[Ghostman]

New to this forum, and excited to participate as I just purchased a new Scrambler FT last Saturday. I have had several Ducatis and love the bikes and the brand.

I picked up the brand new bike last Saturday and was doing about 50 mph on a freeway on the way home after having ridden about 20 miles on it. I hear a pop and the engine won't respond. I coast/limp over to the shoulder and now I see that gasoline is gushing out from under the tank, down the engine, onto my jeans and shoes. The gas is smoking as it hits the cylinder head covers because it is about 95 degrees and the engine is hot. I think me and the bike are going to catch fire and I put it on the stand on the shoulder and jump off. Gas is spraying everywhere, and stops when I turn the key off.

If the gas had caught fire I think I'd be dead or in pretty bad shape.

Got the bike towed to my house using Ducati roadside assistance and it was towed to the dealer today. Dealer very responsive so far (as they should be).

I have not heard a diagnosis yet. I am posting this hoping someone from Ducati watches these boards and takes this seriously. I assume it is a faulty part or bad setup by dealer and in either case needs to be addressed.

(I also told my dealer to make sure to pass this story up the chain).

I've ridden bikes awhile and this was pretty scary.

Interested to hear anyone's thoughts. Assuming they find the problem, should I accept a fix or ask for a whole new bike? If it was "just" a leaky fuel line or broken valve or joint or something, should I worry about the bike long term if it is fixed? Does lots of gas leaking all over the engine and down the bike cause other long term problems?

I've seen a few other threads on similar problems but can't tell if they are same issue or not.

Thanks.

 

[Armo]

Exactly the same happened to me, it turned out to be a fuel connector that had broken, fuel does not ignite with heat it needs a spark. I ended up selling my bike not long after for various reasons but bought another as these are one of the best bikes out there (forgetting the problems I've encountered in the last 15 months owning 2 scramblers) stick with it as you'll learn to love it.

 

[Joooooooosh]

I don't know if it's relevant to your experience but the quick release fasteners that hold the fuel lines into the fuel cassette are not good. Still, if a fuel line pops out of the cassette, the tank should automatically seal.
I've heard of a few instances of the plastic elbows that connect the fuel line hoses to the tank breaking and that would make more sense, as the tank would not seal and fuel would pour out of the broken elbow. I believe on bikes that have elbows in the fuel lines, usually use metal, not plastic. Which makes sense to me.

I had an issue with my fuel line not locking into the cassette correctly.

The plastic collars that form part of the quick release on the fuel cassette are very fragile. They have 4 crappy little plastic teeth that once snapped, mean the fuel line does not lock into the cassette properly, it's just pushed in.

I fortunately found this was an issue while adjusting breather pipes, not through a leaking fuel issue.
To replace these crappy little plastic collars, it requires ordering a whole new fuel cassette (£650 uk)

To get the fuel lines out of the cassette requires squeezing the exact points on these collars and pulling quite forcibly on the fuel line. A main dealer was responsible for breaking mine, so it seems this quick release mechanism is worryingly vulnerable. Negating any benefits of it being 'quick release'

 

[Armo]

Reading your post again, it must be a factory issue as mine had just been serviced and had the air box replaced so I'm guessing the mechanic caused it at my local Ducati dealership. It's not good but I was told by my Ducati local there is a service/replacement kit for this issue.

 

[avonnieda]

I've posted this on at least one or two other threads, there are a number of them out there for this issue, and on several forums.

I had 120 miles on mine, fuel all over me and a hot engine, had to be towed. The dealer replaced the fuel pump. When I was searching around, it seemed around a dozen people had reported it happening to them.

FWIW I did report it to the NHTSA, with a long writeup and pictures, and I would encourage others to do the same. I also sent it to Ducati when I got my "Congratulations on your new purchase" survey.

I've got about 600 miles on mine now, it's been OK since the fix.

Best of luck,

-Adam

 

[Derek]

... Still, if a fuel line pops out of the cassette, the tank should automatically seal...

If the feed line pops out the tank will automatically seal but if it's the return pipe fuel will continue to be pumped out the end of the hose.

 

[Ghostman]

Thanks for the replies. Derek that is exactly what happened. At the factory, apparently, that return fuel line was not seated all the way and vibration or whatever knocked it out. They have examined the line and the connectors on the fuel cassette and they say there is no defect and that the line now is seated correctly and clipped in. They are going to put 100 miles or so on the bike to try to make sure.

Bad quality control at the factory for a fault that is pretty serious if manifested on the road.

The dealer has been fantastic. They are going to give me the first service on the bike for free. Ducati seems a little stubborn on these things. If I was an exec at Ducati I would offer a customer that went through this something like $1500 in accessories or something. This is not just the kind of flaw that makes your bike not start or your engine just die while you are riding. This is a flaw where the engine dies AND gasoline is sprayed all over you while you are riding a hot bike.

Anyway, I don't want to make a career out of this and I'd just like to get my bike back and start riding it.

 

[asiaoildude]

Yep. Happened to me as well. The pump runs so regardless of which connector comes out you have fuel all over you. Ducati have switched to a new type of quick connect and clearly it's fiddly to get right.

 

[Zig]

Happened to me also. Ducati refused to cover the cost, dealer did. Never again will I buy a Ducati.

 

[avonnieda]

Happened to me also. Ducati refused to cover the cost, dealer did. Never again will I buy a Ducati.

You had to pay out of pocket to have this fixed? WTF? For me they paid for the tow, as well as the fix at the dealership.

 

[Joooooooosh]

Happened to me also. Ducati refused to cover the cost, dealer did. Never again will I buy a Ducati.

It's very unlikely that the quick release cap was broken from the factory and that seems to be what causes this.
It would more than likely have been damaged by the dealer if they lift the tank during the PDI or during a service. So it seems fair that Ducati would leave the dealer to pay for something they broke...

If the poor design means the Dealer mechanics struggle to work on the bikes, then that's for them to take up with the factory.

 

[Zig]

Dealer said they never removed the tank. Mine did not actually break, it just came apart.

Ducati refused to pay because there were tool marks on the fitting. I know that I did not put them on it. My dealer covered the cost.

If they want lose me as a customer over a $60 repair I'm okay with that. There are lot of other motorcycles out there.

 

[avonnieda]

If Zigs his was anything like mine (sounds the same), there was no visible break, it just came out of the fuel pump, so it's completely possible that it came that way from the factory, and it just took a while to work its way out. Mine was on day 3 of ownership.

 

[Joooooooosh]

Dealer said they never removed the tank. Mine did not actually break, it just came apart.

Ducati refused to pay because there were tool marks on the fitting. I know that I did not put them on it. My dealer covered the cost.

If they want lose me as a customer over a $60 repair I'm okay with that. There are lot of other motorcycles out there.

How many miles had your bike done? Had it had it's first service? Because I'm fairly certain the dealers have had my tank of at every service

 

[Zig]

2000 miles. Had 1st service done by dealer. They said they did not have the tank off.

 

[Blackscrambler]

Exactly the same just happened to me. Just riding along at 30mph when the engine cut out and fuel pumped all over the engine and my leg.....quite scary. Bike is being towed in the morning but pushing it a mile home in the dark was not fun.

I will be interested to hear their diagnosis.

 

[avonnieda]

Sorry to hear that this happened to you, yeah it's scary. The good news is I haven't heard of it happening to anyone a second time, I've put several thousand miles on mine since the fuel pump was replaced. That was the fix the dealer did for me.

 

[Blackscrambler]

Thank you for your concern it's reassuring to know you had yours fixed correctly.

I'm just pissed off as I only had the bike delivered ten days ago and today is the first nice day I have had a chance to take it out. I guess it will be at the dealership for the next week or so.

Might have to go and buy a BWM R9T haha

 

[avonnieda]

I know man, I felt the same way, I had only 100 miles or so on mine. Then when I went to pick it up the battery was dead, so they replaced that too. BUT every mile since then has been great, so I just chalked it up to being a new model, and got on with my life. Love the bike

 

[Ghostman]

On mine, the the quick release fastener that holds the fuel line into the fuel cassette was apparently not seated properly when the bike was built. They click in to the cassette and if this is not done, they can work their way off. The tank does not automatically seal depending on which line comes loose. My dealer fixed mine by re-seating the fuel line and making sure the thing actually clicked in. They refused to replace the cassette (and they convinced me that this was not necessary).