Hi there, I have 8500 km on my Multistrada (km, not miles and as some of you might know, I had my vertical cylinder head replaced under the warranty due to an oil leak/crack. I also got new valves and basically only thing that was used from the old head were camshafts. Bike is running perfectly now, but I wonder if it would be good to have some running in procedure now. What do you think? I have already made ca 150 km with new parts installed and haven’t reved it past 5500 rpm... Brg Goran
I wonder if you still have same desmo gear as well as the camshafts? In any event, new valves in themselves are not a critical item that needs careful running in, that's mainly for pistons/bores and shell bearings. By all means take it easy for another 150km for peace of mind but I don't believe you can do much damage if you don't.
Well, regarding the desmo gear, I am not 100% sure...I can check with the workshop. I know that camshafts remained the same as they are not the part that is being worn. I was insisting to get brand new valves with the new head, as I didn't want to accept the used valves to be put on the new head...wrote to Ducati's customer service in Italy etc... Their initial idea was to to use the old valves and to adjust them to the new head... (probably to cut costs of repair). After that complaint, Ducati approved everything new, except the camshafts (all the gaskets, bolts etc...) However, I will continue next couple of hundreds km without revving higher than 5-6k rpm, just as a peace of mind...cannot do any harm with that approach Here is one picture during the repair...
I have never heard of the need to run in a new head. Pistons and rebores, crankshaft regrinds and new shell bearings, definitely. Just to be safe speak to the local service centre, I am sure they will say it’s OK.
Moto Rapido replaced the rear head on my 1200R due to a broken valve guide under warranty, advised no running in required
I must comment it’s a shame how these huge failures happen on Ducati... coming from Japanese bikes and Japanese or German cars, this is shocking for me... It seems to be pretty common that Ducati produces bikes with faulty heads and similar big failures...
