New owner, FINALLY! A few questions

Cloud Surfer · Apr 2, 2015

So I bought a 2013 Hyperstrada from a private seller. It has 3700 miles on it and was bought new in August 2013. I quickly learned that it isn't without issue unfortunately.

1) For some reason, the rear brake doesn't work. The brake pedal just goes all the way down until it bottoms out the master cylinder but doesn't activate the brake caliper (maybe just a little bit). I called the guy I bought it from and he had no idea that it didn't work (no, I hadn't test ridden it). Is there something obvious that it could be? Everything looks to be in order. No leaks, the reservoir is full and the pads look fine.

2) The bike is still under factory warranty (the 600mi service was completed), is there anything I need to do to transfer the warranty?

3) Does Ducati treat a second owner as well as they would a first owner under the factory warranty?

4) The side cases are very faded (this bike looks to have sat out in the San Diego sun for it's entire short life), will Ducati warranty them? 20 months seems like a pretty short amount of time to have so much fading!

5) The speedo cluster lens is yellowed (from the sun I assume), will Ducati warranty the lens? It looks awful and I am a pretty meticulous person.

6) The steering seems to have a tendency to want to drop left or right at low speed. It seems I need to resist letting the handlebars flop all the way to the side if I am doing a low speed turn. Is this a normal feel for thins machine? It's been quite a while since I have been on a bike and my last was a GSXR1000 so I don't know if it is just a different feeling bike and this is normal or if there is an issue. If I ut the bike on the center stand and lean it back so the front tire is off the ground, it turns back and forth quite smoothly.

7) This poor thing wasn't well kept very clean! There was brake dust on the wheels that made me wonder if it had EVER been cleaned. Now I have taken regular dish soap to it and it didn't do a thing. I took some Simple Green to it and that helped but the wheels still feel rough, almost a little pitted! I ordered some S100 wheel cleaner so hopefully that will help but is there anything else that anyone knows of that might help?

Sorry for the lengthy first post, I feel like I have a few things to learn about Ducati and this bike in particular but it is AWESOME!

peoples1234 · Apr 2, 2015

1) Most likely air in the system. Bleed the brakes (although ABS does complicate brake bleeding).

2) Nope, ducati knows the in service date of the bike by the VIN

3) Yes (although Ducati has some strange warranty ways)

4) Maybe, it is a common problem. Some people have had them replaced, I say go for it knowing that they will do exactly the same thing in a few months.

5) Strange, I'm not sure I have ever seen or heard of that happening. The lens in not replaceable, so it would be the entire cluster.

6) I think so. The steering is very different from your GSXR and it is flickable.

7) Depending on how long the brake dust on the wheel, they could very well be pitted. I have found that a magic eraser can work on some stubborn wheels (you'll probably need more than one, even if you get the Heavy Duty) ones.

Congrats on the purchase and happy riding!

Cloud Surfer · Apr 2, 2015

Awesome, thank you for the great, quick reply!

1) I was planning to just bring the bike to the Ducati dealer (we have one close by) so they could deal with it. I would think that would be covered under warranty?

2) Ok perfect!

4) Ya, I don't plan on having them on full time, probably only when I do an extended trip so having them in the garage 90% of the time should keep new ones looking good for a few years I would hope.

5) Hopefully they could forward the numbers from the old cluster to the new one if they opt to replace it. I did a search for the issue and didn't come up with anything so it seems like it's specific on my bike.

6) Good to hear

7) I'll try the Magic Eraser, great suggestion, thanks!

appliance821 · Apr 2, 2015

Regarding the steering: That doesn't sound right to me. There was a recall on the steering head bearings. I'd have it checked out. For me the bike is really well balanced - coming to a stop I play a game of keeping my feet up as long as possible. No flopping around.

Judging by what you've described, I'd take it in for a service/oil change. They check all the basic safety items. It's about $280.00 well spent.

RoadChick · Apr 3, 2015

appliance821 said:
Regarding the steering: That doesn't sound right to me. There was a recall on the steering head bearings. I'd have it checked out. For me the bike is really well balanced - coming to a stop I play a game of keeping my feet up as long as possible. No flopping around.

Judging by what you've described, I'd take it in for a service/oil change. They check all the basic safety items. It's about $280.00 well spent.

Sounds like I should do this to see if my rotors are warped, it is almost time for my 9000 mile service anyway. Great advice.

kuksul08 · Apr 3, 2015

1) Make sure the system is bled and the rod is actually pushing up into the master cylinder. It could be the seals if this doesnt work.

2) Don't need to do anything.

3) They should.

4) Hard to say. Depends how bad it is and if its from obvious neglect or not. Cosmetic issues are only covered for about a month, not the full 2 years.

5) Damn that sucks. You will need a new dash but that's expensive. I bet you could fix it with some kind of plastic polish and then waxing over the top. It's a very soft plastic.

6) That's a motard. Very different than a sport bike. You basically cannot compare the two. I ride both and they are really different. You will notice how easy it is to handle in tight turns though!

7) Use some mild solvent like goo-gone or something, but it's very normal to get pitting. There are lots of rocks on the road that fly into the wheels.

pazzo · Apr 5, 2015

Ducati does have some very strange warranty and it is based on when the warranty for each bike was activated.

Although the bike was purchased in Aug 2013, the bike may have been a demo and the warranty could have been activated in any month of 2013. That will determine how much warranty if any is left.

gatdammit · Apr 5, 2015

Rear brake is stubborn as hell to bleed. Have to get bleeder to highest point, which requires removing caliper. I still spent a week on mine and ended up taking it in.

Your bike has a lot of sun damage but think the paint and rubber would look awful if the gauge window yellowed. Bags notoriously fade in sun. Mine's garage kept and still look like an elephants nut sack from normal riding. I tried to warranty mine with no luck.

For the steering issue, check your tire pressure. Should run around 33 front/ 36 rear. After I got new rubber fitted the dealer had maxed out the psi and bike flopped into turns. It is a short wheel base and inherently quick steering bike, though.

New owner, FINALLY! A few questions

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