[Ducati] 996 throttle problem

[Darcy Brockbank]

<duc-man at modern-corp.com> writes:

> I'd like to know how they justify $1800, did they do the valves? Belts and
> battery shouldn't cost that much. I have heard surging problems arise from
> bad injector relays - little black boxes that plug into the harness under
> the tank/seat. Personally I would learn to do at least the basic maintenance
> to avoid getting raped at the dealer, whats worse is they aren't even
> competent. Each spring I also disassemble each electrical connection and
> dielectric grease it to ensure no corrosion and a good connection. Except
> for a select very few, I think no dealer will do as good a job as a
> consciencious owner. If you paid the $1800 with a credit card I would call
> the card 1-800 and contest the charge.

Thanks for the tip on the relays, I will look more into that.

The valves were adjusted, it's the 10,000km inspection that's part of
the warrantee requirements (though the bike is off warrantee I think by
age at this point). On my KLX I've replaced the cams, cylinder, piston,
carb (required frame modifications), back and rear suspension and
exhaust system myself, so I am capable of doing the basic maintenance.

A dirt bike and a street bike are different things though, and I don't
have a diagnostic computer or the desire to change shims in a
desdromonic engine. But I agree, $1,800 and a bike that doesn't run adds
up to a big steaming pile.

In the past this dealer was always excellent but I haven't had a reason
to go in there for a few years, and it looks like a lot of things have
changed. I used to talk to the mechanic for instance and the service
manager was also a mechanic. Now it's just these people they hire that
don't know anything about bikes, which is pretty confusing to me.

- darcy

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