Perhaps somethings in life are not ment to be… I was just about to hit 2,000 miles on the ‘03 749 when it got stolen. Today, I was microns away from 2k with the ‘04 999 when all hell broke loose. I hate to say it, but after today I think it’s time has come.
Unfortunately it’s been a bitch of day and right now as I sit here typing this, I find myself questioning my loyality to the Ducati Ownership Experience. Don’t get me wrong, I still love the bike when it works. So much of today was amazing. After being away from the bike for so long, it was absolutely awe inspiring to finally get back on it and start to break in a fresh set of tires. To experience a superbike roaring through the twists and turns in all their glory. The canyons were alive like I haven’t seen them in quite sometime. Amazingly really. Life it seems has comeback in full force after all the rain we got over the winter. The flowers are in full bloom and the roads are starting to finally dry off. Today was one of those days where every corner felt like a postcard. Amazing sight after amazing sight. Vistas from every angle and beauty beyond belief, even for someone who knows the canyons as intimately as I do. One of those days when you rediscover what it is that you love in life.
But then the shit hit the fan…
I’ve spent the past month waiting dilligently for the gang at ProItalia to put my Duc back together after it gushed oil out of the airbox after my trackday experience at Willow Spring. Those sort of things aren’t supposed to happen to what is a basically brand new Italian Superbike, but they do. Even though I baby my Diva, I knew full well what owning a Ducati ment when I threw down for one a year ago. You don’t have to do much research to find out that Italian bikes require quite a bit of love & tender care… And even with that they still break. I get that and I got that then… They’re simply not run of the mill, 100% perfectly machined beasts straight from the factory. That’s life and you can bitch about it all you want, but the reality is that either you choose to except it or you don’t. That’s the game.
So after Willow Springs when the engine locked up and the ProItalia boys told me that this was a ‘known issue’ with certain ‘04 models, I didn’t complain. I got it and let them be. That’s the deal you make when you purchase on of these magnificent beasts. The PI boys subsequently replaced the cyclinders, pistons, top end gasket, exhaust gasket, and drilled a new crackcase vent hole in accordance with Ducati’s new design specs on the ‘05 models. (Now, mind you that if BMW found a design flaw in their parts they redo the CAD and remachine replacement parts for all the bikes. Ducati’s solution? Drill holes… If that ain’t an Italian answer I don’t know what is 
)
Late last week I got my Diva back. She was running so smoothly this morning it was just simply wonderful. Few things can give you chills running down your spin like firing up your Duc for the first time in a month. My only complaint was that the PI gang seemed to move the engaging point of the clutch further back (i.e. less pull on the clutch leaver resulted in completely engaging the clutch, which once I got used to it was no big deal..). As I’m sure you can tell given the tone of this post, the day didn’t go very smoothly. MotorMilt & I took a wonderful ride up the coast and through the canyons. After breakfast in Agoura, we headed home via Kanan-Dune. I hit about 80 mph on the way down and all seemed wonderous once again. Except the morning’s good fortune hit a snag when we hit the intersection of Las Virgines and the Pacific Coast Highway.
I smelt something burning and turned towards MotorMilt at the stop light. He pointed towards the back of my bike and I noticed a very large white smoke plume coming out of the rear exhaust. This was easily fifty percent larger than the white smoke that came out of the rear end after Willow. I quickly pulled off the road at the Malibu Colony Shopping Center, only to discover that instead of a small puddle of oil, the Diva was leaking all over the place.
I’m sure this is true of a number of other folks, but I think I could have handled a new issue easier than the repeated failure of something that the bike was just in the shop for. Hopefully that makes sense. Thankfully Jake @ PI saved the day when he brow beat the Ducati Roadside Assistance folks, who at first weren’t going to tow the bike because this wasn’t a roadside issue but a service issue. Why this matters beat the shit out of me. The bike is unridable, it’s broken and it’s under warrenty. Seems to me that they should tow it. But I don’t make the rules so go figure. Eventually thanks in no small part to Jake, the bike got towed back to PI… Of course now the real fun begins…
It’s a bit hard to see in the pict above, but the issues with the Diva no longer strikes me as an Italian quirk or characteristic. In the photo above - at least the original high rez one - you can pretty clearly see the oil on the rear tire. Few things in life scare me as much. From this point forward I now consider the engine issue with the bike a safety problem. So I’m not really sure how this will shake out, but I can honestly say that getting back on this particular bike scares the living shit out of me. As motorcyclists we constantly put our faith in so many variables that in all reality we can’t control at all even if we have the illusion that we can. Having a properly working machine is one of the few tenants of our universe that we can have some control over and unfortunately I no longer have the faith that this particular bike - for whatever reason - can and will work the way that it was designed. For instance can you imagine heading into a corner, 3/4’s of the way leaned over and thinking about the possibiliy of oil spilling out over the rear tire? Or worse having oil gushing out over the tire while you’re leaned over? Thankfully I was straight up when I noticed something was wrong and was able to safely get off the road without incendent. But how many times can you split hairs? How many times can you go back to the same well and not get hurt? What happens next time when oil gushes out during normal riding conditions - i.e. no red lines, no extreme leans, nothing out of the ordinary - and god for bid I have a get off?
So the bottomline is that I’m not quite sure exactly what happens next, only to say that I have no doubt that the term ‘lemon’ is going to come up and that doesn’t really excite me very much…
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That really sucks, Dylan. The worst part is that you’re a dream customer for Ducati - giving them all kinds of plugs, photos and free advertising. This reminds me of Warchild, the guy that runs the FJR Owners Association, having major valve issues with his FJR. Hopefully you can work out a fair deal with Ducati and ProItalia to get on another (non-lemon) bike. Best of luck, and keep us informed.
Life is sometimes a bitch, i’m really sorry about your experience, but there’s nothing I can say that will make it any better. The reason I read this piece was because it was sent to me by a good friend who knows how bad i’ve wanted one of these bikes for some time now, the 999 to me is the ultimate cornering machine, despite it’s quirks, and required bouts of TLC, but because of your experience and the comment that Pro Italia made, i’m now thinking about an MV which I won’t buy from Pro Italia, thanks for the warning and good luck with your next ride, life will get better it’s not a bitch all the time. Lance Shaeffer
Hey ya L, thanks for stopping by the site. Truth be told this was not a fun experience to live through, however it all seems to have worked out in the end. Ducati NA ended up replacing the ‘04 with a new ‘05 from ProItalia that essentially has been trouble free since I received it. In comparison to the ‘04, the ‘05 is just a killer bike. The MV F4 1000 is also a pretty nifty machine in its own right. The F4 engine is a simply awesome powerplant, so I’m sure you’ll be happy with either one. Best of luck with your purchasing decision.
Every brand of any type of mechanical beast will have similar stories. I feel for you, friend. This problem is fixable and should have been done right the first time. Pro I. has dropped the ball here. I’ve ridden many of the brands since the 60s and have been alternately thrilled and pissed. I have an 05 999R that I got for my retirement, from myself. It has 6400 miles on it and I’m still in the thrill mode. Just had the million dollar exhaust put on and the dyno says 146 at the wheel. And then there’s that basso profundo singing off canyon walls. OOOOOh solo mio! Stick with it. Read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maint and know that there are no unsolvable mysteries under that carbon fiber.