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What else can go wrong?

I think I may have found what is going on here, at least some of the time.

Your bags faded? There's a clue. Where do you store it? My bikes have been indoors since 1976. Now, I've lived on what amounts to the Mojave desert for most of my life, and found out that the sun will cause all kinds of damage - the chrome and paint on my '65 Sebring did not last 6 months. Also, our rain is fairly acidic these days, could well cause corrosion.

How about a poll - who keeps their bikes indoors and has had big problems?
 
Mine always sleeps in-doors but it's a daily driver every day that I can (sometimes work or weather precludes). As a daily commuter, I almost always ride with bags. Even if it means I could get away with a small backpack, I'll choose the bags as I feel I can't truly enjoy a ride with cargo on my back. And I ride it just as hard as I would without the bags.

With that, the Florida sun certainly took it's toll on my bags after 1 year/7500 miles. They have a purplish tint to them and the zipper seems show some fatigue. I could have popped them off and brought inside the office but the main reason I use them is to store my helmet and riding gear so I don't have to tote along. I also wear a uniform and it's frowned upon to have a non-issue jacket covering half my body. Finally, I like my stash of emergency gear as I've had 2 flats since new.

In spite of my worn luggage, I still say Ducati got it right. They are light-duty bags for a bike that was meant to be a day tourer. They look great (when new), are very light, work well and hold a full-face helmet. I want a set of ruggedized ones in the exact same mold with latches, not zippers.

My only critique is comparing the bags to the seat. My seat has had more direct sun and doesn't show the slightest bit of fade. They've obviously gone to great lengths to engineer the seat to hold up over time and should have started there with the luggage material.

I don't see how you can compare this bike to any asian offering of the same style. When you do, you have to preface it with "for the money..."; People do not stop in traffic to ask about a V-strom or take pictures of them at stop lights.
 
I had a guy in a gas station run over and say "Is that a Ducati? I've never seen one before." :cool:

My bags will never fade in their original box. We can lane split here!
 
Braaap said:
plastic gas tanks that become pressurized with no way to release from ethanol gas
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The tanks have had a way to release the pressure. It's the plastic expanding because of contact with the ethanol. If there were no way to release the pressure, it wouldn't matter if the fuel has ethanol or not as both fuels create vapor pressure.
 
Okay, so I exaggerated the gas tank issue, but seriously ducati is not as great as some of you make it out to be. My ZX6R & zx10r were way better quality made bikes. This bike is a lot of fun to ride around town or on long distances, but the quality is HORRIBLE & the design of the small elements is very poor & unacceptable from a company like Ducati. EVERYTHING has to be thought of unless you have just given up on the utilitarian aspect of your product.
Remember I am a designer, so the thought of these things matter bc so many other people just accept these things as okay, but that's bc you may not have had better or realize that Ducati should have thought of it.
All in all, this bike is a ton of fun to ride, but the quality of design is below my Kawasaki, Honda, Suzuki, & Yamaha motorcycles.
This bike would be perfect for someone who has a ton of extra cabs to dump into the suspension, controls, & seat. But some of us expect a company to actually think about these things beforehand.
 
Follow up

Wow. Great to see all of the attention this thread has generated. So many interesting points of view.
The conclusion I have reached is that the HS is great machine to ride but is plagued by first-year teething pains which have been exacerbated by poor quality components. I must give props to the dealer who made things right. GP Bikes in Whitby Ontario. When I told them I had to get the 'Strada back on a particular day or my summer vacation would be ruined, they took a clutch cable off a floor model and got me rolling. When I picked it up and told them about this forum and the solution of lubricating the cable at the lever, the guys behind the service counter looked at each other and in unison said "Service bulletin is coming."
They were also the ones who took a photo of the faded luggage to send to Ducati. I was surprised to get a call saying the replacement bags had arrived when I hadn't actually ordered any. (BTW I keep the bike in a garage and it is not exposed to excessive sun). The bags are also flimsy and porous, and the top box is a very expensive POS compared to any other luggage, including what you get on a Multistrada.
To add to the litany of complaints, one of the plastic side panels has opend up a larger gap the the other and the fasteners cannot be tightened any more. The technician said that is normal for these bikes. I've never seen that on any Japanese or German bikes I've owned.
So the lesson I've learned from this story is that I will enjoy riding the Hyperstrada until the day the (expensive) extended warrantee expires, at which point I will sell it and buy something from a manufacturer who's build quality is as good as their design.
Thanks for listening.
 
Braaap said:
Okay, so I exaggerated the gas tank issue, but seriously ducati is not as great as some of you make it out to be. My ZX6R & zx10r were way better quality made bikes. This bike is a lot of fun to ride around town or on long distances, but the quality is HORRIBLE & the design of the small elements is very poor & unacceptable from a company like Ducati. EVERYTHING has to be thought of unless you have just given up on the utilitarian aspect of your product.
Remember I am a designer, so the thought of these things matter bc so many other people just accept these things as okay, but that's bc you may not have had better or realize that Ducati should have thought of it.
All in all, this bike is a ton of fun to ride, but the quality of design is below my Kawasaki, Honda, Suzuki, & Yamaha motorcycles.
This bike would be perfect for someone who has a ton of extra cabs to dump into the suspension, controls, & seat. But some of us expect a company to actually think about these things beforehand.
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That explains a lot - at my job I had to deal with 'designers' who had no grasp of engineering. They were "think I'll try pushing on this rope" stupid. One semester of 'engineering' at Cal Arts does not qualify. And have you really owned all four of those brands, or is this another exaggeration?

In fact, it's the designers/stylists that make Ducati what it is. Their products are beautiful artifacts, unlike (for example) most of Kawasaki's offerings which have been butt ugly lately. Who was responsible for those mufflers? Live with it or please go away and buy something else.

I have spent less than $1000 to make my Strada 'just right' for me. I've spent lots more on other bikes! Try owning a Harley sometime...:rolleyes:
 
Although I understand both sides of the debate I would push a Ducati before I ride a Kawa.
Italian bikes have soul and character, the love/hate relationship is not for everyone.
As someone once told me, you can never call yourself a petrol head until you have owned Italian
 
PomGP said:
...I would push a Ducati before I ride a Kawa.
....
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Yep, me too.

I think one of the key points that's getting lost on those who have an issue with the hyper and react with "...therefore the whole bike and let's go even further, the whole series of them, is a pile of crap" statements is that the Japanese produce some pretty stank crap too amidst the otherwise great stuff.

I get a bit tired of people rolling [trolling?] out Japanese brands as being the yardstick by which quality must be measured. There's just something bizarre about that whole line of reasoning right from the start: if those brands are, from the start, assumed to be the best then [insert Captain Picard meme here] "why the fu<k" would you choose something else then?

The truth is, it goes both ways. I hate to bash on something that I don't have much experience with, but here goes: I had the <ahem> "pleasure" of riding my bother's 750 Ninja last year. I expected to like it, but I couldn't wait to get off. The bike was ~alright~ to ride despite the cheap and ill performing components [hello brakes and clutch] and the fit and finish were nothing to brag about either - quite frankly the plastic body work was no better made or looking than a cheap Korean bike.

Now, that being said, here's the big caveat: that's based on my having ridden *precisely one* Ninja. Tons and tons of people rave about them, so perhaps, just perhaps, the one I rode was a poor sample?? Wow, imagine that for a wild idea. An *exception*! Maybe that explains who so many others love Ninjas even though my experience wasn't so great.
 
It's also an apples to oranges argument. The ZX-6R and ZX-10R are not even close to same class or purpose. Also, the 600 Japanese sport bikes are all race winning homologations that can easily adapt last seasons racing tech to the street relatively cheaply. And I've owned a ZX-6R and an R-6. Haven't Kawa's always been the affordable line of street bikes?

Frankly, I think the engine and electronic aides are worth the extra couple grand I paid. The styling and finish just further that sentiment.

When I park my Strada in a long line of bikes, know what it doesn't look like? Every other Japanese sport bike. Why so many of those? Same reason I bought them when I was young- AFFORDABLE PERFORMANCE. And that's why you won't see a single sided swingarm, sexy stock can or gorgeous stock wheels on those bikes.

You guys trashing the reliability and quality are still a very isolated minority. Go back and count the number who have had the coil issue and then look at active members. I bet that's a single digit percentage.

Fuggit. Hope whoever buys your bike for half what you paid for it actually enjoys it. Piece.
 
gatdammit said:
Frankly, I think the engine and electronic aides are worth the extra couple grand I paid. The styling and finish just further that sentiment.
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Yep. In fact, compared with literally every other bike I've ridden, [including KTM - a brand that I quite admire] the engine alone would erase any feeling that I'd overspent on the Duc....if I even had such a notion. To me, the rest is all gravy. Awesome gravy.
 
Frank Rizzo said:
Yep. In fact, compared with literally every other bike I've ridden, [including KTM - a brand that I quite admire] the engine alone would erase any feeling that I'd overspent on the Duc....if I even had such a notion. To me, the rest is all gravy. Awesome gravy.
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Hey now, i'm pretty sure i'm one of, if not the oldest member on this forum, 60. i've owned a ton of bikes in the past 40+ years of riding, as of this moment i have three bmw's, a honda st1300, a yamaha fz6, a ktm 450, and a suzuki dr200, there is no way, you can compare the big four to euro bikes in fit and finish, the fasteners suck, the body panels fit like ****, and try and find a dealer that stocks parts. i have paid a lot more money for several bmw's in the past and they have all had their share of problems, try arguing with those mofo's about warranty. If you want an appliance, buy a bike from the big four and good luck, if you want something with some character that will keep a smile on your face, well you know the answer to that one.
out
Mark
 
In Germany the Dealer need 24 HRS to have the clutch cable in stock! The only problem here in Germany is Aug because Ducati Italy is closed for Summer Holiday!:mad:
So make sure your Ducati don't break in August!!

Gruß Steffen
 
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my clutch cable needed 3 days to arive.

I was going to ducati on Tuesday and told them about my (nearly) broken clutch cable. they told me, that this is a part which has no guaranty but they wrote it to the german guaranty guys. 2 days later, on Thursday, they told me that I will get a new one with guaranty.
I told them that i am lucky about this because I wanted to drive to a motorcycle event the next week on Tuesday.

Then I called them on saturday weather they ordered the cable - the guy told me, that the person who starts to check the cable has to talk with me about this and he was not there so I have to call again on monday.

I calles on monday and the guy told me, that he does not ordered the cable but he will today and then it will arrive early enough to get the cable repaired till Wednesday evening.

2 Hours later - he called me again and told me, that he can not order it today because the order was already send to ducati and there is only 1 order possible per day (or like this - do not know his exact words now).

So the cable would arrive on Thursday at 11 a.m. but I wanted to start with ~10 friends at 8 a.m.


That is the Service of the new Ducati Flag ship store in berlin. it sucks! .-)

Thats 1 out of a few storys! ;)
 
markog said:
Hey now, i'm pretty sure i'm one of, if not the oldest member on this forum, 60. i've owned a ton of bikes in the past 40+ years of riding, as of this moment i have three bmw's, a honda st1300, a yamaha fz6, a ktm 450, and a suzuki dr200, there is no way, you can compare the big four to euro bikes in fit and finish, the fasteners suck, the body panels fit like ****, and try and find a dealer that stocks parts. i have paid a lot more money for several bmw's in the past and they have all had their share of problems, try arguing with those mofo's about warranty. If you want an appliance, buy a bike from the big four and good luck, if you want something with some character that will keep a smile on your face, well you know the answer to that one.
out
Mark
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I have a few years on you Mark, and I think there is a 70 year old on this forum. I have never been willing to spring for a BMW, and I have had some really great Japanese bikes. I've found that most dealers do not stock any parts at all, relying on a warehouse that can be on the other coast. I've waited 2 weeks for a Yamaha part. So when Ducati airs one out in a week I don't see how that's much worse.

As far as character goes though, you hit it right on the head. If saying the words "It's a Ducati!" does not give you a kick then you are on the wrong bike.
 
I think in general it very difficult to find a good dealer no matter where you are!
As back up i have an independent mechanic he worked many years on Ducati bikes he got his own little shop!

Gruß Steffen
 
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zippy49 said:
I have a few years on you Mark, and I think there is a 70 year old on this forum. I have never been willing to spring for a BMW, and I have had some really great Japanese bikes. I've found that most dealers do not stock any parts at all, relying on a warehouse that can be on the other coast. I've waited 2 weeks for a Yamaha part. So when Ducati airs one out in a week I don't see how that's much worse.

As far as character goes though, you hit it right on the head. If saying the words "It's a Ducati!" does not give you a kick then you are on the wrong bike.

Hello all, i was just trying to get across that in all those years riding, all makes have their share of problems. I have also owned some outstanding Japanese bikes, reliable as hell, with amazing performance, but imho they are like owning an appliance. And i must say, it's good to see more geezers on hypers.

mark
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Ducati had the cable to the dealer within a day! I am very happy with the way Ducati is handling everything that has gone wrong.

I can obviously tell that some people don't like that I said Japanese bikes have been better. haha Well, you obviously think I love to complain, but you are wrong there. I don't have a point to prove b/c I love my bike, just wish some things were better.