MV maintenance vs Ducati 749/999

[bezdomny]

Hey all. I know nothing about MVs except that I love their looks, and it is the only other bike I'd consider buying other than another Ducati. What is the maintenance interval like and how much does it cost? Are they as expensive to maintain as Ducs? Is the engine a traditional I4 or is there some other Italian mojo goin on in there?

B

[acruhl]

Originally Posted by bezdomny

Hey all. I know nothing about MVs except that I love their looks, and it is the only other bike I'd consider buying other than another Ducati. What is the maintenance interval like and how much does it cost? Are they as expensive to maintain as Ducs? Is the engine a traditional I4 or is there some other Italian mojo goin on in there?

B

It SHOULD be about the same as far as labor as a Japanese bike. But I seriously doubt you'll pay Japanese bike labor rates. The reason is there's nothing really special about the normal maintenance. It's a 4 cylinder engine with shim under bucket valve adjustment. The injection system is fairly well known by now.

It's way less fiddly than a Ducati.

Parts are a little pricey, tipovers are way pricey. But probably about the same as Ducati overall.

IE, better looks than a Ducati, as good or better handling, and a screamer engine. And simpler maintenance.

But it doesn't pull off the corner like a Ducati. Oh well, you can't have it all.

[Allan Gibbs]

See here:
http://www.mvagusta.net/forum/showth...?t=3074&page=2

[bezdomny]

Thanks guys. Wow I'd love to have an f4 1000.

B

[996F4S]

My bike, before i crashed, was a maintenance nightmare, but damn pretty to look at and a blast to ride.

Here's a list of repairs and where they were done:

'02 F4S Diamante

New Alternator/Battery - Beaudry, ID

Right side fairing and belly pan melted by header. replaced twice, once by East Side Motosports, WA and once by Motocorsa, Portland

leaky gas tank, replaced twice - once by East Side Motosports, WA and once by Motocorsa, Portland, 2nd tank damaged in shipment 3rd tank was scratched as well, had to be repainted.

Replacement battery went tits up, replaced myself

multiple coolant leaks
Rear break fluid reservoir boiled off by pipes. Replaced with race brake fluid.

By my estimate, there have been about $5-6K in repairs done on my bike.

Eastside Motosports dropped MV because they wouldn't reimburse them for warranty claims mine in particular.

When it was at Motorcorsa, the last time, Matt Stutzman from MV NA wanted me to sign away my warranty rights due to the multiple repairs for the same items, ie tanks and fairings problems. The fairings were melting while the bike was in the service bay warming up!?!!?! I refused to sign.

That guy is a piece of work. I can not say anything good about him.

[acruhl]

Originally Posted by 996F4S

My bike, before i crashed, was a maintenance nightmare, but damn pretty to look at and a blast to ride.

Here's a list of repairs and where they were done:

'02 F4S Diamante

New Alternator/Battery - Beaudry, ID

Right side fairing and belly pan melted by header. replaced twice, once by East Side Motosports, WA and once by Motocorsa, Portland

leaky gas tank, replaced twice - once by East Side Motosports, WA and once by Motocorsa, Portland, 2nd tank damaged in shipment 3rd tank was scratched as well, had to be repainted.

Replacement battery went tits up, replaced myself

multiple coolant leaks
Rear break fluid reservoir boiled off by pipes. Replaced with race brake fluid.

By my estimate, there have been about $5-6K in repairs done on my bike.

Eastside Motosports dropped MV because they wouldn't reimburse them for warranty claims mine in particular.

When it was at Motorcorsa, the last time, Matt Stutzman from MV NA wanted me to sign away my warranty rights due to the multiple repairs for the same items, ie tanks and fairings problems. The fairings were melting while the bike was in the service bay warming up!?!!?! I refused to sign.

That guy is a piece of work. I can not say anything good about him.

I remember this from the old board. You used to have a different handle I think.

Holy cow, 3 tanks... I remember that.

There are nightmare stories like this on stuff that should be warrantied but keeps on failing. Seems to me like Cagiva and/or the dealer made some owners feel like they were causing this, when it was really just bad design.

My bike never had the fairing burn problem. But I really can't see how that could be a use problem on the bikes that did have it.

I've never heard any kind words about the individual mentioned in the post above, but I've never dealt with him either. From what I hear, his ideal customer is someone very rich who never rides the bike and is expecting to pay thousands of dollars for service and upkeep. If you are not this person, you will not be satisfied after dealing with him. This is from first person discussions with MANY people.

Here's another thing to consider. If you are a "picky" person, meaning if you think a 1/8 inch scratch on the bottom of the fairing after the dealer test rode your bike and a rock flew up and hit it is unacceptable (yes, true story), you are guaranteed to be disappointed.

It's a bike. Things happen. They are reasonably reliable for most people. But for the ones where they have not been reliable, you just have to trust that you have a good dealer who isn't tired of being screwed by Cagiva USA. This was the status quo a few years ago anyway.

[996F4S]

Hopefully things are better now that MV is on stable ground.

I can't tell you how many people are shocked when they here my story. When I first took the bike down to Motocorsa the GM was amazed to hear all my problems. Everyone else that has heard it is too.

For the most part I hear their pretty reliable... I just got the one that was made right before the production line took off for their month long vacation in August.