Electrical problem , I think ?

[Montana]

Yesterday I went for a ride, and felt that the bike was straining a little.By this I mean, it seemed to be wanting to go faster than it was but it was being held back, and it seems to be a little intermittent.Now this could have been one of three things, electrics,fuel or air.



Today when I went out with a friend of mine, he said to me(he was following me) "Do I always just signal once when turning right ?".So, I then went to the bike and checked over everything that I could, lights, indicators, brake lights etc. I have found that the front brake indicator , right turn signal(more on this in a min) and the main beam all seem to work intermittently.Now for the right turn indicator, when I just flick it to the right it works once then stops, but if I hold it for a second or two it seems to work properly.Just to add insult to injury, on the way home it seems to miss, again intermittently ! It seems to miss between 3000 to 4500 revs when I change up through the gears AND when I have changed up increasing the revs slowly.When I change up and wind up the revs quickly it doesn't happen.



On the way home I went to my local dealer and described the problems to the service manager, to which he had no explanation, but one of the techs would need to have a look at it, but get this, there booking in people for the 30th May onwards, thats 3 weeks !!! He did then say to me that if I rang on Monday morning first thing (as it's the best day of the week for them), that one of the techs MIGHT be able to have a look, but there no promise of this.



A few things raise their heads as far as this is concerned, am I going to damage the engine and or loom or other electrical components if I keep riding ? Next, am I wrong in thinking that my dealer should take a look at this straight away as the bike is just under 6 months old from new ?, its a 2007 model , and is there anything I should be looking at on the bike ? I have already taken the air box top off and that's all clear, just to make sure.Please bare in mind that I don't have a technicians manual for it, only an owners manual(which is next to useless for things like this).



Any and all thoughts would be very helpfull.





Andy

[Montana]

Seeing as my account seems to be up the shoot, I should add that my bike is an S2R 800 , 2007


Andy

[retskcid]

Personally if I had a bike less than 6 months old like that I would take it back to the selling dealer and leave it with them to sort - and ask for a loan bike foc in the meantime.

Sounds electrical to me.

[Snips]

3 weeks to just take a look sucks.

Who's the dealer?

(I'm certainly not advising a flame here, but it's interesting to know who they are)

I'd certainly expect a dealer to be keen (i.e. sense of urgency) to help you out if they sold you the bike within the last 12 months.

Is it possible that water has got in the electrics?

[Stafford]

Get down there and kick his door in :fiery:

[benson]

Dodgy loom? I'd return the bike and ask very politely for a loan bike - and then I wouldn't go home until I had one...Good luck with this - and dealers really ought to knowbetter - this is their problem as much as it is yours...

[Scotty]

sounds like everything electrical

check the battery connection as a simple and easy check make sure thats not loose

[Montana]

As this is my first big bike as it were, and not having any problems with the 125 that I had, I'm in totally new territory, and don't know where I stand as far as asking for a loan bike.I have very few (e.g one) biking friend, and he hasn't had anything like this either.
I rang another dealer and asked them what there waiting time was, and there's was the 23rd of this month(that has probably even further away by now), I also asked them, what was my likelyhood of getting a loan bike off my dealer, they said that it's totally up to my local dealers discretion and nothing in the Ducati terms and conditions say that I can have another bike while I wait.

So, by the looks of things I'm up s*** creek without a paddle.I can't understand in this day and age that dealers can't cope with the summer influx of servicing and new bike sales at this time of year (and throughout the summer), especially as it happens every year.Yes, I can understand that they can't just employ more staff through the summer period and then get rid of them come October, but surely there must be a way round this.One solution is this.
At the moment, I'm classed as unemployed (currently training to become a plumber) and I'm trying to get temp work in between modules, I would love to be able to help out somehow, and get some money at the same time.Even if it just meant fetching and carrying stuff, draining oil, getting more, getting spare parts, etc etc etc. Also with the summer months coming up, there are a lot of students that need some work, they could also do a lot of this kind of work, freeing up the techs to do the important stuff.This means productivity goes up, more bikes through the shop(as people will generally go elsewhere if the wait is to long), happier customers, and the greater likelyhood of people returning for servicing and other parts, clothing etc. I can only see this as a good thing, what do you guys think ????


Andy

[Montana]

Just as an update, I thought I would tell you that I have it booked in for the 2nd of June, and this was booked on Monday 12th, and even with my maths that's still 3 weeks.

All I can say is that the bike industry need to pull their socks up as far as customer care is concerned.As I have said before, I have never had this in the car industry, so why should I HAVE to put up with it, where my bike is concerned ? I have never even had to put up with this kind of wait when I have bought a second hand car from a dealers, let alone a new car.
In this day and age, with computers and forums like this, surely they know that people are going to discuss things like this, and bike dealers are going to be slated, it's not as though I haven't tried to ring different dealers, to see if it's just my dealer that has a long wait on warranty issues.

As said above I think bike dealers need to pull their socks up, as dealers are going to be on lean times after October of this year, with the 3 part test, and when they see and hear stories like this they'll probably won't bother.

I said when I eventually got my bike that this was a 30 year dream getting my first big bike, and this dream has been very much tainted by this kind of service, or should I say lack of it.

Any suggestions or comments welcome.


Andy

[stef]

i had the intermitent indicator problem.
worked fine when stopped, but on the road, it was a bit hit and miss. fine on the LHS, but doggy on the RHS. would flash once, then stop.

a squirt of WD40 in the switch solved it all !

[retskcid]

I totally agree with your comments, name and shame them - who was the dealer? You bought a new bike off them right?

I had sh*te service from Triumph after spending £10k on a bike - I'll never buy another, or at least I'll never line the pockets of anyone involved in them.

Have you asked for a loaner?