Ducati Valve Service Class in Fullerton, CA - Ducati.ms

Ducati_Zen · Oct 17th, 2011, 10:40 pm

Hey guys,

I was browsing Orange County craigslist and saw this ad, a guy who teaches you hands on how to adjust the 2v/4v desmo valves and even the timing belts. I might make the trip up there to check it out, since I have no experience but have a strong desire to learn. Just thought you guys might like to see this.

DUCATI VALVE SERVICE CLASS

Peace

MarkST · Oct 18th, 2011, 4:32 am

Excellent Loren.
Do it.

Socaldiablo · Oct 18th, 2011, 4:59 pm

Yeah, I took this course 3 weekends ago and posted my experience in the Chat room (since the course was not specific to STs). This was a really good course but I found that adjusting the valves is better left to someone who knows what the hell they're doing. This is not for a beginner DIY. If you screw up at any point, you could easily damage the engine and there are plenty of places to screw up something. The belt change was easier by far. The guy who teaches the course is meticulous in his work so you will learn from the best ...I'm sure this guy is far better at adjusting the valves than even the dealer service shops. I think he said he was the president of the DOC Orange County. WELL worth the $95 he charged for his time. The course was just over 5 hours long for both belt change and valve check/adjustments. You do the course in his garage, which is outfitted with bike lifts, customized tools, and all the Ducati garb you could want.

You should definitely make the trip up from Spring Valley. I highly recommend this course as I was able to learn alot about these engines even though I will likely have the valve checks done by someone who is far more qualified than I am.

C-simian · Oct 18th, 2011, 6:34 pm

I've done a similar class, but did it after I began to work on the valves of my ST. I just wanted to see if I'd learn anything new (yep, but not that much).

On doing your own valve shim work: I'll have to disagree with Socaldiablo. Certainly, if you're not careful you can screw the pooch. But if you're careful you'll get a knowledge of your bike in a way that others will not have. I saw others take the class with me and were put off by the job, afraid to tackle it, but all I saw was pretty much the same things I'd already done. Anyone who works on his own bike will make mistakes, but I have yet to make one that was very expensive and which didn't give me a lot of insight into the Ducs.

If you're as motivated as you say - go for it!

Ron

MAZDuc · Oct 25th, 2011, 11:43 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Socaldiablo

Yeah, I took this course 3 weekends ago and posted my experience in the Chat room (since the course was not specific to STs). This was a really good course but I found that adjusting the valves is better left to someone who knows what the hell they're doing. This is not for a beginner DIY. If you screw up at any point, you could easily damage the engine and there are plenty of places to screw up something. The belt change was easier by far. The guy who teaches the course is meticulous in his work so you will learn from the best ...I'm sure this guy is far better at adjusting the valves than even the dealer service shops. I think he said he was the president of the DOC Orange County. WELL worth the $95 he charged for his time. The course was just over 5 hours long for both belt change and valve check/adjustments. You do the course in his garage, which is outfitted with bike lifts, customized tools, and all the Ducati garb you could want.

You should definitely make the trip up from Spring Valley. I highly recommend this course as I was able to learn alot about these engines even though I will likely have the valve checks done by someone who is far more qualified than I am.

I took the class about 2 years ago. Did belts, oil and plugs on my ST3. On shop wizard's 4 valve, can not remember the correct bike, 999? we just were walked thru the shim adjustment. I was there for about 5 hours and it was great. I was much better able to start doing my own service because of this dry run with the guy in Fullerton. Only problem, I brought my bike in the rain from Ojai to Fullerton and back to Ojai, it was a long day!

It was weird doing my first belt let alone the first valve adjustment, I was afraid I would screw something up. I have put over 12,000 miles and the bike is still running. If I can do the maintenance on a Duc almost anybody can.

MarkST · Oct 26th, 2011, 3:59 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by Socaldiablo

adjusting the valves is better left to someone who knows what the hell they're doing. This is not for a beginner DIY.

There was a point in time where the guy who ran the course you attended hadn't even been near a Ducati valve adjustment, and then there came another point in time where he did his beginners very first one....

Socaldiablo · Oct 26th, 2011, 2:38 pm

Ha ha! True, true. You are a wise chap, MarkST. I guess my point was if someone who is not all that mechanically inclined wants to take this course to start doing their own valve checks to save some money, be advised that it is not going to be easy to start. To be honest, this guy had specialized custom made tools to make the job easier and it was still tricky even with those. Now if I got in there and did it a few times and everything worked OK, I would be telling people on here it's not that hard. It will be difficult for a beginner but is probably no big deal for people who are technically handy and have done this successfully more than once. The guy who teaches this course is a mechanical engineer by education and career so this kind of thing is right up his alley.

stryder · Oct 26th, 2011, 3:27 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Socaldiablo

Ha ha! True, true. You are a wise chap, MarkST. I guess my point was if someone who is not all that mechanically inclined wants to take this course to start doing their own valve checks to save some money, be advised that it is not going to be easy to start. To be honest, this guy had specialized custom made tools to make the job easier and it was still tricky even with those. Now if I got in there and did it a few times and everything worked OK, I would be telling people on here it's not that hard. It will be difficult for a beginner but is probably no big deal for people who are technically handy and have done this successfully more than once. The guy who teaches this course is a mechanical engineer by education and career so this kind of thing is right up his alley.

Actually, I do my own work to make sure it's done right.

I am not *that* mechanically inclined, but I can do most of the basic maintenance with the help of a good shop manual, the support/experience from this forum, previous experiences, and basic hand tools. Custom made tools to do the job? How about a 3" spiral spike as a cam lock tool for my ST3? How about a machine screw for a rocker arm shaft puller?

How about a twist of the belt before removing it to get a feel of where to re-set the tension?

Maybe one day I'll have some extra money and get some speciality tools, but for now, I do my own work with what I have and my bike runs great IMHO.

When I replace my belts/check my shims next year, I will have spent 200.00 for the previous 24 months/12K miles re belts and shim maintenance.

If that doesn't motivate you, then think of the fun you'll have.

Seriously, desmos are not that difficlut to adjust, just tedious.

Lots of stuff to R&R.

C-simian · Oct 26th, 2011, 6:45 pm

Picked up a 999s last month - got a great deal, but it needs some TLC. As I started digging into it, I was shocked how much simpler they are than our ST-s. Apparently Terblanche decided to reduce the number of parts dramatically, and the XX9 series has 23% fewer parts than the 748/996 series. And I won't even start on how easy it is to remove the fairing compared to the ST.

For you ST3 guys like Stryder, I take my hat off, since I've heard that the placement of the exhaust valve makes it arguably the most difficult Ducati ever to work on.

Ron

stryder · Oct 26th, 2011, 7:47 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by C-simian

Picked up a 999s last month - got a great deal, but it needs some TLC. As I started digging into it, I was shocked how much simpler they are than our ST-s. Apparently Terblanche decided to reduce the number of parts dramatically, and the XX9 series has 23% fewer parts than the 748/996 series. And I won't even start on how easy it is to remove the fairing compared to the ST.

For you ST3 guys like Stryder, I take my hat off, since I've heard that the placement of the exhaust valve makes it arguably the most difficult Ducati ever to work on.

Ron

I wouldn't know the diff as my ST3 is the only Ducati I've worked on, but the service manager at the dealership where I bought and had my bike serviced until warranty expiration said they are the most difficult Ducati on which to adjust the valves. Maybe due to the 6 lobe SOHC?

The tupperware is a challenge until you've done it a few times.