[james0133]

I received an email today about the service history on the 999S that I am thinking of buying. It runs as follows:

UK bike supplied by Ducati Aylesbury 01/07/06.

First service carried out by Ducati Aylesbury 07/08/06 showing 722 miles stamped in book and receipt to prove, £361.48.

Second service carried out by Parkinson MC's 04/05/07 showing 4920 miles stamped and receipt to prove, £322.76.

Red master key and code card present.

The 999S has 5,600 miles on the clock at the moment so it has only done 680 miles since its last service (though I can’t be 100% sure if the belts were done on the last service). The time period from the last service till now is 2 years 4 months. On the older bikes, I believe the belts need to be changed every two years regardless of mileage.

I would really appreciate advice on whether I should ride the bike straight away before changing the belts (I am planning to spend a weekend on the Isle of Man on the bike and doing a lot of mileage getting there and back). And if anyone has any other advice or sees anything amiss with the service history, I would really appreciate their help.


(p.s. Sorry for starting a new thread but this is a really important question for me as I am hoping to put a deposit on the bike tomorrow.)

 

[JDuc]

I'd go ahead and replace the belts. The cost of replacing belts is FAR less than the cost of what could happen if those belts aren't in good shape and happen to let go.

 

[ST3S]

If the bike is at a dealer, have them throw in the belt change. It takes a tech about 30 mins to change the belts on a 999.

 

[kaos]

if you can get the belts changed as part of the ''deal'' go for it.otherwise i wouldn't be concerned.likely you have wet,cold winters there too ,and thats when i would shedule a belt change and minor service

 

[james0133]

The shop selling the bike aren't Ducati agents so cant do the belts for me. Is there still a 2 year service interval on changeing them?

 

[kaos]

yes .factory interval is 2 years.(takes into account severe conditions).given the service info you were ,i would doubt the belts have ben changed.but i wouldn't be too concerned.as they would have been checked at the last service.and while i would get them changed,the things not going to explode in the next couple months

 

[safetyfish]

Can you ride the bike and will it explode - sorry but there is no magical answer or formula there.
The probabillity of something going wrong is very very slight, the consequences is a blown engine costing a small fortune to repair. Now look at your own risk tolerances and make a decision on what you are comfortable with.

If it was me, I will check the belts for dry rot and cracks. No obvious signs then I am off down the road and will service it when I get back. As insurance I will make sure my AA membership includes recovery of a bike from where ever I am going, just in case.

SF

 

[james0133]

Thanks for all the info guys. Its really hard to find a service schedual for the 999S and, information on servicing seems much thinner on the ground than the 9XX bikes.
It looks like the Isle Of Man trip might be off now anyway. So I might just be riding it straight home which might make more sence anyway

 

[JDuc]

It's not just the belts to check here, it's also the belt tensioners as well and the bearings. For instance, we just replaced belts on my 900ss, everything LOOKED fine, till we actually tried to spin the bearings on the tensioners...and we realized that they were essentially locked up...if I had ridden it much longer...I would have been screwed, big time...