Okay, Okay…no it’s not a Ducati I’m riding in this picture, its my ‘04 aprilia RSV Mille. Remember, Salt Lake Motorsports has always been and continues to be your source for many exclusive Italian brands. Even now if you are looking for another Italian motorcycle, we currently have several Bimota’s-all with Ducati engines.
In this weeks blog I am going to try to save you some money and time when you bring your bike in for service. At the same time I am going to introduce a few ideas regarding proper etiquette when dropping your bike off for service. As you are well aware, time is money. That holds especially true for our [or any] service department. We charge “shop time” by the hour and our current rate is $78.00 for that hour. Here come the money saving tips…if you have a fully faired motorcycle (1198, 999, 848, 900ss, ST2-3-4, etc.) you can save some money by removing your fairings before you bring the bike to us for service. Some fairings are easy to remove and others are very difficult and take more time; time that is charged to you. Another issue that will slow down our ability to efficiently service your bike is having to remove luggage, tank bags, non-OEM wiring looms, SAT-NAV’s and other auxiliary items. Of course, we will always be happy to do ALL the work for you @$78.00 an hour.
And now its time for some etiquette training. It is probably reasonable to assume that anyone reading this blog would NOT visit their dentist right after eating a garlic burger; and along those lines, I would also assume you would NOT visit your doctor for a full physical examination right after running a marathon. In both of those examples you would of course clean up a bit before the visit [if not, you may want to visit a fetish site...]. This premise holds true for your motorcycle service as well! Why oh why would you bring in a completely filthy bike for service? It is difficult at best and impossible at worst to diagnose a problem on a motorcycle that is so dirty our technicians cannot see what they need to inspect / test. Now before you think I am being way too picky about this; I am not talking about normal everyday dust/dirt and splashes on your motorcycle. That is completely normal and expected by our service department. What I am talking about are those motorcycles that have an inch of oil soaked dirt on the engine from oil leaks, ove zealous chain lube attempts, oil spills, missing parts/seals, etc. Each and every one of you would recognize a bike like this when you saw it. Again, we are happy to work on these bikes for $78.00 an hour; with the first hour or more charged just to clean the bike.
If it seems to you that what I describe is “not that big a deal”. Look at it this way. Each and every bike that goes through our service department is scrutinized for several potential problem areas, normal wear on consumable parts and safety issues. Preventative measures that reduce risk have the added benefit of reducing cost both now at the time of service and in the future because problems will be easier and earlier recognized or addressed. Each repair order when completed will have our technicians recommendations/observations on it and these will be discussed with each customer when they pick up their bike.
Remember too, Salt Lake Motorsports is a Ducati Factory Certified service center that can address any and all issues regarding Ducati motorcycles. We are the only such factory certified dealer in the area and the only warranty service center as well. If you take your 40K 1098R in for service and they over fill your oil and cannot even reset your service light, what are the chances they know anything about your motorcycle and can address real problems, let alone any service campaigns or recall issues. Right Danny?
Okay, here is the last point. When you do bring us your bike for service please don’t lock the steering when you park. As you have surely noticed, for security reasons the key is attached to the repair order and does not go with the bike. We move the service bikes almost immediately into our secure service yard so there is no need to lock the steering. This makes things easier on us and saves a lot of time spent running back and forth for keys.
Enjoy your Holiday weekend, even though its raining right now, and ride your Ducati. I hope to see you at our Ducati StreetFighter debut this Friday (29th) and for World SBK weekend as well. Send me an email if you have questions or would like a topic discussed in this blog.
thorsten@saltlakemotorsports.com
Thorsten
