Wheels are they of good quality

[Mayank]

Mayank here from India

Been an owner of the 950 for a couple of months now and enjoying the bike. I was surprised how this bike handles like a proper sport bike on twisties and the bikes performance is Amazing ..
But I think Ducati , in order to save weight to increase performance has used light weight and hence low quality rims... The reason I say so because both my front and rear rims got damaged hitting a relatively small pothole at 60kmph.. though potholes are dangerous for any bike, one feels an enduro bike like this should be able to handle any kind of road.. would like to know if anyone had a similar incident ??
I used a Bonnie triumph for 2 years before this on same roads but never had any issue.. just feel the build quality on triumphs is better..

[off_again]

Been a Triumph rider for the last 4 bikes and while good, they are not great in terms of build quality. The newer ones are WAY better than before, but I still had issues with premature rust / aging and poor construction / fitment. From what I can see of the Ducati (my first one), they are built better and the overall quality seems better. I would also suggest that the wheels are virtually the same as my old Tiger 800 - very similar design and quality - though I may even suggest that the Ducati ones are a touch better. Stronger? Not sure, but fit and finish seems better.

[Mayank]

I agree the rims design on the old tiger and ms950 are pretty much same.. but the Ducati rims feel of cheap quality. I had a 2012 Bonneville se but never had any rust issue.. need to maintain the unpainted aluminium parts with wd40..

[off_again]

Worryingly, time will tell I am afraid. Off on a 1500 mile 8 day tour in the next few days. Fingers crossed I dont get the same issues! Though its on Californian roads, so I hope they arent as bad.

[Mayank]

Ride safe off_again.. I was just thinking more on this subject.. and  all the parts on the bike are actually borrowed from previous bikes..
The engine from hypermotard, chassis from 1200 enduro, body panels from 1200, front and rear suspension from desert sled, even the tyres are I think same as those on enduro. The ONLY NEW part then are the RIMS !!
Have DUCATI then in a hurry just assembled all the available parts and put some cheap quality RIMS to go along with it ??
The obvious answer would be YES !

[Lambert]

I don’t see how you can come to that conclusion at all, you hit a pothole and it unfortunately some damage was caused but I don’t see how you can come to your conclusion from that. The suspension is the same manafacturer but characteristics, travel etc is different. A lot of manufacturers share parts across their range it makes sense. If your roads are that crap then it would make sense to look at replacing with the spoked set.

[Mayank]

I am coming to That conclusion because it has happened to me twice in 2 months. The first time it happened the bike ran normally for 4 km after hitting a relatively small pothole and the rim damage was seen later.
I have been riding bikes for many years now never had such trouble. And I owned a bonneville which I rode on the same roads for 2 years never any trouble with rims. But such a thing happening twice will obviously make me doubt the quality of the rims.
Ofcourse every automotive company shares parts for different products but on this particular bike the rim is the the only NEW part. One doubts then if they have actually been designed for this weight and suspension travel at all?
The spoke wheels look crap on the 950 to be honest and don't provide the same stability on tarmac especially at high speed. I would wait for some aftermarket rims or sell off the bike completely .

[Dieter]

I too have dents in my front wheel, I bought a bike with 19" front to be able to handle some rough roads so am a bit disappointed. My other bike, BMW F800ST, has over 140,000kms on the same roads with no wheel issues and that's with
a 17" front.
Guess I'll just have to live with it and accept it as a cost of ownership.

[Mayank]

Dieter have u reported the wheel damage to ur dealership ? They are supposed to lodge any complain directly with Ducati Italy. I have done so in my case . More such cases appearing only affirm what I have been suggesting.
These repeated occurence on multiple bikes within such a short span of time should be reported to DUCATI Italy so that they investigate the matter and find a solution, which ideally should be a recall..

[Dieter]

Had it with the dealer yesterday, but their response was not a warranty issue. I will take it back up with them along the lines of your suggestion. Thanks.