Service Cost - Rosso Corse

Originally Posted by benaround

For me, the communication part is what is most important, i.e. in this instance, I was led to believe cost would be substantially lower. When I went to pick up the bike, I was told a different figure, which unfortunately was some way from the original. At that stage, you can only do so much. It's not like you can ask RC to undo all the work and/or bring the bike back to its original state. Regardless of how much money I could afford to pay, I had to cough up. Perhaps this was a one-off.

Sadly, it's not. Others have had nasty surprises, too, when picking up the bike.

I stick to Al at Ducati Proteam, he keeps me updated on anything he finds and is always very close to the estimate.

My last work was done at Baines Racing, though, as they brought her home from Normandy, and Geoff went as far as sourcing a new loom on the Ebay instead of buying a new one from Ducati, as there were hundreds of pounds to save, and we were working from the assumption that we'd have to replace the ECU, so that was going to cost me quite enough.

Originally Posted by Paivi

I stick to Al at Ducati Proteam, he keeps me updated on anything he finds and is always very close to the estimate.

Al @ Proteam is awesome!

does your bike ran better than it ever has, I bet it does ?

800 quid service I dream of that

Originally Posted by Paivi

I stick to Al at Ducati Proteam, he keeps me updated on anything he finds .

Could even be a pair of scissors stuck in the loom!

[d8mok]

My 2 year service from ducati cornerspeed was £317 inc vat. Bike had done about 2500 miles so no pads, chain or anything else outside the normal full belt service.

So all these numbers seem quite excessive to me.

[Twentytoo]

After reading this I'm looking at a winter of doing as much of the work as possible myself before it goes for the bits I can't do. I'm looking at the official Ducati service schedule and I can't find any mention of checking or changing the fuel filter. Can anyone shed any light on this?

[QUOTE=animaluk;407857]does your bike ran better than it ever has, I bet it does ?

In fairness, the bike rides fine, no complaints there - had it been otherwise, that would have probably been too much and/or driven me mad

The bike has seen better days though, namely, when an Italian seasoned mechanic treated it in Italy, when riding across Europe - I'm not sure what the guy did, as I was enjoying my cappuccino nearby, but the rest of the journey to Greece felt like a stroll

[Funkatronic]

I too have had higher than expected bills from RC on occasion, but i dont think accusing them of padding the bill is at all fair

i have never known RC to do any work or fit parts unnecessarily but in fairness they should have been more proactive about contacting you before undertaking any extra work

having not seen the bike i couldn't be sure but its certainly possible for a chain and sprox to get shagged very fast if not cleaned, adjusted or lubricated properly (duati OEM chains arent the best anyway)
if the pads were rubbing, this could also acount for the abnormal wear, you did say the bike was 'strolling' from italy to greece. rubbing brakes could have been the reason for this

2.5 hrs labour to do all that work sounds fair imho

air filter again isnt normally that shortlived but i just spent 10 days in spain which added lots of dust to mine upon inspection (fortunately its the washable type). maybe your summer jaunt across the continent did not help

DIDZDVM 520 Chain - £127.80
14t Front Sprocket - £20.05
14t front sprocket lock plate - £5.70
Pads, Front x2 - £56.00
Belts, Cam x2 - £84.72
DCPR8E Plugs x2 - £12.12
Filter, air - £34.10
Filter, fuel x1 - £19.87
Filter, fuel o'ring assem - £12.48
5.1 brake fluid - £6.85
Consumables - £8.00
Filter, oil - £13.26
Sump gaskets x 2 - £1.80
3.4lts synthetic oil - £32.13
Labour (Full service & remove and replace final drive / fit 14t) - £225.00

the only thing on here that looks a little expensive is the chain, which could probabaly have been found online for less, but once you add postage theres prob only £10 in it. the DID ZVM chain is excellent. its a top quality heavy duty chain much better than the ducati OEM which im pretty sure if you enquired would not be much cheaper

im not affiliated with RC in anyway other than being a satisfied customer

totally understand how you feel, no one likes to feel like they have been fleeced but on balance RC are the people i trust with my bikes

I know that RC look on here so hope they take it for what it is - a discussion. I'd not heard of Proteam until reading this, checked out their website and they have prices for servicing on that. Transparency is the key I think, no one likes to return tentatively to a big bill even if your bike did need it.
What Twenttoo said though, last weekend I replaced plugs, oil and oil filter, and bled and replaced the fluids for the clutch and brakes. Also did the pads - all pretty easy and saved a packet.
I think it just needs to have belts and valve clearances done now (by a specialist).

[utopia]

Good reputations are hard to come by. It takes many satisfied customers to build one up. I have no personal experience of RC, but I have heard their recommendation many times on this forum. Thats got to count for a lot, in my book.
Chain replacement is very early, but maybe it had a tight spot, perhaps due to standing for a while...?? If this was the case, then while you're having a new front sprocket (different size ?), it would be sensible to change the full set, ie the rear as well.
Disc pads seems early too, under normal conditions, but again, maybe the conditions weren't normal. Given their reputation, I would assume there was good reason.
For me though, monsters (particularly the 2-valvers) are so easy to work on that I would recommend doing as much home servicing as possible. Certainly all the usual consumables and fluids, and the belts (which aren't at all difficult once you get over the hype and get stuck in). Even valve clearances aren't hard if you take your time and have a little mechanical sympathy.
Normal servicing costs are seriously not for me. Not when in just a few years they could account for most of the value of the bike in the first place.
But for others, a good mechanic is worth their weight in gold, and I just thought I would put in a plug for RC and others of their ilk who have earned a reputation for good solid work at a reasonable price.
I understand that your comments were by way of discussion rather than critisism, and quite right too, but it would be a shame if the wrong conclusions were implied by accident, without full knowledge of all the facts.

Ray and Marcus have always phoned me to tell me if they find anything unusual and always keep the old parts to show me, as they do for all customers and i assume yourself ?

Though low mileage its not done a lot of miles in 2 years (i suspect most of them on your trip to spain) so its has been sitting for a good amount of time thats more than enough for your chain to get a tight spot if not looked after.

There is a fair bit of work done so the bill does not look to outragous to me (I have two 4 valvers now they are expensive to look after)

Again as the others have said aways talk to the mechanic about your budgets first and tell them what you absolute top amount you expect to pay that way there will be no surprises. (would also like to know if metroplis added labour to there bill as 5 hours there would have cost you £450)

I never known them to pad out a bill and as a lot of people on here will confirm that they will give advice and show you how to do things freely even help out quickly in a real emegency, I mean how many places can you get involved in the service of your bike ? or just ruck up and hang out for a while (Man Creche ) When i crashed my S4 they rebuilt it, and had a custom seat made for me for free just because they though it would make the bike look better (it did )

learn to do things yourself like brake pads and oil and filters if you want to keep own your bill down, and if your unhappy I would talk to Ray and go over the bill with him as in my opinion Rosso is the only place to take your Duke in London !!!!!

Funkatronic; I too have had higher than expected bills from RC on occasion, but i dont think accusing them of padding the bill is at all fair

Apologies everyone for the radio silence, but I've had the most hectic two days at work. Back to the point: to be absolutely clear, I never claimed RC padded the bill - had I felt this way, I would have taken it up with them directly. Following conversations with some of the older members of this forum over the weekend, the intention for this thread was to have a meaningful conversation and debate regarding prices from different workshops. I do believe in that respect, we have succeeded.

To those fellow members who have suggested working on the bike myself, I would say there is nothing that would give me more satisfaction. God knows if I were one of the characters in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, I would not be driving a BMW The problem with that is, I work very long hours almost every day and sometimes including weekends, so the time is simply not there. In those instances, it is a huge relief to know someone who can look after your bike as if it were theirs and if that can go hand-in-hand with a reasonable fee structure, then you can really feel blessed.