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Its a rust bucket ..Poor build quality ..Bit disapointed really

25K views 48 replies 34 participants last post by  little1er 
#1 ·
As much as I like the looks of my 899,I am disappointed by its poor build quality !!

750 miles on the clock and just 3 months old, I've got rust showing on the Thermis exhaust and almost on every exposed nut and bolt in the bike !! Also the head light condenses regularly when riding in wet ... IF THE BIKE IS NOT MEANT TO BE RIDDEN IN WET THEN THEY SHOULD STOP SELLING IT IN ENGLAND !!

Granted I am an enthusiast like many of you here and ride it only on perfect sunny days (which btw can be counted in 1 hand ) AND clean the bike with a tooth brush every weekend BUT i expected more than this from a £12500 bike !!

Anyone else has a similar experience ?

Also what do you guys think chances of dealer sorting out rust problem under warranty nut before I ask them I am not sure what is the solution to it :)


Farhan
 
#2 ·
Zero rust problems here. I ride my bike in all conditions (except snow as it doesn't really snow here in Australia). It's been raining for a week where i live and i've been riding it through a storm and heavy rain, No issues at all, no rust, no condensation, nothing at all on what you are describing.

Are you sure its not just surface rust? Unless ofcourse the UK has some crazy acid rain going on over there.

Also Ducati don't make Termignoni's. So if they are rusting its Termi's own fault. Do you happen to live near the ocean? That salt air can cause issues.
 
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#4 ·
Further to this would you mind giving us some info on how you store the bike? Garaged, covered, in any damp areas etc. Also post some photos of the rusted areas to give us all something to check?

More information on the issue would be great incase others are experiencing the same thing.

My bike is stored in an open garaged and under a motorcycle cover and gets a lot of air circulation happening so condensation doesn't appear due to all the ventilation.
 
#7 ·
Thanks onlyme!

There we have it boys. Has nothing to do with the Ducati and more to do with the UK roads. Cheers for clearing that up.
 
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#8 ·
I'm also suffering with corrosion. The chain,rear sprocket carrier, banjo bolts and ABS rings furred up immediately.

I kept mine in a garage, washed down after use. Its worth noting that there has been very little salt on the roads since its been raining rather than snowing.
 
#9 ·
yip i have rusty bits on my 899..

The chain, the radiator, my standard exhaust…. the brakes…. all have signs of rust…

Mainly this would be down to me washing it after a good run out, and letting it dry itself.

however, some bolts are rusty that hold the belly pan on, quite possibly due to not being dried properly or the road salt eating away at it…!??

I do wash and clean it after a run… but obviously not as good as I thought …

I do put it away in the total enclosure system once it is dry, and has been polished and oiled… but alas… still rusty dods appear..

Will be putting mine in for its first service this week, I will be asking about the rusty bits and bolts.
 
#10 ·
Its not a secret that the roads are gritted here in UK and in fact in alot of places in the world and Its also not a secret that galvanised parts solves the problem of rusting !!

My car is 10 years old and it has no rust on it what so ever, but its a German BMW not Italian crap !!

My mate bought a suzuki intruder round about the same time as me for less than half the price and he rides more in wet than me but guess what NO RUST and NO LEAKY head light.

I'm going Thursday for it first service, lets see what the dealer has to say about this.
 
#19 ·
Hi all,

All metal rusts :). It's a natural process, you can't really prevent it entirely. All the parts people are complaining about are stainless steel parts (even termi parts, which we know are quality). S/S protects itself by passivation. Which is the same mechanism that causes aluminium to be resistant to corrosion - you don't see aluminium staining because it’s the same colour as the surface, but it’s there. passivation in S/S creates a small and very strong chromium oxide layer, keeping away nasty oxygen atoms, which is what causes rust.

Most staining you guys will see on your S/S parts (or wont see) is actually caused by the environment. Some peoples bikes will stain and others wont, depends what you put them through. And again, its “staining” not rust.

If the bike was suffering from galvanic corrosion, then yes, I would say it’s a quality / engineering issue, but the stainless in most cases won’t be the metal that's suffering.

In summary what you have is stainless steel "staining" nothing more, you can’t really call it “rust”…, they are very small deposits of iron oxide forming because no metal is completely homogenous and the substrate metal will always be compromised at some points. These little marks are easy to clean off and there are many stainless steel cleaning products available to do just that. Be careful where you apply them though.

Another issue is heat. This changes the microstructure of metal, but without getting into too much detail, your stainless steel headers will ALWAYS stain, on any bike or car.

Brake Disks Stain super fast because of their composition, it’s designed to cope with heat better and (more importantly) you are constantly scraping away that oxide layer by braking and the oxygen his the iron before the chromium can do its job. So if you have a problem with your brakes staining after you wet them, then by all means, don’t use them, they will be kept in pristine condition.
 
#43 ·
Hi all,

All metal rusts :). It's a natural process, you can't really prevent it entirely. All the parts people are complaining about are stainless steel parts (even termi parts, which we know are quality). S/S protects itself by passivation. Which is the same mechanism that causes aluminium to be resistant to corrosion - you don't see aluminium staining because it’s the same colour as the surface, but it’s there. passivation in S/S creates a small and very strong chromium oxide layer, keeping away nasty oxygen atoms, which is what causes rust.

Most staining you guys will see on your S/S parts (or wont see) is actually caused by the environment. Some peoples bikes will stain and others wont, depends what you put them through. And again, its “staining” not rust.

If the bike was suffering from galvanic corrosion, then yes, I would say it’s a quality / engineering issue, but the stainless in most cases won’t be the metal that's suffering.

In summary what you have is stainless steel "staining" nothing more, you can’t really call it “rust”…, they are very small deposits of iron oxide forming because no metal is completely homogenous and the substrate metal will always be compromised at some points. These little marks are easy to clean off and there are many stainless steel cleaning products available to do just that. Be careful where you apply them though.

Another issue is heat. This changes the microstructure of metal, but without getting into too much detail, your stainless steel headers will ALWAYS stain, on any bike or car.

Brake Disks Stain super fast because of their composition, it’s designed to cope with heat better and (more importantly) you are constantly scraping away that oxide layer by braking and the oxygen his the iron before the chromium can do its job. So if you have a problem with your brakes staining after you wet them, then by all means, don’t use them, they will be kept in pristine condition.
this is some serious physics right here. thank you for explaining this. this made more sense.
 
#21 ·
well that's harder to say what it is. could you get some photo's? Certain metal coatings like galvanization (hot dipped included), tin and cadmium plated stuff can get whiskers. it's actually still being researched and no one really knows what causes it. some speculate its internal stresses from the plating process, but from what I have seen, I would say it has to do with oxidization, because coatings can affect its behaviour. the whiskers themselves don't oxidize though strangely enough... Whiskering does however polish off very easily, the strands are very weak.

but I would look into it a bit more if I were you, a contaminated pickup ring can give your abs sensor false readings.

but yea, post some pic's :D
 
#22 ·
We are getting into the silly wet, humid season here in hong kong. As you can see from this photo. We will now be in cloud for the next few weeks. Currently outside the viz is about 50 metres....my bike sits outside and I live by the coast which is NOT good! I got an Oxford Stormex cover for my 899 which is awesome. The brakes on my car go rusty in about 2-3 days when not driven. It's just a part of life here in a tropical climate. A good detail clean by a professional every 6 months sorts out general rust issues.
I suppose a good coat of something like WD40 can give a form of protective barrier on exhaust pipes.
I thin top coat of rust is unlikely to cause issues if kept on top of.
My 848 has lived outside for 3 years under rubbish covers and came up lovely after a detail clean as you can see from the other photo so don't be put off.
 
#27 ·
That's a serious turnoff for me. I was waiting to see the reliability before committing. It's not looking good so far. I'm not a brand lover at all. I was interested in Ducati only because it was a fun bike and I was expecting a good resale value for the 899. Not so sure anymore with visible rust problems.
 
#30 ·
ok time for reality check....

I had my first service done last week, the dealer looked at the headlight and without questioning he replaced it, apparently mine one did'nt had vents in it ... A big tick for EXTREMELY good customer service.

Regarding rust, the Thermi exhaust is made of titanium, so how on earth are they rusting ? Well after the technician showed them to closely,they are NOT rusting !! it was just some some rust that came on the welded part.He sanded them down with a very fine sand paper and put some WD40 and they were as good as new.

Now,on way back FOR THE FIRST time I rode in Sport mode AND over 5000 Revs ...Oh boy WHAT a bike it is ... Excellent handling, Excellent sound real tribute to Ducati !! I have never ridden a better bike than this !!

I formally like to apologise to my beloved bike for whinging at it !! Yes You are a bit sensitive to wet I should have looked after you better,sorry :)


Farhan
 
#33 ·
See what you've been missing! Mines been in sport mode 90% of the run in period, puts a smile on my face every time I ride, as I type its in for its first service, if it stays dry will be putting it in race mode and wringing it's neck for the ride home.


Sent from Motorcycle.com Free App
Had mine in Sport for whole of run in and now in Race ........ winds up lovely and then 6000 rpm POWWWW .... back end moves around a bit :)
 
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