Searched the forum for this before posting so please don't beat me if someone brought it up already...
When I did my pre-flight check this morning I noticed my turn signals were acting like hazard lights. I'm new to Ducatis but own European cars and I almost expect there to be electrical problems, so I figured, "Whatever, just turn the key to off, give a it a minute, then turn it back to the on position and try again." Still no luck. After starting the ignition and warming up the bike, I tried a few more times in 1st gear and it was still doing the hazard light blink.
Both front and rear sets of turn signals are coming on when I hit either left or right on the switch.
I called Southern California Triumph & Ducati (dealer where I bought the bike) and after getting put on hold for a few minutes, they told me it's probably the relay. I've heard about issues with the relay on the M696, so it's disheartening but at least I can bring the bike in tomorrow morning. As a side note, I also brought up the engine coil issue and the tech mentioned, "We've been taking care of that problem on bikes we prep ever since DNA gave us the SA." When I asked when the SA was there was a moment of silence followed by "Uh, I don't remember." [bang] I got my bike at the end of July so who knows if it's messed up or not.
Anyway, before I head over I'd like to hear if anyone else has run into this problem on the M696 or earlier year Monsters. I don't think it's related, but when I was doing a quick clean on the bike on Friday evening, I brushed up on one of the rear turn signal stalks and it snapped right off! From the sliver that came off, it looks like they over-tightened it. Should I get a CW fender eliminator or just ask them to replace it?
Yeah the relays have been an issue, nothing major, just a Ducati... We dont buy these for Japanese reliability ;D
I had the light problem, Spectrum Ducati fixed it in about 15 min. Let me know what you think of your dealer, a bit far for me but if they are really cool, might be worth the trip.
[evil] [moto] [bang]
Took my bike in Saturday morning, a little bit too late because Friday night Mahjong went on until about 2AM [laugh] It was a two hour wait behind a valve job and putting in new suspension on a 1098 for the main Ducati techs so I'm just gonna take it in on a weekday to avoid wasting too much time. I lose those personal days if I don't use 'em up...
Danny and Eric are the main techs at SoCal Triumph & Ducati. Supposedly Eric was factory trained in Italy on Desmo and all that, not sure how much it translates to the kind of service I'll be getting. Art, one of the guys in the shop, is a nice guy. These are the same folks who quoted $230-280 for the 600 mile service, though (and no, I didn't ask for a breakdown at the time). If anything I'd recommend you revisit the new showroom. They only had part of it up when I bought my bike and now it's worlds better.
I've already talked to Nick at Valley Ducati Service before and hope we can get something going, if only to support another board member, but to be honest his shop is kinda far for casual service. What I want to avoid is whoring all warranty service out to the dealer and only giving the pay jobs to an independent, but we'll see how it plays out.
Spectrum is actually about the same distance if not a little closer for me since I'm right near the 91 and I-5. If they are good folks then I'd like to at least get a relationship going with their service people. I'd be reluctant to visit places like Hahm Motorsports just because traffic is effing murder over there, even on a bike.
Back on topic, I'll give an update once the turn signal issue has been addressed. SoCal was waffling on counting the fender/rear signal repair under warranty, which seems fishy to me. I just want to get the ugly duct tape off there. [puke]
Update
Took my bike to Spectrum Motorsports today for service. Didn't have an appointment, but the service manager Adrian managed to have someone look at my bike after a short wait and resolved the issue before too long. Turns out there was a screw or somesuch put through one of the wires on the fender. This is in addition to one of the turn signals fastened too tightly, which resulted in a tiny sliver on the fender snapping where it meets the turn signal stalk. I'm not sure if that's set up during manufacturing or if it's part of the set-up when it gets to the dealer. If that's a dealer issue, it means SoCal Triumph & Ducati did a pretty piss-poor job setting up my bike. I'm not blaming them outright, but if they are responsible it would be disappointing. Honestly, Art is pretty much the only helpful person in the service department at SoCal.
Re: Spectrum Motorsports, everyone over there is really friendly. Unless I have poor service in the future, I'm going to be taking my bike there for all warranty service and anything that's going to require a hardcore Ducati specialist (unless there are recommendations for other board members with shops near LA/OC?). Even Rob in the parts dep't hooked me up with a CW Fender Kit, same price if I bought it online.
Chatted with another dude getting service done on his Aprilia RSV 1000R Factory... :o Very sexy (The bike, I mean).