S2R 800, belts & valve clearance costs.....

[Petej]

Was contemplating doing the timing belts myself, but having never done valve clearances before I think in going to have to fork out at Ducati...

They have quoted £200 to do the belts & £250 valve clearance IF I have them done together then they say they will do it for £350 all in.

Is this reasonable, peeved as could have done out doing the VC but I think judging by history I'm not sure it's been done and now I'm at 15k I think it's a must??

Any advice / help appreciated!!

[jamiedan2009]

Seems a bit steep to me, last time i had belts and clearances done at SPR Race Products it came to less than £200 although mine takes the cheaper belts £30 a pair :)

[zhango]

Was contemplating doing true belts myself, but having never done valve clearances before ..........

We were all in that position at one time - the 2 valve really isn't difficult and there's plenty of help on here.

[manwithredbike]

^^ this.
you should absolutely have a go at the belts yourself. there's a good guide on http://www.ducatisuite.com/ and plenty of peole on here who can chip in. checking valve clearances is a bit more fiddley but also worth a go and there's no real dismantling involved to check them - in fact, they're easier checked with the belts off as you can spin the cam pulleys by hand. if you discover that clearances are out, then you could opt for a ducati mec to re-shim if you felt that this was a bridge too far

[utopia]

I'd suggest that you change the belts yourself, as that bit's pretty easy.

Then I'd suggest that you consider CHECKING the valve clearances yourself too.
Ok, it is a daunting prospect, but you can't really go far wrong if you're just checking...its the subsequent adjustments that get a bit tricky, but you may not actually need to make any.
If you think that you do need to make any adjustments, you could reconsider at that point whether or not to entrust the work to a trained mechanic or continue doing it yourself....to be honest it does get a bit nadgery after that.
If you make a record of your clearance measurements, then you will be able to monitor how the clearances are changing over time, which is very useful info if you're keeping the bike for a while.
In fact, I would suggest that if you get them adjusted professionally, you ask that the mechanic records the clearance measurements, and any adjustments made, shim sizes present etc. for future reference. Its a bit of an ask though, as any mechanic could be forgiven for being wary of such close scrutiny of their work, and all measurements will be subject to a certain amount of interpretation or "feel" anyway, but you should at least be given details of any changes made, which you can then analyse alongside your own measurements.

I guess you could always ask them to check your belt tension while they have the bike. Then you'll have confidence (or not) in your own tensioning methods, for future use.

Obviously, it all depends on how confident you feel at doing your own work.
Personally, I'm not a professional mechanic, but I do have some engineering experience and have always done my own basic bike maintenance over the years.
I was daunted. First by the belts and then much more by the valve clearances, but the 2-valvers are a pleasure to work on and the video guides by ducatitech are excellent.
And like I said, just checking the clearances isn't going to damage anything.
And afterwards, you'll know your bike that bit more intimately, and have some valuable service data too.

(can you tell that I speak as one who is keeping his monster forever...?)

The clearances actually stabilise once the motor's done 10k or more, so if you have any service record of them having been checked recently, then you probably don't need to worry too much.


er..... as said above.......I must type faster and be more concise.

[Petej]

Cheers Utopia, much appreciated as always! I'll order the belts and check the guide out cheers for the info.

I'll give the valve clearances a go at checking at least then make a decision from there as to wether to do them myself. I'm no mechanic bit would like to think I'm competent to give it a go.

Thanks guys, massive help!
Pete

[gary tompkins]

Cam belts normally have to be removed and re-installed to facilitate setting of valve clearances. So if you are having the clearances + belts change done at same time it saves on labour cost. I normally swap my own belts, but if desmo clearances need doing I'll buy a new set of belts, and let the mechanic swap them while doing the shims. Valve adjustment is the one thing I leave to a trained mechanic on my monsters.

[popelli]

Seems a bit steep to me, last time i had belts and clearances done at SPR Race Products it came to less than £200 although mine takes the cheaper belts £30 a pair :)

SPR are way cheaper than official ducatio and probably do a better job

and is that a dreggs logo as your avatar?

[jamiedan2009]

SPR are way cheaper than official ducatio and probably do a better job

and is that a dreggs logo as your avatar?

Yep, it is :)