Looking to replace the belts on my 748. Gates or Ducati OEM? Noticed part numbers are slightly different. Any opinions welcome.
Gates and Ducati are the same thing from the same factory apart from the red lettering by all accounts. Made in the UK.
Make sure you get the correct belts for your engine. Late 748 engines use the same head as the Monster S4 and ST4 with a lower exhaust valve. The belts for this motor are shorter by 2 teeth. If unsure, take a picture of the side of the head and post here. 748s from 2002 and sometimes 2001 have these Testabassa heads
CCW are quite good. Unable to upload new pics right now as computer says no! However inlet and exhaust cam housings do appear level with each other. Worth checking as it's not the original engine in the bike. Will investigate with further dismantling .Thanks for your knowledge people.
The different heads are easy to tell apart. If you look at the cover plate, between the cam pulleys, the early heads have 4 retaining screws, the later type, dropped exhaust cam, have 5 screws. Yours look like the early heads. The date stamp says 98 and that’s too early for the Testabassa heads. Ducati part numbers are 73710091B for the early heads, 73710101A for the later dropped cam heads. I’m biased, but I always fit genuine Ducati belts and always have.
On this engine - only around 4,000 km but about 3 years since previous belt change. The bike had done about 85,000 km at this stage. It's up to 92,000 now.
I did a destructive test once with a used OEM belt and a used Gates belt. Clamp a piece of belt and pull on it until it gives way whilst measuring load. It was inconclusive as my test equipment was a bit Heath Robinson and I couldn't actually make them fail before my clamps failed but in that test the Gates belt was pretty much identical to the Ducati belt. Lots of Ducati belts have snapped for all manner of reasons. I personally have a lot of confidence in the Clio belt.
Some belts are joined by a vulcanising process. Not all, in engineering. Which has a diagonal joint and arrows to show point of direction to prevent the joining from deteriorating. Are belts with no markings on them being fitted in the wrong direction? Just a suggestion. I used to work on commercial machinery, very much belt driven. Flat belts, toothed belts and polycords. Sometimes you would get a bad batch. Always snapping at the joint. Monday morning belt, Friday afternoon belt??
I believe these are made quite differently. A aramid fibre cord is spun on a barrel and the rubber is vulcanised around that to create a long tube. Slices of the tube end up being the belt. So there aren't any joints. I don't think there are many belt failures but there potentially other failures or circumstances that lead to belt failure. Belts being too tight is probably a leading cause. Idler bearings being suboptimal is another. I can also imagine an engine failure leading to a belt failure rather than the other way round. I can't find a shred of difference between Gates Clio belts and OEM and they work for me (touch wood)
Bought some on E-bay, seller listing as part number 73710091A. 68 quid. As I said directional arrows. Old belts not so sad, but old and I have other issues going on. So will fit at a later date
