848 Cambelts Easy To Change??

Yep, very easy. You can see them clearly, unlike a lot of car ones, take your time and you'll be fine

 

Dead easy and if you dig around you will find they are car belts

 

Really? On an 848??
Please tell us more...

 

@Exige on here will give you a forum discount on belts that are at least as good as oem and a fair bit cheaper.
His website also has links to videos that show you how to do it.
No special skills required, it's just a matter of taking your time and making sure you get it right.

 

I think Renault Cleo or something similar are supposed to fit the 748/916 bikes but the belt construction is not the same, not sure about them fitting any other Ducati though, this has been discussed many times so that's me done.
As for changing your own belts as has been said, if your confident with the spanners then it's easy, just take your time and double check every thing, there's plenty of info here and on you-tube.
Steve

 

If you can get to speak to Gates rep for your area he will be able to tell you, most belts do more than 1 application. as a for instance a citroen 2.5d belt at £20 is the exact same belt as a sierra or escort cosworth belt at £60. and as you probably all know a 916/996 belt is a 1.2/1.4 clio belt. my local rep told me don't listen to all the bullshit they come off the same line its just the Ducati are stenciled and come in Ducati boxes. another example is a 996 fuel filter its mahle car fillter £28.00 from Ducati £6.00 from local factor with same part no, but no Ducati stencile, im sure there will be a deluge of thats bullshit replys! but its just what i have come across over the yrs and iv lived lots of them.

 

Please tell us what car belt fits an 848.
You are not the first person by any means to think this but to my knowledge no one has ever managed to cross reference to any car belt other than the Clio belt mentioned by Steve.
If you can succeed where so many have failed, please put your money where your mouth is and share the information.

 

cant say about belts tho i have heard about the clio belts fitting some models. but the rest perfectly true. bit OT. i can give you plenty of examples of filter applications where you open the dealer box to find a Mann filter same part no but three times the price.
shared engine parts from alfa being twice the price of the same fiat part which is still more expensive than the same vauxhall part.
anyhoo, T.Belt. easy peasy. just lots of little jobs. tensioning being the most critical operation.

 

i have however tried getting my main supplier to cross reference gates part no's. they couldn't. so they said.
anyhoo, i use exige's belts now.

 

wow, and breath dude. i'm the grumpy forum member btw, you aint taking that crown.
airfolw meters, egr valves, vacuum and pressure sensors, oil switches rpm and phase sensors, as you stated T.P.S sensors. get the bosh or other part no off it, cross reference it. money in the bank.
same with bearings, get the timken no, cross reference it. sorted.
i use youtube a fair bit when i come across something for the first time. 10mins on there saves many more out there

 

on some threads in particular i very much agree with that.
anyhoo, T.Belts it can put a particular fear in to people. garages make a fortune out of that fear.
i think its 50% ability 50% having the tools and time.

 

The oil filter is generally the same as for a 2cv. The SS and 2v monster air filter is the same as for an Audi 924.
These sorts of things are known and there are sticky threads on here listing them.
If someone can find out from their friendly local Gates rep what car belts fit Ducatis other than the known Clio belt, that I believe would be a world first.
This forum is brilliant at helping other members, whether schoolgirls or not. I have very recent, very direct experience of this and I am extremely grateful for it.
I have a Ducati 999.

 

A well kown indipendant ducati specialist told me that the desmo system puts a lot more strain on the belts than a coventional valve train would, so i asked why it is you can turn ducati cams by hand and a clio in this case require's a socket or spaner? he told me that people like me were bad for his business!!

 

Which is exactly why many of us choose to ignore the Ducati 2-yearly cycle.

 

hear yah, i mentioned that on a similar thread a while back.
they also have much shorter service interval life spans. i recon these intervals have as much to do with the accountants contribution as the engineers. but i have to tell customers the recommendations, i cant afford to be held responsible for any potential failures. if a customer asks me to check, i wont. it's do or not do. no in between.
it should however be pointed out that bikes use smaller drive gears and run at a much higher RPM''s in general so swings and roundabouts. my fugly is way overdue the belts. i have em. got them from exige yonks ago. just haven't found the motivation. deffo doing it his year along with the valve clearances. according to the service book both are now 3years overdue or 10k for the shims in miles which ever comes sooner. belts are about due in miles

 

The most effective way to deal with sceptical dickheads, wankers and pricks like me is to prove them wrong, not swear at them and call them names.
You have an opportunity to be a legend in the Ducati world here by persuading your Gates-rep friend to list what identical standard Gates car belts fit what Ducatis.
Please, please, please be a hero to all Ducati owners and find this out for us but please forgive me if I don't hold my breath while you do it.

 

So you're saying that you have a friendly Gates rep who reckons he could tell you exactly what apparently identical Gates car belt would fit what Ducati, which is something that has never been achieved before but we have to do our own research to find this out for ourselves.
You are calling me a prick/wanker/dickhead??
If the cap fits, please do feel free to wear it.

 

Sorry Dan, got sidetracked there.

on the 2-valve bikes it is very simple but it is a little more complicated on 4 valve bikes like the 848.
As recommended on the Cycleworks video, a crank-turning tool does simplify things because you then just turn the motor 90* to do the second belt but they are very cheap.
Also, I did find the cam holding tool wasn't necessary, I managed fine without it.
If you have an iphone, you can download a Gates app that is intended for tensioning bicycle drive belts but works fine on Ducati cam belts. This measures the tension in Herz as you pluck the belt with your finger.
Two things to watch for are to make absolutely 100% sure you turn the tensioning pulley the right way to tighten it and to make sure the pulley is sitting flat because there is a stepped spacer that can make it wonky, certainly on a 999.
Just put a straight edge across both guide pulleys to check.
It's also a good idea to check the guide pulley bearings are good by giving them a spin while the belts are off.

 

Your very angry! But you do realise this thread is in the 848 section of the forum don't you
And you do know Ducati Belts were upgraded due to breakages and the Clio belts were not, even if it was ever true in the first place.

Please don't attack me, I'm quite delicate and chill man