What about bikes that are mostly laid up? Belts on my ST4s and 749R both have less than 2k miles on them, but are 3-4 years old.
if your bikes are laid up then you dont need to touch them but if you fire up the bike on idle on the odd occasion then maybe you should check them for piece of mind.If the bike goes back on the road then news ones are the way forward because of the age
All depends on your level of paranoia imho. My daughter's Fiesta had the same belt for 120,000 miles and 14 years and it didn't break. I very much doubt Fiesta belts are tougher than Ducati and Fiesta belts have to overcome strong valve springs, which Ducati belts don't. If your belts have been out of sunlight and not subjected to extremes of heat or cold, why would they suffer any significant degradation??
That's rather my view: they're only a few years old in each case, and have very low mileages. I turn the engines over regularly, so kinking shouldn't be an issue. I'll have both bikes back on the road when the snow goes, so will probably change all the belts in the Spring.
I'd be caveating that to within an inch of my life if I were you there OR? Ignoring maintenance windows entirely is something not to be recommended.
As I stated further up this thread. There's a school of thought that regular inspection.of belts is more important than periodic replacement. Belts very, very rarely break on their own, it's generally something else that breaks them. When you change your belts is entirely up to you. The latest Ducatis have much more relaxed belt replacement intervals but there's no apparent evidence that there's anything very different about them.
It's a dodgy area to comment on, some will hear your advice as it's intended. Others will only hear that they don't need to change them. Personally I'd cover myself and urge caution. For my bikes I've taken a view that it's 3 years but I don't go further because "what if..." and I don't need those thoughts when I'm galloping on. When asked; I quote the manufacturer guidance, and then add on "but this is what I do". 120k on a Fiesta isn't comparable with a motorcycle in my view. The consequences of a belt breaking or coming off in a car would be expensive and annoying, on a bike those consequences could be more serious. I do agree that the belt isn't the only factor, tensioners and pulleys often are the culprits rather than belts. Not asking anyone to agree with any of that. I make my own informed decisions and go with those. Don't expect anyone to do otherwise.
Most Fords are 100,000 or 10 years... Most Kits will include all rollers, and a water pump, if driven by the cam belt....
I’m fairly handy with my mechanicalness.... but I’ve never done belts on a ducati. Could someone share the steps for changing out the belts of a 999R. Pitfalls and tools required, basically a step by step. Ill get some belts from Stu. Would appreciate the advice. Many thanks.
