After almost 20 years of Ducati ownership on 3 different bikes (ST2, 1100 S Multi Air cooled and now a 1260 S Multi) I'm making my first ever visit to the official dealers at Alton to drop the bike in for some work. Up until this point I've done all my own maintenance. (Bar letting an Indie rebuild the air cooled Ohlins forks once) Life was relatively simple with the old 2 valve engines ! But the 1260 is due its 5 yearly cam belt change, the more complicated 4 valve cam belt change is a skill I don't have and at this point in my life I don't have a lot of spare time to try and go of and learn it, but I do have some spare cash so I'm going to play safe and let the experts do it. I've asked them to change out the air filter and do a coolant flush at the same time, seems sensible while its apart. Happy to still do the oil and filter and all the other routine stuff etc. On the plus side, I've got a V4S Multi booked for a loan bike all day. Going to meet up with my mate and ride to the coast for lunch. So that'll be fun......
They gave me a new V4S Grand tour with only 80 miles on it ! Rode it down the A32 to Portsmouth for lunch at Port Solent. All very civilized Yes I liked the bike a lot, I have no problem with the V4 configuration, but £23.5K is just not doable in my world right now Anyway, it should have a single sided swing arm for that money ! (Just for the looks ... )
