Reviewing the DUCSHOP
I have to admit that I’m not a fan of dealers. Any kind of dealer. Car dealers are perhaps obviously the worst, but many motorcycle dealers are not far behind. I invariably find that sales people are short on knowledge about what you would assume they should be expert on and long on ineffective and ultimately unconvincing sales pitches. A single example by way of illustration. I went to my local dealer to ask about the Ducati Monster S4Rs and got told by the salesman that if they had one, he’d be out riding it . Great, that was just the information I was after!
So when it came time to get my beloved Ducati Monster S4Rs serviced (you guessed correctly, not purchased from the aforementioned dealer!) I didn’t think the local dealer was going to be the solution. Since joining the local Atlanta Ducati Club, Wild Ducs, I had heard only good things about DUCSHOP in Marietta, GA from club members. DUCSHOP was established in 1992 specifically to meet demands for high-performance Ducati work. Mark Sutton and Wendy Hogg are true enthusiasts of the Ducati brand and manage the business. Mark has extensive experience working on Ducatis including racing experience and training at Ducati headquarters in Bologna, Italy.
A presentation DUCSHOP made to the club at their Marietta, GA premises about servicing and tuning Ducati engines only reinforced what I was being told. Here was a business that knew what it was talking about and truly valued its customers because they shared the passion for Ducati.
It was only my extreme dislike of the cold that stopped me trying them out. How could I get my bike to their workshop without riding it in the freezing cold? Gosh I have gotten soft! Luckily Ducshop solved that problem by offering to pick my bike up for free. Deal! The work order called for the scheduled 7,500 mile service, mounting a set of Pirelli Diablo Rosso tires, setting up of the static suspension settings for my weight in addition to a number of modifications aimed at improving the machine. My plan was to take advantage of the fact that the bike would already be in pieces and involved lightening the flywheel, checking and if necessary correcting the cam timing and running the bike on the dyno in an effort to cure a persistent issue with poor low speed running.
Kai Higdon duly turned up on schedule and took my baby away in his van. Over the course of the 2 weeks I found myself receiving numerous calls from DUCSHOP to update me as to the status of my bike, to provide further advice about optimizing its performance and to seek my instructions. Zach Southard was the technician working on my bike. It turned out that the fueling issue could not be corrected without a power commander and I agreed for one to be installed and a custom map developed using a dynamometer. And since the bike was 2 years old, I agreed to change the cam belts even though I hadn’t reached the requisite 12,000 miles. Better to be safe than sorry. Zach even called to ask what sort of coolant I wanted in the radiator since they had anti-freeze products available that were track day legal.
I found the personal service polite, informative and to the point. I was learning as I went along (for example didn’t know you could get an anti-freeze that was track legal). I was well aware that I was being upsold along the way at times, but the point is, that when this is done well it helps you by letting you know of products or services that will provide value. And value is what customers are always are after.
At just over $2,000 before tax, my experience didn’t end being cheap although to be fair I had taken advantage of the service to have a lot of additional work done. The basic service was $923 which seemed to be in the expected range for this work. Ducshop offered to return the bike free of charge given the extent of the work order, which was nice.
Not everything was perfect. When the bike was returned the tank clamp wasn’t applied correctly and the tire pressures were set at unusually low levels. But these niggles didn’t detract from the overall positive experience.
I was very pleased with my DUCSHOP experience because they have a quality product (their service work) but also emphasize high levels of customer service. I have no hesitation in highly recommend them. Have you had an experience with Ducshopthat you would like to share? If so feel free to leave a comment.
The nature of the additional work performed on my bike and importantly its impact on street and track performance will shortly be the subject of a 3 part series entitled “Modding the Monster”. Look out for Part I on ducatinewstoday next Tuesday.
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