vtwindr Posted May 4, 2017 Share Posted May 4, 2017 took the Supersport for a test ride a month ago and was smitten. Had the VFR for 3 years now and fancied a change, there wasn't much in it, bit more agile, bit more torque low down but there were as many negatives, mirrors useless, small and vibrate like crazy, motor feels like it's gonna stall at very low speed and lots of false neutrals but it was new, shiny and different enough. Being sensible before I put the deposit down I ran some insurance quotes. despite being available for 2 weeks it hadn't hit any databases and I was drawing a lot of blanks, even with Ducatis own insurance. Average of the quotes was around £900 with some over £1500. My VFR is £200 with business use! Scanning the Ducati forums this seems to be a Worldwide issue with hardly anyone getting reasonable quotes. I ran a few other bikes through the sites and could get 160hp sportsbikes for £300 or the 150hp MT10 for £250 so this is a Ducati problem. Remember the supersport is only 114hp. Anyhow it gave me time to think about it some more and I started to trawl more fora, tales of stuck exhaust valves, engine failure, electrical failure and the servicing! Wow. Fine if you only ride 2000miles/yr but I could pay for a new bike after 3-4years worth of servicing. And belts? Every 2yrs? What's all that about? So the upshot of it is I'm gonna buy some new rubber for the VFR and stick with it . Ducati is out of my system . A close escape thanks to their failure to register it with the insurers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Dutchy Posted May 4, 2017 Member Contributer Share Posted May 4, 2017 Give the old girl some fresh oil as well to apease her for you riding a younger one, thinking of casting her aside. Hell knows no fury and all that..... :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer MadScientist Posted May 4, 2017 Member Contributer Share Posted May 4, 2017 5 hours ago, vtwindr said: Fine if you only ride 2000miles/yr but I could pay for a new bike after 3-4years worth of servicing. And belts? Every 2yrs? What's all that about? So the upshot of it is I'm gonna buy some new rubber for the VFR and stick with it . Ducati is out of my system . A close escape thanks to their failure to register it with the insurers Part of the reason I sold mine. You would think a timing belt should last for more that 2 years, I mean the one in my car lasts for 80k miles. But then you get nervous about bending valves at the least and lunching a whole motor at the worst. That and the difficulty and lack of specification for setting belt tension on your own, the dealers use a frequency counter. Valve shims for opening AND closing... I would say you made a good choice, but then I sold my Duc for a VFR. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer RC36Rider Posted May 4, 2017 Member Contributer Share Posted May 4, 2017 29 minutes ago, MadScientist said: Valve shims for opening AND closing.. Yup ! And as if shims were not expensive enough, it is not uncommon to replace one or several rocker arms (on the 4 valves much more than the 2) at each valve inspection and their price makes Vtec buckets seem like a bargain. I was once tempted by a 748, one of the last built, but relented when I saw that the owner justified his 4.000€ asking price by arguing that the 20.000 km service had just been done at a cost of 2.200€. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chinook Posted May 4, 2017 Share Posted May 4, 2017 I was told by my local ducat dealer the valve check is at 18,000 miles and a basic oil service at 9000 miles or 12 months in between. Argree with the vibrating mirrors and false neutrals Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer GatorGreg Posted May 5, 2017 Member Contributer Share Posted May 5, 2017 Whew! That sounds like a close call vtwindr - glad you came to your senses ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vtwindr Posted May 5, 2017 Author Share Posted May 5, 2017 10 hours ago, chinook said: I was told by my local ducat dealer the valve check is at 18,000 miles and a basic oil service at 9000 miles or 12 months in between. Argree with the vibrating mirrors and false neutrals Ducati Glasgow publish their prices, that oil service is £268! Valves and bets + oil is pushing £1000 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer RC36Rider Posted May 5, 2017 Member Contributer Share Posted May 5, 2017 3 hours ago, vtwindr said: Valves and bets + oil is pushing £1000 Assuming only the belts need replacing, which is by no means guaranteed. Don't get me wrong, if I was rich, I'd have quite a few Ducatis in my garage but even the most ardent Ducatisti (in the privacy of their own forums at least) admit that the reliability and service costs are a bit of a nightmare. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer MadScientist Posted May 5, 2017 Member Contributer Share Posted May 5, 2017 Likewise, I loved mine and I've been going through other bikes to replace it. The valve service talk is a little worse than reality. At least in the Monster community, people report that the valves are usually settled in by 16K miles and usually will not require another shim change until 50+. This is pretty similar to most other bikes. However, the price of the shim kit is appalling. Your basic 2 valve motor shim kit runs about $250-300, whereas I can find shim kits for Japanese bikes under $100. I checked my 2v heads at 8k (or 6k?), whatever the interval was back then, and they were ok. It was absolutely no picnic, especially on the vertical cylinder. Installed the belts myself, then took it to the dealer for tensioning. Guess what....$300. I doubt many of you are surprised, I wasn't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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