I haven’t had this motorcycle in my garage for the better part of the last three months. I hadn’t originally set out to document this because, well, I didn’t expect it to be a thing, but something tells me I might want this a few years down the line. I’m also having trouble keeping track of the timelines, so I figure going through the effort once will make my life easier.
- Early May – gas smell in garage, eventually developed visible leak
- June 3 – Coleman’s picks up Emma from my house
- June 9 – they notify me I forgot to give them a key to the seat, halting work
- June 14 – get the key to them after returning from Montreal
- June 27 – notified 7500 mile service complete and leak was thought to be addressed as part of it
- July 2 – pick up and check engine light illuminates on ride home
- Early July – gas smell returns and eventually develops into a visible leak
- July 16 – risked life and limb to ride Emma back to Coleman’s
- July 29 – notified of small gas tank fault; request for replacement sent to Ducati
- Early August – tons of travel leads to conscious decision not to check on status
- August 11 – received a call while out of country but they’re unable to leave a message
- August 22 – after settling back in to life, call to check in and told they’ll call back following day
- August 23 – notified gas tank replaced on Ducati but O2 sensor was also submitted for check engine light
- August 29 – notified O2 sensor, which was on order, would not be covered by Ducati and cost $350 w/labor
- August 30 – notified all repairs are complete and she’s ready to go home
- September 7 – still hadn’t picked her up due to travel and rain, but notified Ducati decided to cover O2 sensor
- September 10 – head to Coleman’s and ride her home; $0 out of pocket beyond original service
Ducatis are notoriously fickle, but this was beyond my expectations. I can’t say I’m all that surprised and given the circumstances, I could have been a lot worse off. It wouldn’t have dragged out so long had Coleman fixed the problems originally, but considering they went to bat pretty hard for me in dealing with Ducati (my bike is out of warranty) I’m willing to look past that. I’d much rather it take awhile and pay nothing.
The interesting thing about all this is none of it really bothers me. I think part of it is because I don’t really ride that much these days and I definitely don’t ride during the summer… but also because I try to not let things get me worked up so much. In the olden days I would have been stressing over everything, from the poor Ducati craftsmanship to the amount of time it was taking Coleman’s to get it done – not anymore. In the end, I realize there’s nothing I can really do about it and worrying won’t do anything but shorten my life.
Now to get to know her a little better and enjoy the impending cooler weather together. 🙂
Not the best advertisement for the brand.
The irony is everyone already knows the brand has flaky mechanicals… and they still love them.