Have any of you tried the subject collets and, if so, have you found increasing the valve adjustment intervals from 4 or 6,000 mi. to 18,000 to be reasonable?
If you aren't familier w/ the product, go here:
http://www.mbpducati.com/2v/index.htm (http://www.mbpducati.com/2v/index.htm)
Jim H in OH
I don't have actual information on this, but from following a lot of Ducati sites for many years, I got the impression that if you installed them on an engine with quite a few miles you still need to check the first couple of intervals until they settle in. Since you should be changing your belts every 12,000 miles anyway, I would expect that to be a good time to be checking the valve clearances anyway.
I'm counting on even stock collets needing less frequent adjustments as the miles pile up.
If you do a search on this site for, MBP collet, there are allot of posts about this subject.
Quote from: ScottRNelson on December 16, 2008, 02:26:37 PM
I don't have actual information on this, but from following a lot of Ducati sites for many years, I got the impression that if you installed them on an engine with quite a few miles you still need to check the first couple of intervals until they settle in. Since you should be changing your belts every 12,000 miles anyway, I would expect that to be a good time to be checking the valve clearances anyway.
I'm counting on even stock collets needing less frequent adjustments as the miles pile up.
You are correct. Stock collets will harden and need less adjustments. Problem is they break very often. I did a 12k check only to find 2 or my 4 had split in half.
MBP will NOT do this. BTW, I have MBP in mine and YES they do break in and even with them, the clearances change a bit. I'm going to do a quick valve adjust after 6k more miles to see how much the clearances have changed since my install.
The stock half rings deform, which is where a lot of the clearance changes come from. Once the valve seat stops moving around, the only other thing to deform/move are those half rings. On SBK's, when you beat the piss out of them normally most of the rings are broken when it comes time for a valve check/adjustement. My first 999 needed adjusting at 6K (all of them) and only 4 (2 openers/2 closers) needed it at 12K. 18K it hadn't moved.
On a buddies track bike was a different story. Always needing adjustements, new half rings, etc. RPM plays a huge role in this. Once he went to the MBP collets, the need to re-shim dropped to almost zero. Just a check and done.
MBP collects take care of the half rings moving/deforming. Although a pain to install, on a high RPM motor that is worked a lot, definatly a worthwhile mod.
On a street bike/monster that isn't turning 11k rpm at the track for hours on end, I think it's a bit more trouble and $$$ than it's worth. Keep in mind that installing them is like doing 2 valve checks. You've got to install the keepers, then a shim. Take a measurement, and then re-install the correct shim...then double check your measurement again :) 16 times (in a SBK).
My .02$
I'll let you know when I get to 18K......... I had em' installed at 12K on my S2R1K as I had the valve guides replaced under warranty & I got them installed free of charge. I paid for them of course but I figured since the heads were off, why not ??? Luckily in my case, the first tech left an oil seal loose & the bike was smoking like my 1979 Suzuki RM 80. Took it to another dealer to have the oil seal replaced & the tech noticed all the clearences were too tight...... got them set right & it's run smoke free & strong ever since [laugh]
FWIW my stock keepers looked pretty good @ 12K....... they sure are thin though...... they look like bent wire whereas the MBP ones are much beefier & machined nicely. Probably overkill on my bike for how it's ridden but I figured it would be one less thing to replace down the road & I wanted to take full advantage of my warranty ;)
If your opening clearance is becoming smaller (which will happen), than the valve is wearing into its seat. The MBP collets will do nothing for this. MBP collets will help but you should still check the clearance as recommended.
Quote from: Armor on December 21, 2008, 10:40:08 AM
If your opening clearance is becoming smaller (which will happen), than the valve is wearing into its seat. The MBP collets will do nothing for this. MBP collets will help but you should still check the clearance as recommended.
OR The half rings are getting squished. After ~6K miles, in my experiance, the seats are done with any movement. I'm sure it occurs somewhere much sooner than this, but the amount of movement early on is quite a bit more when compared to 6k, 12k etc...
The ONLY way the opening clearance closes up is valve seat wear. Three of my openers needed sanding at 18,000 mi.
You are right, I'm thinking backwards :D :o [thumbsup]