If you did the engine install yourself you probably have enough skill to do the belt change and valve check. I'd start with either the Haynes manual or the Lt. Snyder manual (he's a LTC now though!). On the SS it's fairly straight forward and is done by many budget conscious owners.

There's a couple of special tools you might need, depends on the level of maintenance. My local Ducati dealership recommended (on the downlow) that I shop for the HDESA tools on Ebay rather than buying the Ducati tools. EMS Ducati sells a nifty measuring jig for shim thicknesses if you like buying specialty tools.

 

I had never worked on a Ducati before in my life and replaced my belts and adjusted valves myself. You can CERTAINLY do this yourself! Take your time and with the valve adjust - do the math TWICE! I honestly can't think of any Ducati-special tools - OK, well you will need a piece of cylinder stock to measure closing shims but that's it - but you will need a mic and calipers for the valve adjustment.

I say go for it!

 

I just recently did mine. I bought the shim measuring tool on AMAZON for 12 euros, its invaluable!

You will also need a decent micrometer, better eyesight than me and time to check you work.

Belts are a piece of cake, just get all the dots aligned and go for it.

the only part which is a PITA is holding the valve up whilst you remove/re-fit the closer shim. I used a small magnent on some duct tape to hold the valve up and stop it dropping into the cylinder (see pik). Keep the piston at TDC so if it does drop it doesnt disapear.

Its all easier than it sounds or when you read the how-to. Its Labourious but totally doable.

Chris kellys videos are worth watching afew times too.

Chris

 

Ducatitoolrental.com

 

Tools: Depends upon what you already have and are capable of making.
Capability: With the will, anything is possible. Expect to make some compromises when you make mistakes. The professional mechanic is.

Process: 1) Measuring with a feeler gauge and using measuring tools are best done the first time with someone in the expert category even if you have to pay then to show you. IMO, left to a noobie, things will not be measured correctly. It's probably one of the more challenging valve adjustment procedures on any vehicle. 2) Once you have adjusted them and understand all the interconnected aspects of the adjustment, rotate the engine a few times and measure them again. Only then can you know that you have adjusted them correctly. If you find an error, you will have to decide if your measuring is working or your adjustment was bogus. 3) Give the mechanism enough consideration to know which end of the allowable range you want to be on. If you are happy at the wrong end, as the valve sinks into the head, you will promptly be out of range.

Ok, I'll answer this once. Why rotate a few times? When you place the cams and the cam plates back in place, there will be some tolerance. When you rotate the engine, they will be more likely to set into where they run because of the belt tension and little helper springs. If you find a huge error, you probably didn't have the shim or retainer seated correctly. I doubt anyone will listen to me but when I first was having trouble getting the same results when i checked my work, I determined that the cam covers are not located very accurately by a normal assembly process. As such, you can make a perfect measurement and get the correct shims installed and come up with a different number than you should have. (another key is, the measurement on the shim is most likely not accurate. Use your micrometer.) I determined that I could seat the covers in a particular way and get consistent results every time.

 

I have a customer coming up to the shop next month for his first tune. We will do the tune together and he will learn if it is something he will do the next time. With 2-valve bikes it is pretty straight forward after you have done it once, there are very few tools needed and if you are mechanically inclined and have some patience you will be fine. There may not be a better bike to learn on than a 2-valve ducati.

 

you'd only need to rotate the engine if you still have the cam belts on, and you'd only have the cam belts still on when doing a clearance adjustment if you're absolutely nuts.

remove the belts at the start, turn the cams by hand.

it's not really that hard, conceptually it's more an issue for a lot of people because it's desmo and different and complicated and you have to be scared of it blah blah blah. depends on how you think about stuff. as eric says, once you've done it, it's very easy. i managed to learn it, so it can't be that hard.

having a heap of replacement shims on hand is the part that makes it easy or hard imo. if you have to stop to order shims it really drags the job out, and what you get is often not what you thought you needed.

looking at what chris900ssie wrote - use the piston to hold the valve up. simple.

 

Thanks guys! I am going to give it a try. I watched the video per Chris' advice and feel much better about it now. I think I'll have to keep studying it just to drill the concept into my head. I ordered my new belts and a few other parts from Ferracci yesterday. Now, maybe I'll order some shims as well. I figure if I could do the adjustment on my old 911, the Duc should not be too bad.

 

EMS do a shim kit, and most of the other bits needed to do the job. You may also want to consider swapping the valve collets out for some MBP ones, which extend the valve servicing intervals.
Use plenty of paper towels/rags to block off all holes down into the motor. There's lots of small bits which can drop where you don't want...

 

I just checked my records, and realized I still have some miles to go before my next valve adjustment/check.

So I will just be doing the belts.

Will I need any special tools for a belt change? In the one video, they turn over the engine after doing the first belt.

Sorry for all the questions.

 

i fit the belts, then turn the engine over a heap of times to run the belts around and let them settle. then tension them. i usually use the back wheel with it in first gear, but you can also use an engine turning tool.

 

Great info here!! I might try it myself when mine is due for service.

 

I spoke to a buddy that is much more tech saavy on these models than I am. He said not to worry about the valve adjustment this year, so I just changed the belts. Wasn't too bad. The one cam was trying to either open or close a valve, so I had to hold it in position with a oair of needlenose pliers. I placed the tips into the holes on the side of the cam sprocket and it worked fine.

The only thing odd that I noticed is how much of the adjustment range is used, even with the new belts. And when I checked photos in the Haynes manual, it looked the same.

I am sure I will be annoying you guys next winter when it comes time to actually adjust the valves.

Thanks so much for all the great info!!

 

I agree, it is kind of odd most of the belt adjustment slot is already used up even with new belts. I thought I assembled something wrong. I've never used all the available slot before changing belts though.

 

Just resurrecting an old thread to see if it is common for the vertical cylinder belt adjuster to use the full adjustment with new genuine Ducati belts. Mine does. I just checked the belts again on the weekend and had to take a whisker out of the adjuster slot to get suitable tension. A couple of the previous posters suggested this can happen - anyone else encountered this?

 

no, not ever.

 

Hhmm, strange. I wonder if the idler and/or adjuster rollers are the wrong size and too small? Gotta be a reason for it. Might take some photos and post to see if anyone can spot anything.

 

Righteo then, what have I got wrong? I went thru this today and checked the belts, idler rollers, adjuster rollers and everything else I could see. All looks right to me, but still both adjusters are right up to their maximum movement to get the required 5 mm allen key spacing on the idler pulley - the belts are not too tight - I can't easily get a 6 mm allen key past.

Belts are genuine Ducati belts that are probably 3 years old and done no run hours at all - maybe 10 hours max. They are 70 tooth and both the same length. Idler rollers are as purchased on the bike - assumed to be genuine. Adjuster rollers have been replaced, but are 6201 bearings with 32 mm OD - appear to be correct.

 

email me your address and i'll send you a set of the exactfit belts to see if it's a belt length issue. just curious. brad at bikeboy dot org

 

Thanks Brad, that is a nice offer - I'll order a set from you thru the evilbay place.

Are you using too much force to deflect the belt and fit the 6mm allen?

One of the issues with measuring belts this way is you results can vary if the force deflecting the belt or the force sliding the feeler is too great. Ie: I could probably use a pry bar and get a 10mm in there but it is not correct. Back in the day at the dealership we used this method but every belt check was verified by a second mechanic no matter who did them. I do not have that option anymore ( I work alone) but truly miss the second set of eyes as some times you simply force things, too much coffee?

I also would change that inner belt cover out of caution because if the broken part comes loose from the gasket sealer then it will likely get into the belts and that would be bad.

I'm pretty sure the belts are not too tight ducvet. Because the adjuster is out of travel adjustment, if anything I'd probably put a slight bit more on it. The horizontal cylinder is very similar, but does have a little extra travel left. I might try one of them fancy belt tension apps on the phone and see how that goes as a cross check.

Yes the belt cover replacement is on the list of things to do - it was flopping in the breeze when I bought the bike several years ago. It is now all glued up and sealed with silicone so is secure, but does need replacing.

 

Are you using too much force to deflect the belt and fit the 6mm allen?

One of the issues with measuring belts this way is you results can vary if the force deflecting the belt or the force sliding the feeler is too great. Ie: I could probably use a pry bar and get a 10mm in there but it is not correct. Back in the day at the dealership we used this method but every belt check was verified by a second mechanic no matter who did them. I do not have that option anymore ( I work alone) but truly miss the second set of eyes as some times you simply force things, too much coffee?

I also would change that inner belt cover out of caution because if the broken part comes loose from the gasket sealer then it will likely get into the belts and that would be bad.

 

I have not seen oem belts that far off normally so yes something is up, not sure if the wrong (mis-marked) belt would do this. Brads exactfit should tell the tale and if your belts are 3 years old I would change them anyway if mine so no real harm. Any chance the prior belts were also this loose? On used Ducati's you need to watch out for shady mechanics who might shorten a cylinder or head to gain some power , I might have done that myself from time to time on certain engines.

Is the cylinder and/or head stock?
Brads belts should tell the story if they are equally loose something is out of spec or modified to be out of spec.
Good to check with the phone app just to see if it is close.

 

I thought I read somewhere that the belts were to be 70 tooth - I checked that and they both seem to be that count. The belt tooth pitch appears to be correct, so in theory they should be right, but I'll compare to the Exactfit.

I never thought about the cylinders of heads being shaved, but I guess they could be, however I never did this. I bought the bike several years ago to restomod. It has had a 944 kit put in with JE pistons. Heads have been checked and revalved as needed by a reputable guy in NZ. Unfortunately I never checked any overall dimensions or the original belts that came off it.

On reassembly, I remember the belt adjusters being close to the end of travel, but I just thought this as normal. It took a couple of years to finish the bike and get it running. Now it is running pretty well and I'm starting to fiddle with the FCRs and just check things - including the belts. That is when I started the research and found this topic.

Can't wait to see how the new belts compare.

Thanks for your help and advice.

 

Well I fitted the new belts and there weren't really any surprises - they are not right at the end of the adjusters, but just about.

I'm now thinking ducvet might be on the money.

 

send them back if you want.

 

All good thanks Brad - the others were getting old and due for a change anyway.

Do you have a base gasket installed?

I do not see one in the pictures but you may find one there.

Wow ducvet, that is testing the memory - probably about 5 years ago now. I'm pretty sure there is because I remember something about the o-ring there and also checking squish on both cylinders.

 

Do you have a base gasket installed?

I do not see one in the pictures but you may find one there.

 

There are plenty of motors where we have deleted the base gasket to reduce squish clearance and add a bit more compression.