Understood, but i've got a Diavel, (not a Boxer BMW, where the 2 cylinders easily accessible from either side of the bike)Originally Posted by Kairos
I've not tried to look at the valve clearance yet, but it is part of the service schedule, and access will be a lot more tricky than the BMW boxer twin.
Also it's DESMO, so has valve position contolled fully by the cam lobes, and not springs to close the valves like the BMW engine.
Undoubtly I will have to look on youtube for a video when the time comes, or let the Ducati dealer do it !!
nice selection of bikes there ....Not the best pic but finally got round to registering the private plates on my bikes. Not cool enough for the Good Plate thread but im happy with them. Roll on warm sunny days!
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is that a fatboy ?
I think that’s the reason most people sell their Ducatis before the valve service needs doing. On an 851 you have to take the engine out just to check them. On a 1098 testrasetta it’s a 9 hour job which will cost you the thick end of a grand at Ducati. I’ve never done a Diavel but I can’t imagine they’re much easier. And you really have to do them because a tight tappet can turn a Desmo engine into a hand grenade. Every time I think I fancy another Ducati, I remember that little nugget and buy a Triumph.
Agreed, I moved my Ducati Multistrada on last year, I took it in for its 5 year service and it was still 4000 miles away from needing its valves checking so I didn’t need it doing. It still cost me £900 (this was at a independent and it was still cheaper than a dealer quote) for the belts and everything else a five year service entails. I picked the bike up and rode it home, I was so pi@@ed off at spending £900 on a service (I’ve never spent that much in all my life on a car service or repair) I sold it within a month, took the fun out of owning a Ducati and I’ll never have another. As nice as they are to look at I’ll always remember that feeling of the service bill and that will be enough to stop me going any further if I ever feel I would like to buy another.
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Last edited by Martylaa; 10th January 2023 at 09:37.
I had the same feeling back in 2000 when the service bill of my 916 was £600+. I haven’t owned another Ducati since.
Shocked to hear this is still the case. I’v never owner a Ducati, but those hypermotards and the 1098/1198 do look cool. Plus i would like to have a twin back in the future. I had a vtr sp1 in the passt which was the coolest bike ever.
I fully understand desmo. I had a 900SS (bevel drive, not a lawnmower belt version!). Where I worked was a Ducati service centre (Mac Services, Bodmin) with all the special tools on the Coburn & Hughes board on the wall. We used a clamp on dial gauge, it clamped to the fins, of course you fancy modern behemoth is water cooled, so you don't have any fins to clamp to, making it even more difficult. In our case, you had to be careful to turn the crank the right way, otherwise the cam came round and hit the needle from the wrong direction and snapped the fin..... as Pete found out one day! The beauty of the desmo is the valve springs only had about 4lbs of pressure to them, so you could spin the crank with a couple of fingers, with the plugs out obviously. All the valve springs/cam lobes do is lift the valve into the seat, the compression pressure actually closes the valve. In 1996 I bought a Supermono off Geoff Baines of Silverstone... wish I still had that 500, they only built 65 of them.
you guys making me think of selling it now !!
however mine is a Titanium limited edition, and i spent ages looking for it, so i'll just have to swollow the cost when it becomes due.
my last Diavel i owned for 2 years and never serviced it in that time, so swerved that bullet.
i do like the duke 1200 twin, as goes great with plenty of torque, and not too much power, so it doesn't rip your arms off (160 ish bhp)
(I had a tuned 1100 Aprilia Tuono V4, and in race mode that bike was scary, and did want to rip your bloody arms off, and forget the anti wheelie - it didn't work)
Sold it as it was a bit crazy.
The diavel is the sweet spot for me, as it's comfy too, quite upright, as my wrists don't take so well to drop bar race bikes anymore.
When buying a bike, regardless of brand/model, I always consider the servicing costs alongside likely annual mileage, length of ownership, and budget...although costs have not, so far, put me off buying something if I wanted it (a bit like watches).
I've owned several Ducatis and have never been surprised by the servicing costs because I've checked them out beforehand - they are part of the cost of ownership. Although some models might be a bit pricey to carry out certain services (belts and or valve clearances), they aren't necessary that frequently and aren't entirely out of line with some other brands.
I don't buy used from a seller who isn't known to me because I like to be sure that the bike has been properly serviced at the correct intervals.
The modern Ducatis have much longer service intervals than the older models and to be fair, it wasn’t the service price that put me off the 916, I just fancied a change. I’d happily buy another.
I do like to work on my own bikes though and the only time they see a dealer is for the MOT. I don’t entirely trust dealer mechanics and prefer to know a job has been done properly.
Thanks for your comments,
I agreed with most of them, and i did research the servicing, but did not check the pricing of said servicing, as i presumed it wouldn't be ridiculous, as it's a Ducati, not a Bugatti Veyron !!
I wanted the bike, so didn't really get too concerned with servicing costs. however it would have been impossible to buy it from someone i knew as the titanium version is rare to find on the market, (as they only made 500 worldwide, and normally only 1 or 2 are for sale in UK at any one time.)
I did also check the service history, which was upto date. Also fully on board with your comments about buying a watch because you want it, and not because it's relatively expensive.
Fully agreed Dave with self servicing where possible, and if I can service something myself I generally will.
However if there is a risk that involves carrying out a procedure that I have't got the tools to do properly, or it may be sufficiently complex to risk doing catastophic damage then I may get a professional to carry out the service.
I probably consider doing the valve clearances on a DESMO Diavel in the latter, but i've not fully researched it yet.
Did you do the valve clearances on your 916 when you owned it ?
Need a bit of urgent advice.
Recently bought a Honda Monkey with intention of getting a CBT in Spring and store it until then.
Just received a letter from DVLA advising not showing as insured, with options to insure or make a statutory off-road notification.
Really don't have the time to do the CBT at the moment and guess I may not get insurance without it?
Not sure of any implications with the off-road notification.
Any advice welcome
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You can SORN it online and reverse online all in minutes. Absolutely no big deal. I sorn anything which won't leave the garage for over a month or two in order to save on road tax.
Thanks for the advice. Have just done the SORN until time allows for my CBT
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Forgive me for stating the obvious, SORN stops tax implications but if the monk isnt insured and its stolen……..
I had a new shape monkey three years ago, top tip, shop around for insurance. I was quoted everything from “ we dont insure monkeys” to £800. Following a link on a monkeybike forum I contacted Hastings who insured it for £112 fully comp. The description was Honda 125 9HP.
Insurers are having a laugh.
It's a fairly cheap £4k bike (new) 9hp....top speed about 60mph.
Hardly high risk.
As it’s bike related…. RIP Robbie Knievel..🙁
Damn, seemed like a nice guy in the Top Gear Eddie Kidd tribute too.
The Ducati motors are paragons of reliability and robustness when compared to Aprilia’s RXV 550…
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Very stealable
I’m thinking of selling some of my toys, please talk me out of it.
Triumph Rocket III Roadster ( the previous version not the current one) 500 miles only wrapped in bubble wrap.
Harley Road King with all the stage mods, black and chrome you can think of.
Not ridden for most of last year as I use my other toys. It’s insurance renewal time again, what would you do?
You should be able to get “laid up” insurance while it’s in your garage.
Follow me for more biking tips.........................
just heard .... RIP Robbie Knievel
The V4 1100 in my bike wasn't great either, and the gearboxes are known to be troublesome too !!
Ducati is like a Toyota in comparison
Correct Gyp, one person can chuck one in the back of a family sized car. Even the sales guy I bought it from said when you leave it “lock it to something solid”
Like a Harley
Not heavy enough.
The Road King Special I owned (briefly) would have been perfect as a security anchor.
Last edited by joe narvey; 13th January 2023 at 23:38.
I will check. Every time I think that’s an option the weather is good and lunch in France seems like a good idea.
I must not look at inappropriate things on the web.
I must not look at inappropriate things on the web.
I must not look at inappropriate things on the web.
I must not look at inappropriate things on the web.
I must not look at inappropriate things on the web.
I must not look at inappropriate things on the web.
oh...
Ooh that’s nice.I must not look at inappropriate things on the web.
I must not look at inappropriate things on the web.
I must not look at inappropriate things on the web.
I must not look at inappropriate things on the web.
I must not look at inappropriate things on the web.
I must not look at inappropriate things on the web.
oh...
That looks like something that could make a good second bike for my garage
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When I tried Softails a couple of years back, despite wanting to love the Breakout 114, the 107 Street Bob was nicer. The things that would need adding to the base bike were forward controls, beach bars and V&H Short Shots.Ooh that’s nice.
That looks like something that could make a good second bike for my garage
This one has forward controls, beach bars and short shots.
My biggest issues is that I've recently downgraded from having both a 4-car and a 1-car garage to just having the 1-car garage, so it's all a bit cramped in there at the moment. No room for a +1.
I think we've also got too many vehicles altogether. I got the MX5 MOTed this week and it had only done 1300 miles this year. The Yaris has done about 3,000 and the Skoda about the same. Bikes wise the Triumph as done about 1500, the BMWs about 150 and 0 respectively and the Yam 125 will have done less than 500. We're likely to do fewer miles in the year to come.
At most we need one car and one motorbike.
Anyway... back to Autotrader :-)
That’s not far off mine, it was a great bike and some ways wish I had kept it but wanted the lowrider 117.I must not look at inappropriate things on the web.
I must not look at inappropriate things on the web.
I must not look at inappropriate things on the web.
I must not look at inappropriate things on the web.
I must not look at inappropriate things on the web.
I must not look at inappropriate things on the web.
oh...
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Is this a current live listing, I would be interested in reading it? - just found it.
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Edit to say that I’ve found it
Last edited by Craizeehair; 14th January 2023 at 18:07.
A pic of mine when it was being ceramic coated. An absolute beauty to ride.
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Has anybody had any real life experience of doing a tubed to tubeless wheel conversion?
I think it’s something I would potentially consider doing myself on the Bonneville. I would also be interested if anyone has recommendations for a third party who carry this out.
I’ve looked at options to buy some wheels but can only really see Kineo but I’m not convinced that I want to spend the thick end of 2.5k on those.
It's not the route I'd go personally.
Loads have done it, but there's too much to go wrong imho.
Also, I don't think your insurer will be very impressed.
I think the Kineo is a good option.
You'll have no problem selling them on if you sell/exchange the bike, so not as expensive in the long run?
If you are concerned about punctures one option is a sealant goo, type solution eg Slime. Fortnine has just done a witty video on them ( albeit using tubeless tyres).
https://youtu.be/nT1_QGtn0VA
I ran slime in a classic bike ( tubed) for about 5 years. Ok until I had a puncture that it couldnt fix, then I had a real mess on my hands….literally.
Depends how long you want to keep the Bonnie.
Yes, punctures are the main reason, obviously much easier to deal with on the go with tubeless.
I’m never going to have the kit on me to deal with a puncture with tubes but o do have breakdown cover so I should hopefully never be stranded too badly.
I would keep the tubes over that slime though.
I do intend to keep the Bonnie for a long time but I do also say that about watches and we know how that goes!
No personal experience, but it may also be worth looking at Alpina wheels. They do the OEM spoked wheels for the latest KTMs. https://www.king-wheels.com/product-category/alpina/
My Canyon wheels are tubeless. They’re fitted with a kit that I think comes from Japan. I bought them already done, and they’ve been on 3 bikes without a problem. I did have 1 puncture with these wheels and it was fine.
A mate has the same kit on his Boneville. He fitted it himself, and has done loads of miles without issue.
Thank you. That’s the sort of thing I was thinking of, good to hear first hand that there have been no issues. I hadn’t considered the insurance implications though to be honest.
One method to go tubeless is to buy an oversized tube, cut it around the central circumference and then fit it with the sides trapped in the beads, so it is, in effect, a one sided tube, on the inside only. Plenty of guys in Australia doing it for their gravel roads with great success.
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