My 696 is on around 62,400 miles (just over 100,000km!) Bought new September 2009. Belt tensioning bearings on the 696 appear to last only 30,000 miles ....
The commutator is what the brushes or contacts run on in an electric motor, generator or alternator. In Ducati starter motors, it apparently can make a big difference to cranking performance if you clean up the commutator as it can get rather gunked up. You would probably do this with a fairly fine wet and dry paper. However, your bike can't be very old. Has it done a high mileage? I've not needed to do mine as an AGM Yuasa and a cable kit have already transformed the starting from distinctly iffy to near instant. You would need to remove the alternator cover to remove the starter motor.
