[Budman 749R]

I'm a newly returning Ducatisti after a 5 year break, who just purchased a beautiful '05 749R. It was due for its 10,000K service so I called the nearest shop. I have no prior history with them,so my question is:
Does anyone find that they have to wait a long time for parts to be shipped to their dealer from Ducati? It took them a full week just to get the "special" closing shims for me, and they said that was unusually fast! So far they have had my bike for 3 weeks for a service and replace fork seals.

 

[jcns]

I'm a newly returning Ducatisti after a 5 year break, who just purchased a beautiful '05 749R. It was due for its 10,000K service so I called the nearest shop. I have no prior history with them,so my question is:
Does anyone find that they have to wait a long time for parts to be shipped to their dealer from Ducati? It took them a full week just to get the "special" closing shims for me, and they said that was unusually fast! So far they have had my bike for 3 weeks for a service and replace fork seals.

which shop? Any reputable Duc shop will have these in stock or have a supplier with fast shipping.
If you took it to Nichols, that's surprising. Shocking actually.
If you took it to a dealer. That's not even more surprising. If you took to a non-Duc shop, take it back and take it to a Duc shop. Every mechanic will tell you they can do valves on Ducs, until they get in there and realize they don't have a clue nor they have heard of Desmo.

 

[kaos]

fwiw i think the shims for the 749r are the smaller dia valve and not so common.i can see a dealer not stocking the full range of those .i also understand that ducati north america doesn't stock parts,unless a dealer has lots of inventory parts come from italy.the positive is that they rarely thake more than a week,but that said it would be unlikely many dealers would be making daily orders.

 

[rtzx9r]

Pretty much anything I order at my dealer or from an online dealer is 2-3 weeks. And it costs 2-3 times what it should. But I love my bike, so no worry.

 

[Bill_Anderson]

Ducati Seattle orders directly from Bologna. It usually takes 4-5 days for the parts to arrive.

 

[CAlexio]

I'm a newly returning Ducatisti after a 5 year break, who just purchased a beautiful '05 749R. It was due for its 10,000K service so I called the nearest shop. I have no prior history with them,so my question is:
Does anyone find that they have to wait a long time for parts to be shipped to their dealer from Ducati? It took them a full week just to get the "special" closing shims for me, and they said that was unusually fast! So far they have had my bike for 3 weeks for a service and replace fork seals.

Hey bud,

I live in san Jose, often in Aptos, have an 06 749r.. Let's go ride sometime. Took mine to Nichols and they were pretty fast actually

 

[Budman 749R]

Sounds good. I took my old '91 SS to Nichols years ago for billet clutch, and flywheel lightening- I loved it afterwards.

 

[Budman 749R]

Thanks all for input. I do realize it is not a run of the mill bike and don't expect them to stock everything. Just wondering what other dealers experience as far as wait times.
And yes, it is the closest dealer. I like to spend in my hometown if possible.
CALexio--We'll get together some time.

 

[ttpete]

Bear in mind that everyone at Ducati in Italy goes on vacation in August and nothing gets shipped.

 

[Doc's Duc]

When my shop recently broke one of my mirrors, I was told the part was available in Italy, and delivery would be 4-5 days. (I'm in SoCal)

 

[bahula03]

Thanks all for input. I do realize it is not a run of the mill bike and don't expect them to stock everything. Just wondering what other dealers experience as far as wait times.
And yes, it is the closest dealer. I like to spend in my hometown if possible.
CALexio--We'll get together some time.

FWIW, I had the same service done last year at Ducati Seattle and one of my valves was out of spec, leading to the discovery of a shim that had been dished and the corresponding opener missing some of its plating as a result. They ended up having to order two shims (the first was a ballpark based the clearances of the other valves, the second was the sure shot). My memory is a bit fuzzy, probably because I don't want to remember being without out my bike in the middle of the short Seattle season , but I remember each shim taking around 2.5 weeks and the bike being out of service a total of two months

 

[Budman 749R]

FWIW, I had the same service done last year at Ducati Seattle and one of my valves was out of spec, leading to the discovery of a shim that had been dished and the corresponding opener missing some of its plating as a result. They ended up having to order two shims (the first was a ballpark based the clearances of the other valves, the second was the sure shot). My memory is a bit fuzzy, probably because I don't want to remember being without out my bike in the middle of the short Seattle season , but I remember each shim taking around 2.5 weeks and the bike being out of service a total of two months

OUCH! So it seems as Ducati dealers/Ducati USA in general are not stocking parts as they did in the '90s and '00's. Understandable with the economy but still disappointing when we are brand loyal.
Thanks!

 

[Bill_Anderson]

OUCH! So it seems as Ducati dealers/Ducati USA in general are not stocking parts as they did in the '90s and '00's. Understandable with the economy but still disappointing when we are brand loyal.
Thanks!

The parts situation is actually much better than it was in the early '00's. At that time, DNA bought a stock of spare parts from Bologna and kept them in its warehouse. All North American Duc dealers had to order parts from DNA. If did DNA didn't have the part in stock, the dealer had to wait for DNA to order it.

The current system of dealers ordering directly from Bologna is much better. The main delay is that some dealers will stockpile orders before sending a fax or e-mail to Bologna. John the Parts Guy at Ducati Seattle would always send in an order the same day it was received from the customer, which usually resulted in a quick turn around.

 

[Budman 749R]

Update-
So I call today and am told that their working in it. It's on the lift and going back together but they only have 1 mechanic (didn't ever say that before-thought there were 2 or 3 in a previous conversation)
I need to be patient. OK,OK, so its approximately 12 hours worth of labor and it's been there since May 5th , and parts came in a week later...
So I see it like this-they must not need my money or future business because this is the worst customer service I've experienced!
The previous Ducati dealer was the coolest most helpful enthusiast, but he didn't have a shop so I had to go to Salinas, which was OK too.(sadly they're not a Ducati dealer anylonger)
I should have done my homework and looked at all the negative 'Yelp' reviews because I don't expect to see my baby for a couple of more weeks at this rate. Very sad to say they are the only new motorcycle dealer left in our county. I will try the next farthest dealer or go with a known (Nichols) but it is a good hour away. Wonder what Ducati USA thinks?
FINGERS CROSSED!

 

[Engin3rd]

It took two weeks recently to get a speedometer ring seal for my front wheel through Ducati.... worst part was the dealership took 2 weeks to find the lift time to get it installed...

For some things, ebay can be your friend.

Sent from my DROIDX using Motorcycle.com App

 

[desmoworks]

The current system of dealers ordering directly from Bologna is much better. The main delay is that some dealers will stockpile orders before sending a fax or e-mail to Bologna. John the Parts Guy at Ducati Seattle would always send in an order the same day it was received from the customer, which usually resulted in a quick turn around.

You can't fax or email an order to Ducati. Orders can only be placed electronically through their ARCO system. There is no reason to stockpile orders besides laziness as there is no pricing or shipping incentive for bulk orders (unless made during a stocking camping, but that is totally different).

We place two kinds of orders every day. Urgent orders (limited to 20 line items) and stocking orders. Urgent orders are for spare parts - generally for bikes in service or to fill customer orders. Urgent orders are processed and shipped immediately at Ducati's warehouse and we generally receive the parts in 3 days.

All Ducati Performance parts and accessories have to be ordered via stocking order. This takes roughly 2 weeks to arrive from the time the order is placed. Also any spare parts that can't fit onto an urgent order would be ordered this way.

Sometimes we'll hold a spare parts order for a day or two if we are going to be able to get it onto an urgent order rather than a stocking order because it will still arrive a week or more before the stocking order even after holding it for a day or two. It just depends what the current order volume is like and the priority of the parts being ordered.