Ducati Monster Forum

I've got a question for the guys with the older monsters: About when did you hit that expensive phase where lots of parts started dying out just from old age? My '95 is at about 62,300mi and I recently had the rear shock start leaking and a needle bearing that the clutch push rod rests on went kaput. I don't doubt that the bike will last me much longer but replacing dying bits hurts my poor college student pocket and the 'rents are saying that I'd be better off dumping it and getting something new with the amount of money I'm putting in.  :-\ Hah, poor college student w/ a Ducati.   :P At least I'm not the guy that had a 1098.   [roll]

I expect that the front shocks will need some looking at soon. I've probably neglected some kind of regular inspection of them already. Then what? Steering stem next?  :P Still don't think I can top the death of my voltage regulator. Nothing like having your bike catch on fire in the middle of stop and go traffic.  ;D

philb here in San Diego has 175,000 mile on his Monster and still floggs the shit out of it everyday.

I'd say you've got no worries. Still cheaper than a payment.

I have a 96 with half the miles and have already done what you have...plus the steering head bearings.

What can you buy for the costs of repairs?

I have 1/6th the miles on mine and I've done everything you list. A lot of that is just maintenance stuff

Buy some tools and a manual and have fun. Plenty of help on here...

Are the forks leaking oil? Leaking seals next to brakes is a bad combination.

I first had my hands on Erik's bike just a little bit over 2 years ago, at 42,550 miles, and have reviewed my records of what's been done.

Bike is now at 62,400 miles.

In that time, the stuff that I would consider as outside the normal maintenance of tires, brake pads, oil changes, valve services, etc... :

Clutch pushrod, needle bearing, and seal died.
Alternator wires connectors fried.
Shock leaking.
Tank hinge leaking.
Sidestand foot severely worn.
Battery straps cracked through.
Cam drive seal leaking.
Front master cylinder corroded.
Plug wires died from exposure.

Forks aren't leaking, but they're showing some pitting from road gravel.

Don't know exactly what all has been done by Erik in that time.

Given that the bike is 14 years old, at that mileage, nothing really outside the realm of what I consider normal.

Dunno what the payment is on a new bike, but the normal wear items; tires, chain and sprockets, brakes, and normal services of valves and oil changes won't be any cheaper per mile on a new Duc.

Dunno. Not much likely but the parents are just worried that it's gonna spontaneously blow up or fall apart.  ;D

Not too likely...

they'll chug happily along for a long time with problems and not 'blow up'.

Yeah, I already did the spontaneously bursting into flames bit. That was fun.  ;D

I know someone who will be selling his non-adjustable Paioli front forks off of his '99 M750 soon.  Could be a good switch from your pitting Showas.

If it were me Erik and you're **REALLY** concerned about it, then you might want to look into a newer bike but remember...  You will have to factor in the selling value of your current bike and the additional insurance coverage on a newer model into your calculations.

Last $.02:  You currently have a bike of known mechanical value and a mechanic that has been consistently maintaining it.  If you get a newer bike, you have NO idea what condition any of it is in.  You may perceive that the newer bike will have less problems but you don't know for certain.

Keep that M900! [thumbsup]

Around your mileage, I`d done pretty much the same work, nothing unnormal I think.
Seems like around that mileage, things start to happen if not before.

I would add rings would be worn now (oil consumtion high?), gas pump diaphragms getting
hard/cracking.

Already dumped my stock vacuum pump for an electric. Wondering if I have a vacuum leak somewhere since new vacuum pumps still resulted in fuel problems.

Oil consumption is a bit high but I've also had a leak around the starter motor for a while that I only just got around to "fixing" (hopefully) recently so it has yet to be seen if that was the sole cause.

Oh, what are these "rings"?

They are on your pistons.  If your bike performs well they are probably fine.  If they are worn a compression, or even better, a cylinder leakage test will confirm this.

They are on your pistons.  If your bike performs well they are probably fine.  If they are worn a compression, or even better, a cylinder leakage test will confirm this.  I think PhilB changed his at about 120K miles.