Ducati North America is recalling certain Ducati Multistrada 1200 Enduro models, because of a defect found with the bike’s a Sachs semi-active rear shock absorber.
According to documents filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the lower shock-end eyelet may crack during heavy off-road use, and possibly detach from the swingarm.
This can obviously collapse the rear-end of the motorcycle, which poses a serious safety hazard, hence a recall being started with the NHTSA.
Ducati released a new financing program this week, maybe you saw the announcement already. If you even bothered to read one of the copy/paste jobs on this announcement, you probably got three sentences into it, and then realized you just lost a minute or two of your life, which you will never get back.
It is hard to make this topic sexy, and motorcycle journalists are lazy creatures (myself included)…which is why you probably just saw the press release reprinted on a website, with some Ducati advertising placed next to it, just for good measure.
The Ducati Premier Financing program is a big deal though, just not in a way that is immediately sexy to the casual motorcycle buyer.
In realities, Ducati Premier Financing is not that different from the BMW 3asy Ride financing program, in that it is a finance plan that is not too dissimilar from a leasing program, and it is aimed at making the monthly payment on a motorcycle incredibly affordable*.
Ducati is recalling over 5,500 units of its Scrambler motorcycles for a faulty kickstand pivot nut, which can potentially detach from the motorcycle. The recall affects 2015 and 2016 model year bikes, manufactured between February 17, 2015 and November 11, 2016.
If the pivot nut loosens or detaches, it can cause the kickstand position sensor not to function properly, which can lead to either the motorcycle stalling, or the rider being able to operate the motorcycle with the kickstand still down. Either scenario is potential dangerous.
Ducati North America has issued another recall for the XDiavel, this time it is for the power cruiser’s kickstand.
Affecting bikes made between July 7, 2015 and June 22, 2016, the recall pertains specifically to the Ducati XDiavel’s fastening screws on its kickstand plate, which may not have been sufficiently tightened.
These loose screw may cause the XDiavel to fall over, and during normal use on the road, the loosened screw could cause damage to the kickstand sensor switch, which would cause the engine to stall.
If were to judge things by traffic on Asphalt & Rubber alone, the new Ducati SuperSport was the bike of the 2016 INTERMOT show in Cologne, Germany. The return of a cult classic, it seems Ducati has successfully tapped into the vein that made the original so well-loved.
Releasing pricing for the US market today, there might be more to love about new SuperSport and its up-spec SuperSport S sibling, as both bikes come with attractive price tags.
As such, the 2017 Ducati SuperSport will MSRP for $12,995 in the USA, while the 2017 Ducati SuperSport S will come with a sticker price of $14,795 MSRP.
It looks we’ll see two Ducati recalls this week. In addition to the Ducati 1199 Superleggera recall we saw on Monday, the 2016 Ducati XDiavel S is also getting a recall from Ducati North America.
This recall centers around the rear wheel on the Ducati XDiavel S, which may have been installed incorrectly onto the wheel hub. This recall affects only the XDiavel S model, and encompasses 925 motorcycles in all.
If the rear wheel was incorrectly installed on the hub, this may cause the drive pins to fail, which would result in a loss of brakes and power from the engine.
Since a failure of this type could lead to the motorcycle crashing, Ducati North America has issued a recall with the NHTSA.
Ducati North America is recalling the Ducati 1199 Superleggera for an issue in its clutch assembly. The recall affects all 168 units that were sold in the USA – bikes manufactured between April 8th, 2014 and November 13th, 2014.
According to Ducati North America’s filing with NHTSA, the damper plate assembled between the primary driven gear and the clutch basket assembly could break due to fatigue.
Ducati North America is reporting a record year for sales, selling 12,132 motorcycles in 2015 – this number includes all Ducati sales in the USA (9,674 units, +10%), Canada (1,458 units, +12%), and Mexico (1,003 units, +85%).
The news is perhaps not surprising, since Ducati sales grew globally by 22% last year, for a total of 54,800 motorcycle sold in 2015.
Ducati North America’s numbers continue a six-year trend of solid sales growth, with last year’s sales being fueled primarily by the Ducati Scrambler.
A teething issue for a new model, Ducati North America is recalling a total of 869 units of its Multistrada 1200 & Multistrada 1200 S motorcycles for the 2015 and 2016 model years.
The bikes in question were built between December 1, 2014 and June 11, 2015, and have a kickstand that may break because of an incorrect length on the kickstand support tube.
Since a motorcycle falling over is a safety hazard, Ducati North America has filed a recall with the NHTSA, which will begin on November 16, 2015.
There is a management change coming for Ducati, as Jason Chinnock is about to be named the new CEO of Ducati North America.
This means that Chinnock will be replacing Dominique Cheraki, who will move into a new role with Ducati in Bologna, as Ducati’s new Dealer Network Development Director.
If the name Jason Chinnock sounds familiar to Ducatisti, it should, as he has previously worked at Ducati North America in sales, marketing, network positions, all at the director level.
With global Ducati sales up 22% in the first six months of the year, it comes with no surprise then that Ducati North America has some sales growth to report as well.
Selling 6,961 motorcycles in the first-half of the year, Ducati North America is up 12% over last year’s same time period. Helping fuel that increase was an incredibly strong June, where 1,981 motorcycles sold — for a 106% growth over June 2014.