2007 Ducati Monster S4 R problems

Filed Jul 10, 2012 · Electrical, Fuel system · 5,100 miles · MA · fire

My ducati monster s4r 2007 (purchased brand new in 2009 and only driven about 5k miles, always garaged, and never had seen a drop of water), and which was just recently serviced at cycles 128, beverly ma, literally went up in flames on june 10, 2012. Yes, it lit on fire on its own and went up in flames, burning to a total loss. I was having a nice ride on a beautiful sunday afternoon when the engine light came on. Fortunately, I was in a residential neighborhood and was able to pull over immediately, stood the bike up on its kickstand, shut-off the engine and removed the key. As I was getting off the bike, I saw smoke and flames shoot out to the side from under the seat. I couldn't do anything but call 911. By the time the fire department arrived, the bike was completely in flames and had fallen to its side. Ducati of north america has basically ignored my strong urgency to investigate the fire in case of a potential product defect issue that could reoccur and perhaps cause harm to others, nor have they offered to help in any way. The dealer, which only two months prior had done a complete service maintenance on the bike costing $400 (no problems were experienced with the bike in prior two years), could not determine the cause of the fire since it had burned so badly and simply commented: "? If there is a short or high resistance in one of these circuits they can create enough heat to set plastic on fire (even the insulation on the wires themselves) this is what I think most likely happened but I can't tell for sure." in a nut shell, and in my sincerest opinion, neither ducati of north america nor cycles 128, beverly, ma has satisfactorily addressed what could be a potentially dangerous product or service issue. Very disappointing and concerning to say the least.