Who has had a belt break? Given they're probably the component there's most paranoia about, how many here have actually had one go, or know of one that failed?
I have heard about the odd on or two but I don't know anyone it has actually happened to. Im sure there is someone on here who has had the same belts on his Monster for 6-7 years?
When I was having my engine rebuilt by Ducati John I asked this same question and he told me that he had only come across one ever and that was on a diabolically maintained 916. So the answer probably is not that many in total. I know someone on the old Ducatisti site posted about having one go and that was on a monster or something similar, lots of valve damage, it wasn't in the UK though I seem to remember.
I know of 2 on 851/888 - one who will probably be along shortly personally only had one on a 2 -valve which is inexcusable normally as much easier life for belt. This was a front belt teased off sprocket by a protruding 'tongue' from rubber sealing/cover housing behind camshaft sprocket.
A well know Ducati tuner/fixer/racer, reuses the belts he removes from customers bikes (at the appointed service intervals) on his race bikes. I suspect they are a lot more robust than Ducati would have you think :wink:
Why shouldn't they last? They're essentially the same as timing belts used on cars and they last for 100,000 miles on some models, all with worse routing than on a Ducati.
used to have an old Ferrari, belts every 2 years. In America (same car, same belts) it was every 3 years... I moved to three years but (TBH) always worried....996 goes 3 years between changes.
I'd agree with a lot of the comments above, I am sure the belts can last a lot longer than two years. I use my bikes very little and it really does get to me to pay to have the belts changed so regularly when the ones that come off my bike look not much beyond new. It's just that nagging feeling!
That's exactly the point - a) are we spending needlessly due to unwarranted paranoia? Or b) Is it because we change belts much more frequently than we actually need to that the failure rates are so low?
Didn't some guy start a topic on here a little while ago about belts going on an 1198? Sure it hadn't even made it to the first service but had been sat around a while.... *edit* http://www.ducatiforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=4162 That should be the one.
My money is on wrongly tensioned or pulley failure rather than a straight forward belt snap. Wasn't it the 996 that would use the same belts as a Renault Clio? If so I bet the Clio was not every 2 years or 12k miles!
I go 4 years between changes, never had a problem in 30 years of ownership but I have only had the 2v aircooled engines.
I probably see maybe one set a year and a handful that are "close" to letting go, heavily frayed or cracking. Tensioning is a big factor as mentioned above. Seems to go in fits and starts. Maybe 4 or 5 years ago I saw 3 or 4 in a season. At least 2 were pattern stuff...one was Quinten Hazel. The later stuff on the broader belts and bigger pulleys is less common, possibly because they are still done within a service network?? Haven't seen many 2V at all, 748/916/996 etc seem to be most common. Another factor on these is the tensioner being done up in the wrong direction and the belt touching between the pulleys. Last one was a 748R and that wiped the head and piston out. They'd been fitted correctly and tensioned up looking at the other cylinder, but I can't recall how long they'd been on. Personally, its a paranoia that I support. I know bikes that have gone 3 or 4 years but I was told many moons ago to stick to the regime and it's something I've stuck to. Never had a failure myself or on a customers bike and compared to the bill the 748R owner got its cheap insurance IMO.
At one point in my life I was pretty skint. I ran the same belts for 7 years on my 748. Had to use the bike for daily commute so did some miles on it as well. The belts looked fine when I finally changed them.
I thought I had a belt go. It was certainly shredded but on examination one of the camshaft bearings had seized. Apart from a shredded belt and a bearing there was no other damage.
This is quite a comforting thread for me, cos my belts are overdue. Didn't Lucazade have a belt go on him..?
