Great summary Duncan. Not seen original poster on this thread for a while so praps he's been buried in concrete by his newcastle dealership!
Any judge would be appalled i'm sure at an 8 month life for paintwork.
Just a few points (cos not wanting to duplicate the good advice so far)
1 - i've never bought a bike or car new!!! but do Dukes/bikes in general come with paintwork warranty at all like some cars do? and if so, do they limit it to tank and body work but not frame and tank etc?
2 - most people will find they have some sort of limited funding for legal advice somewhere - usually attached to home insurance, credit card, car / bikeinsurance, travel insurance etc although it's usually the first 2 that would relate to a consumer dispute such as this.
3 - someone said something about consumables ..... don't let the dealership tell you paint is a consumable cos it aint.
go get em! :twisted: