???...

Now I see how!!!...Sorry bro about your issue...nothings worse than a new toy all messed up...Hope you get it sorted!!!