So gonna be taking the ST4S on a road trip to the NC500. This will be the first long road trip since I used to do about 500 miles per week on it commuting. Belts were done 2 years ago but haven't done anywhere near the 7500 miles. Last valve check was about 9k miles ago I think? Just done head/wheel/carrier bearings with SKF. All fresh fluids. Fresh pads back and front, fresh fork oil. Fuel pump/filter done last year. Tanks been lined as well to stop any rust/leaks Chain and sprocket are in good nick. Fresh Road 6s on. Am going to carry spare CPS sensors and fuel relays just in case. Battery is only like a year or so old Is there anything else I need to get looked at before it all goes horribly wrong on the trip? Should I just redo the belts and valves for peace of mind? Cheers Martin
I thought the belts were every 2 years, regardless of mileage. If you are not red lining everywhere, valves should be good, they are mileage dependant and IIRC, the ST4S was every 15,000 ( ?) Andy
Aiye on the belts, but most ST owners I've spoken to seem to be yoloing it quite a tad I did replace them with the kevlar belts, so am umming and ahhing, but I've never had the valves done under my care so always a bit nervy
I dare say I will get yelled at for saying this , but this is probably all you ever need to know about taking care of timing belts . I've done really big touring miles for over 20 years on my bike , and I've always let good sense take precedence over all of the FUD that we hear about timing belts , while studiously ignoring all mileage or date limitations dreamed up by manufacturers . And I regularly thrash the ollies off by bike . (a) after taking off the belt covers , do a close visual inspection of the general condition of the belts . Look for any signs of physical damage to the teeth , or to the body of the belt itself eg. irregular wear pattern , fibres showing ...... and if you see any sign of it , bin them ... both of them ! But if all looks good , move on to checking the belt tension ..... ..... Luddite Stylee ( without needing any phone app ) (b) on the longest run of the belt , between the pulleys , pinch together the two runs of the belt , with your index finger and thumb . If you can easily make the two belt runs touch , it is probably too loose , but if you can't get them near to each other , it is too tight . There is so much crap talked about belts ..... and it makes a fortune for the auto industry ... .... but it's mostly FUD , like I said . Every broken cam belt I have ever seen has showed clear signs of historic wear , long before it broke . As for the valve clearances..... if your bike has been running well , just forget about it ..... it's never going to be the cause of ruining your high mileage touring pleasure . .... but just my two Mongos worth , as usual .
I gave it a check a could have weeks ago and the belts were fine. was genuinely thinking of getting clear plastic covers for the belts. the only reason am so paranoid is because I owned a Monster 796, within 2 weeks the valves had made best friends with the pistons. The valves should have been checked at 7.5k, they were not, i got the bike at 10k and was a n00b at the time. so i let a friend ride it round the car park, he was steady, and then that beautiful sound of metal on metal.
Fuel filter and internal fuel line. Check over the starter solenoid. Clean up all electrical connections. Get the immobiliser deleted.
Every none runner failure I have ever seen on a tour has been electrical, with the exception of someones S1r (hello). Only time I have had a none starter (1st day, at home..) was a bad battery on my Monster. Usually batteries, regulator/rectifiers and bad contacts...if the motorcycle has had basic servicing. Edit, I had a breakdown on a K8 gsxr1000. Corrosion in fuse holder. Bike was low miles and immaculate. Cleaned contacts, running again..
Immoblizer is dead, replaced ecu with the newer version so can use TuneEcu to connect now. I am currently doing the regulator mod to the R1 regulator with straight soldering. Good thing I did, I checked the connections and they were fucked(welded together from the rust). Battery is brand new so should be fine and its a fresh loom so the fuse holder is still decent. New(used) start soldernoid as well. tbf if that fucks up I can always just quickly bridge it.
External dioed might reduce the risk. I fitted an Aprilia RSV solenoid and used amp superseal connectors.
Am replacing it with a 1098 starter solenoid and soldering the connection directly. In the meantime I might just put a zip tie around it to hold it in place.
my only current worry about electrics. i'd be riding, and i'd notice my tach drop heavily almost to 0, a small misfire, and then its back to normal. never cause a massive issue but id love to fix this problem. i've replaced CPS, gapped it etc etc. it happens so randomly I struggle to recreate it but without a doubt its there.
Lots of options! The most certain method to ensure there will be no failures? Stay home. You could of course ensure you have full recovery insurance and maintain the payments, very simple. Carry more potential spares than Ewan and. Charlie with a back up truck or do the basics and pray to the patron saint of travellers, St.Christopher. Whatever option you choose enjoy the trip. Never failed to get home eventually in 47 years of touring/ long distance runs must be 500,000 miles to date on everything from a moped to so called adventure bikes. Roll of gaffer tape couple of length of wire and a Platinum credit card or two always works. No worries
Try to think positive, what could possibly happen with an ST4? My one bit of advice is do not ride after dark as it is possibly the worst headlights ever (not) seen!!!
A Ducati tech showed me: get a 5 mm Allen key , on a cold engine , you should be able to slip it between the tensioner and move it through by hand while having a decent amount of resistance. all ok.
