For all the Desmoquattro owners who find flakes of chrome on the oil strainer, things might not be as bad as they appear. Just prior to my 12000 mile service I dropped the oil from my 02 748E and found 5 fairly hefty flakes of chrome on the strainer. With a heavy heart and humming "Always look on the bright side of life" I took it to Doncaster Motorcycles for what I thought would be a poverty inducing service and rocker arm refurb. To my complete astonishment I received a call 4 days later to say that the service was done and the rocker arms were fine apart from light scuffing with pictures to prove it! The full service came in at much less than 500 quid not including cost of the belts which I supplied. I didn't think an hourly rate of £35 existed anywhere these days especially for a Ducati factory trained mechanic. The bike sounds and rides like new. First time I have used these guys and would highly recommend especially if you baulk at paying £60 and hour excluding VAT. The pictures of the bikes rockers and of it in various states of undress during the service was reassuring and a nice touch. All ready for the new season once the wind has dropped and the rain stops. View attachment 46377 View attachment 46380
CR, MY02 748S (and 748R) had 5 spokes, tiN fork tubes, quick release fairings and fuel lines (748R had a different motor and a lot more differences), the 748E had 3 spokes and normal fuel and fairing fixings. This is an E
Good news indeed, my 748E is in for a similar service as we speak ........ Hopefully good news for me too.
To keep your rockers in good health, always let the engine tick over at around 1000 rpm for a minimum of 90 seconds, as that is how long it takes for the oil to reach the rear cylinder rockers.
Not sure, but they were deffo chrome. I asked the mechanic who did the service and he said "that's Ducati, you get alot of metal bits in your oil". He thought the much later models had the hardened chrome rocker arms.
I'm sorry to reply 'in public' but this has been said twice before recently and I didn't comment. Unless you have oil pump or other oil gallery issues that are less/different than factory spec then this simply isn't true. First time I read it many years ago (won't quote the origin - I think everyone knows by now) I was sceptical. If you want to confirm this for yourself - when you happen to have your bike off the road and the tank is off for maintenance. Put the rear paddock stand on, take both spark plugs out and take a rocker inspection cover off the back cylinder. With the bike in second gear turn the rear wheel slowly while watching the valvegear through the removed cover. Even after two weeks you will see oil appear within around one wheel revolution.
Well, I for one have always done this on my 748 & 748R that I owned, as recommended by more than a few fully Ducati trained mechanics regarding the 748/916/996 superbike models, does not apply to the 998 as it was a testastretta motor. But each to there own.
^ nothing wrong with carefully warming up your engine but this has nothing to do with oil delivery to the vertical cylinder.
With regards to oil not getting to rear cylinder, I don't think the delay is significant (try disconnecting the feed and starting it!) however it is good practice to give it time to circulate before giving it the beans. Ducati made many excuses but the reason they flake is primarily, IMHO, because the plating is crap. When I wrote to Ducati UK after my first 'flaker' they wouldn't even acknowledge that there was a problem, despite Ducati USA having been replacing them under warranty for some time. There are many things you can do to help prevent them flaking and I've always warmed mine up reasonably before any abuse, kept the clearances in spec, used good oil, changed regularly etc. but still had 9 rockers flake. I've now got 'Newman' rockers in there and so believe the problem is no more, however good oil sticks on the rockers, valves & cams for some time, this pic was taken this year whilst servicing my bike - rear cylinder intake cam, look how much oil is still on everything and the engine had not been run for over 3 months, I don't think it ever runs dry; I like Ducatis as much as the next fan-boy but shame on Ducati for letting this rocker problem get out of hand...
Looks like i'm in need of 3 openers & 2 closers ......... replacements sourced but it's still one hell of a .... Kerching !!!!
Nice touch by the garage to take pictures etc. My wife had her car serviced at Nissan the other month and they actually sent her a video to her email showing her what they had done and recommending new brake pads - they actually got the inspection camera and showed her the brake pads in the calipers and how worn they were etc. Made a nice change from just taking their word for what they have done.
We got one of these when my Mrs' car went in for a service to tell us it needed a new wiper blade - I thought it was from 'Ravi of the Halfords adverts...
