749 Servicing
 

Your opinions please:

I have a 749 bip 1st registered in Jan 03 it's had two services, the 1000km and 12months. I believe it's now due another one at 24 months, but it has only covered 900miles (pitiful I know, but I am away a lot). As I understand it the next one is a biggie with a belt change. Do I need this, and how much should I expect to pay?

Also can I or should I bother to extend the warranty?

600-650 quid. my 999 is going in at the weekend.

others will tell you for sure but i dont know if you really need the belts doing, its not even run in yet:o shame on you;)

Hi Dickie,

Where r u taking it ?

jhp on saturday. got to run out now. i'll call you tomorrow.

That will be a nice drive, especially with the hangover that you'll have from Friday :D:D:D:D

Serviciing
 

Forgive me for commenting but I have just acquired a gleaming red 749 Ducati having had a CBR600RR before - it' a great bike and I'll look after it but ... I've been reading posts on the board for a wek or two and hadno intention of registereing but could'nt help responding to this one .... £650 for a service on a bike that has only done 900 miles and has already been serviced once already - surely not ? I know these things are delicate and need TLC but I have no intention of spending that sort of money just to keep the thing on the road - a regular oil change which I can do myself and a service by a competent mechanic (not necessarily a Ducati dealer) is what I intend to do to keep my baby in tip top shape.....
or is there something that I don't know ?

first off, welcome aboard. if you look regularly im sure you'll think its worth posting every now and then and maybe joining up to get involved with some of our trackdays and other activities.

the big thing about ducati's is that they need the belts changing every 2 years or something like 12k miles. this is hugely important to protect the engine and really is a false economy to avoid it. in this case as it has hardly been used it may not be necessary. the 2 year service is a big one and to be honest its probably worth getting it done by an official dealer as if anything needs to be done under waranty it makes it nice and simple.

hope you keep looking on here and decide to join up it really is well worth the dosh.

Is there not a school of thought to suggest that as its been standing, and in relation to the belts as they have being sat in the same position obviously for long periods, it may still be worth changing them as they can become somewhat brittle!

Exactly!
That is why Ducati servicing is now mileage and/or time dependant.ie,600 miles or 6 months,6,000 miles or 12 months,etc,etc.(According to the warranty book)
It does'nt matter if you have done 900 miles or 9,000,if the bike is a year old,it needs a service to satisfy the warranty schedule.
BTW,On lower mileage bikes,some dealers will just do an interim service.My 999 is two years old with 7k on the clock and the last service it had was a 12 month/6,000 miler with a belt change.:)

"Spanner light" flashes at 50 miles before service due then remains lit until reset by Ducati dealer.

Don't know how old your 749 is, but there's also the issue of warranty, and if you read a couple of the other threads on this board I'd say that was more of an issue than saving a few pounds, but then again, are we paying for the warranty with elevated servicing costs?

Thanks guys

I've done a bit of ringing around and the consensus is that the belts must be done, but things like the valve clearance won't be necessary. I'm down to about 550 ish for the service at a main dealer and about 450 at specialists, but one main dealer (the one who did the last service incidently) said they would do it for 200 including the belt change. This seems far too cheap, also it will be out of warranty after 2 years so is it worth keeping in the dealer network or should I keep it in the network and buy the extended warranty (2 years/£299)

is that ducati warranty? if it is i didn't know you could extend the official ducati warranty?
I know you can get an extra year on new bikes as of this year, (within 6 months from date of purchase) to give you 3 years.:puzzled:

Yes a Ducati warranty

OK - thanks for the comments - points noted - now another question - I'm not that keen on the look of the Mitchellins fitted as standard - any suggestions for some good tyres - had Rentecs on the CBR but am tempted by the new Bridgestone 014's - any need or point in going to 190 on the rear ? I won't be doing much mileage till the New Year so have plnety of time to shop around.

im a big fan of pirelli's as are lots on here.
depending on your road to track ratio i would recommend either:
diablo's - mainly road, some wet weather riding:
diablo corsa's - road/track only in wet if you get stuck; supercorsa's - more track work dry only.

stick with the 180, a 190 will slow up the steering.