748 head-work?
 

We have an oil leak on the wife's 748sps which appears to be coming from behind the right hand cam bearing carrier on the front cyclinder. According to the workshop manual there is an O ring seal there.

Question: can I get that bearing carrier out wihtout dismantling the whole head and removing the cam?

What follows on from that is even if I can do that, how appallingly difficult will it be to reset the cam timing and retension the belt?

Your input appreciated - please bear in mind we live in the scottish borders so popping off to the local Duc specialist isn't really an option!

Not so easy, this one, I am afraid. If it's leaking on the pulley side of the cam you will have to remove the cam as it comes out with the bearing and carrier. If it's the other side you can pull out the carrier without removing the cam.

Removing the cam will require quite a bit of disassembly of the head, like removal of timing belt, removal of at least some of the rockers. It's quite involved but possible if you are really good at this sort of thing. Caution is advised.

Felix is right. It's not easy.
You can get the carrier off without removing the cam though, but you will need to hold the pully and get a hold of the socket for the "special" nut that hold the pully on to the end of the cam.
Cam timing will not be too difficult if you time it up beforehand, and reset it afterwards. It's only the one pulley you're likely to disturb.
Belt tension can be done, with care by hand and patience.
Before you jump to the conclusion the leak is from the bearing carrier O=ring though, take a good look to see if it's coming from the plate that sits between the two pulleys. This is more prone to leaking and the gasket is a lot easier to replace. It's a bit tight, but you don't need to diassemble anything other than remove the belt cover.
It could also be the oil seal on the cam.

Thanks for your input guys....

I'm pretty sure it's behind the bearing carrier - I have pulled the belt covers off, cable tied everything out of the way and after cleaning up all the oil, run the bike without the covers. It has also had the cam seal itself replaced before and is still leaking.
Understand what you say about the gasket on the rocker/oilway cover, but again, it doesn't look like that's the culprit.
Basically, that only leaves the O ring behind the bearing carrier....
I will have to get onto DOC and see if I can hire the locking tool for pulley removal then!
thanks

Bon