That's right, I have the right footpeg off my DNA which thought it'd be funny to shear off while I was riding along the road in front of a 152 bus (according to my lovely new mirrors).

I was riding along happily to work when my right foot shot to the floor and barely missed the rear wheel, I pulled over and there it was sitting in the middle of the road... An immaculate-looking footpeg with a bloody great rust patch through the middle of it where the water's obviously crept in and sat for a year or two.

I've completely had it with problems with the bike now and I'm going to be drafting up an official complaint this afternoon to send off to my local dealer as I've had far far too many problems with it (radiator pipe wearing through from my boots, top half of the engine replaced due to slipped cog, rear shocks replaced, front forks replaced, front fork seals now need replacing again as does radiator pipe, and now this).

Last time I spoke to the guy (when the engine smashed itself apart) he said the company don't make back what they spend out on a new bike so they'll be doing everything under warranty but I'm not prepared to accept that now, I've had it with them.

Plus with a new bike I'll get a better price when I sell it off for my Duke.

hells bells! that aint good lucky it did happen on a corner m8(shudder)
sorry but i've been living under a rock for a while.....DNA as in Gilera DNA?

Gilera indeed... Shame they don't put the same effort into customer vehicles as they do their race teams...

Problems I've had so far with it:-

1. Rust forming on the exhaust, front forks, brake disks and a little on the dash even though it's covered 70% of the time.

2. Springs on the rear suspension faded to a pinky colour from red. Replaced under warranty.

3. Bike doesn't like the wet and refuses to start for a good 10 mins of trying usually.

4. Engine slipped a cog while on a bypass at 70mph and drive shafts smashed the engine apart meaning I had to push the bike 2 miles home uphill. Engine replaced under warranty.

5. Upper Radiator piping behind the right footpeg is wearing away from my boot touching it when my feet are on the pegs - If it bursts it'll seize the whole engine while covering my foot in boiling water!!! This has been replaced once but needs another replacement.

7. Dashboard is filled with condensation in winter meaning the digital display isn't visible half the time!

8. Right foot peg snapped off. Peg looks fine when on the bike but when you look at it after it's snapped off the whole core of it is rusted apart.

9. Helmet Compartment lock frequently needs lubricating to make sure the key doesn't snap in the ignition (as has happened with the dashboard meaning I had to pay for a whole replacement starter mechanism as it's not a 'wear and tear' problem).

10. Bike's acceleration has dramatically dropped of late, no idea what the problem may be but it now takes a good few seconds to pull away whereas in the past it was instantaneous.

11. Dashboard buttons do not work unless pressed with a stupendous amount of force.

Think I'm right in pushing for a new one as this is a year and a half old?

you would of thought as its 2003 they would of got the quality control sorted, i think the british climate has a lot to do with it and our use of salt on the roads, i like polished alloy and beleve me the salt sticks around long after winter!
in the 80's your list would of been twice as long, and most of the bits you couldn't get, i had a thing for Ducati's but they turned out some nasty finished bikes, i always wanted a 500 duke, until i read the road test! the bike rotted before the testers eyes, the switches fell apart and it was just run it!

the footpeg and hoses is really worrying, engines do go bang, i had a KH250 snap a ring doing 10mph at 6025 miles (just out of warranty )that doesn't sound bad but a triple... 3 rebores!

IF you can trade it i think i would, nothing against Gilera but it could be harder to sell at 2 years old

Hope you get it sort. Sounds like a Friday afternoon build.

Out of interest. How many miles has it done?

I'll have a look after I finish work tonight but it's verging on 7500 I'd say...

I've drafted up a letter of official complaint and included all the points I've mentioned which I'll be sending to Gilera and a copy to my Dealer to express how annoyed I am at the fact I've almost had two could-have-been fatal accidents because of dodgy building work.

Will keep you posted!

Black-i cant bring myself to call you B. O.- worry not, if you really want a ducati, then the gilera is only getting you used to the problems & service you will experience with a duke.
i recommend a dog license m8, you'll be taking it for more walks than riding the bloody thing.
get yerself a mille-better bike, much cheaper.
or do something radical & get a UJM.

7500 miles and all those problems. That's shocking. No wonder you want a new bike.

feck me mines got 30,000 miles on it and the frames just starting to get a bit tatty old gsx's are supposed to be rot boxes.

dunno what to say black, teck it back and stuff it through someones letterbox

I don't know if i'm talking out of me earris here, so correct me if i'm wrong, but if all the problems you've been experiencing were with a car, i think you would have had the option of a replacement vehicle by now surely ?

I work in Furniture retail and can't believe some of the trading standards laws and regulations that we have to abide by, for example, mr & mrs tight arris come in and buy a run of the mill suite, moan like feck when its' a week over its' estimated delivery time (the suppliers fault not ours) then scream blue murder that the furniture is too hard for their delicate posteriors and then decide they don't like or want it after all and the trading standards say we have to give them a complete replacement or a total refund and 90% of the time they always say "i want compensation for my time/inconvenience etc" So why does the same set of rules apply to motorcycles i ask ?

Did you know that you have the right to reject goods up to 6 months of taking ownership of them (i know its' a bit late for that in your case Blackie) But if all the faults you've listed above haven't solved the problem, then the goods (your bike) are not fit for the purpose they were sold for and therefore in breach of contract under trading standards ???? I can do a bit of delving regarding consumer rights, if you like, see what i can come up with anything regarding warranties etc if you like, (but you've probably got that bit covered already?)

Hope you get the right result you're looking for though m8, after all, when you're in a car, you've got half a chance if something goes wrong, but when you are riding and something happens, its' a totally different matter, STICK IT TO EM AND GIVE THEM HELL



Up the revlolution

Here's a thought try doing some photos of the areas causing the hassles, and send them off with your letter.
After all a picture paints a thousand words, or so they say.

Write your letter on coloured paper too it'll stand out and they wont forget it!!

Well I have some wonderful wonderful news... Kinda!

I've decided that I've had enough with the possible-near-death crap with my bike so I'm getting rid of it asap.

Once it's gone I'm gonna be concentrating on getting rid of a major debt of mine and then I'll be taking my DAS and getting a bigger better bike.

So that's the good news... The bad news is that I'm not gonna be in a position to do anything about a new bike, DAS etc until after Christmas, realistically around March time so I'll be completely and utterly out of the circle except for chatting to you guys in here.

Wish me luck on my celebasy.

Well don't sod off just cos you haven't got the bike at the minute. You'll be more than welcome to stick around.

Tis true, tis true, they let me come and play sans bike to start with.
You could always get a nail.

What you need is an old Yamaha RXS100 two-stroke like wot I have got in my shed! It's waiting there for some tlc to get it back on the road cos I rode it for 3 years and had such fun with it that I'll never part with it!
It's an 'A' reg bike (1982?) so it was pretty old when I got it but the only problems I had were the generator coil failed (rewound for £25), the footpeg assembly broke (was prolly weakend by being heated to straighten it after I had an argument with a dog! - replaced with a s/hand one for £15), and had a rebore and new piston at around 25000 miles - (perfectly acceptable for a 2-stroke, cost me about £125).

I used it for going to work, going on club runs, going shopping (with panniers) and going touring in Normandy with my club. Once wound up to over 5000 revs the acceleration was fine (stopping was a little dodgy tho) and the top speed was about 70mph. The handling was great, specially round the back lanes of Dorset throwing it round the bends, and the seat was really comfy, did 250 miles in a day with no sore bum!

It was valued at £350 when it was a technical write-off in an accident in 1998 so I guess you'd get one for less than that now, particularly since it's no longer suitable for passing the test on due to engine size. Better than being without a bike!

well i've got two bikes that are a jigsaw puzzle at the moment, i hope i remember where all the bits go
i'm married so i know all about celebasy


WIFE... YES!! starting from now!!