Just picked up my second hand 1260S, looking through the booklets, am I right that the belt change is every 30,000km only, ie no need to change at 2years if the mileage is not reached?
Just purchased a 1260S myself. My understanding is it's every 18,000 miles or every 5 years, whichever is sooner. Health to enjoy the bike.
As MarkH has said above, so you can relax a little, until the circa £k bill date approaches. Depending on where you've bought the bike, it might be worthwhile trying to source an alternative 'accredited' mechanic, with reliable credentials, to carry out the desmo service, + deal with service warning lights, etc, that way you will save yourself a lot of cash. Be careful not to impair any warranty or goodwill, which is why I asked my first question. Mine's due next year 2023 and currently I intend to head in the direction of Luigi Moto, Bristol area, who have an excellent reputation and charge much less per hour than say Riders. You pays yer money, you makes yer choice........
I changed the belts on my Multistrada 1200s after 5 years. I’m not sure of the mileage, probably around 11,000. The belts were still in very good condition so it made me wonder just how necessary it was but hey, it’s done and I have a service record.
Belts are changed on a time passed basis (5 years) regardless of mileage and valves are mileage 18k on my 2016 multi.
That's interesting. Thought it was officially 5 years or 18,000 miles. The latter and the desmo service is rapidly approaching for me and my MY18 1260, intending to book it in for June or July in the next week or two.
Could be different for the 2016 multi but the 1260S definitely states it's either miles or time as per this screenshot?
Sorry yes you're correct. Belts are at 5 years or 18k miles. I was just pointing out that they should be changed at 5 years regardless of mileage. In other words if you were to do 18k miles in 3 years then that's belts and valves.
As it has been mentioned further up - about the big Desmo service. My bike has done 12k and is now 5 years old. This means the belts need changing (time-based 5year interval) but the Desmo service isn't required as that's mileage based @ 18K. As usual I rang around to get quotes. At this point in time I was thinking I needed the big Desmo service. The first place I rang expecting to quote me around a grand said just to do the belts and they explained why. The second place told me I needed the big Desmo service, and quoted a grand. The third place said just to do the belts, same as the first. All three Ducati main dealers. So just be wary on what you actually need. I was struggling to raise the grand for the big service, the 500 for the belt service is easy enough to get hold of, and next year or maybe the year after will be the Desmo without belts so that'll be about 500quid also. Its certainly more palatable splitting the big service up. Some dealers are more honest than others it would seem.
An interesting bit of feedback Rich, thanks for sharing, something I will definitely think about, this time next year, 5 years in, with circa 15k miles in all likelihood.
That's a good question , and something I've wondered about . I suppose there are variations in the mechanical load and stress , between models , and maybe in the " geometry " of how the belts run around the pulleys ( eg. in testastretta engines ) , but it's hard to relate that to the difference between 2 year and 5 year intervals .
That's what I was thinking, I was told , 20 years ago, it was more about how often the bike was used, used often the belts stay supple , not used they set in the shape of the rollers and are more likely to jump a tooth, how much truth there was/ is in that I don't know
I remember that saying from back in the day, it centered on (no pun..) the crank pully on my ST2 (and other duc's of that era ?) being very small in diameter causing extra fatigue on the belt. And if you didn't use the bike much the belt could in theory hold that shape as it stars to move again causing it to jump a tooth. This is back in the days of every 6000 miles or 2 years. Then my 1100 multi was every 7500 miles , or 2 years. Funny thing was I'd usually let them go an extra year (thankyou LT Synder) and they'd still looked brand new when I swapped them out. Without further knowledge, maybe the ultra modern the belts are stronger these days and the diameter off the crank pulleys is larger to allow longer life span ?
I'll compare the crank pulleys on my next round of belt changes, I've 7 different types of Ducati from 1994 to 2018
Ducati don't want Sh*t loads of angry customers with busted engines, I think we can all agree on that. They'd be out of business very quickly, just like any other manufacturer. So they cover their arse by getting the engineers to make a best guess to the life of these belts and getting them changed before that mileage or time. Now.... I'll hyphosize here.. the engineers say these belts should be good for 25000 miles or about 7 years normal use after which the rubber starts to deteriorate. But the company thinks to it self, lets build in an extra element of insurance for ourselves ... tell the customer its 5 years or 18000 miles. That way the chances off a failure or vastly reduced and we'll save £££ or warranty claims and our reputation if a belt snaps without reason. Triples all round at the bar ! If I still have my bike at 5 years, I'll inspect the belts and if they look fine maybe I'll let them go another year. otherwise your saying, at 4 years and 364 days there in spec and perfectly safe to use, and 5 years and 1 day there not safe anymore. As a hands on maintenance engineer myself that just doesn't ring true in the real world. You pays your money, you make your choice
