I would just like to say a big thank you for all the people on here that recommended Geoff at Baines Racing at Silverstone. My 996sps has done 7,000 miles and needed a cam belt change and first Tappets/cam check. Ducati main Dealer had said that it could be as much as £900 depending on what they find. I phoned Geoff, His enthusiasm was amazing, we had a long talk. He said if I wanted I could save money and and remove the fairings before hand. When I dropped my bike off I was amazed how many bikes he had in for work in Jan! One of the Old "Top Gear" chaps had just had one of his bike's dropped off for Geoff to work on. On my bike he checked all tappet gap's than removed the cam's as it is the only way to check the pad's on the followers and found one worn through the Chrome. He replaced that with a Nemans re-ferb follower. All gaps were then reset in tolerance. The Ducati Cam belts cost £118 (inc vat) The new Shims £60 and rocker gaskets £10 He also did a few other bits and his labour Charge was £270 He sent me Pictures of the worn rocker and the new one. The enthusiasm and knowledge of this man is second to none. He showed me around the project's he had, several immaculate engine builds in progress and bike restorations. I am a person who normally does all the work on my bikes myself and I have to say the service this man offers is exceptional Spending my money at his workshop was a very enjoyable experience.
When I was considering buying my 996 I found that the previous owner had used Baines for its last 2 services. I gave Baines a call and gave the guy the reg number and he was more then helpful in telling me exactly what they had done to the bike. He also gave me details of a major service they had done which the seller hadnt actually told me about. Made my buying decision so much easier.
Everyone has a bad mechanic story. Baines is mine. Took my miss-firing 1999 748 in. They charged me nearly £1k to set the valves and that didn't fix the problem. The looked again and no joy. John Hackett found the fault (loose alternator nut) and charged me less that £100
Nice story. Great to read. Only thing I noticed is the price of the cam belts. Ofcourse, I'm in Holland but the last time I bought belts, original Ducati, I paid less than half of what you paid. Not sure where the price difference comes from but that is a lot. Enjoy your bike!
Total 1K for shims?. The same work above charged at £270 + shims+Belts.. How come such a high figure?
Been using Baines for the past 11 years. Great services everytime. Best compliment I can make is that Geoff treats the bikes under his care as if they were his own.
