Ducati Monster Forum

A mate of mine dropped his ST3 off at Euro Twins on Wednesday for a 40000Km service after I raved about Bevan's work.

When we picked up the bike it was perfect but Bevan asked why my mate hadn't had any maintenance done on the bike since new? My mate was confused as he religiously had the bike serviced, from new, at various Ducati authorised agents in Brisbane. According to Bevan, who is a stickler for everything, he believed that fork oil, brake & clutch fluid had never been changed. Also all valve clearances needed adjusting, I mean all of them. The list of "most likely not done stuff" went on and on.

Lesson here is to only have your bike serviced at known good quality shops, such as those recommended on this site. Buyer beware.

I see...

Here's a ponder, how do we know who is actually telling the truth?? Meaning, lets say that the bike was serviced but the new garage/service shop uses the "most likely not done stuff" line as a reason to make the customer think how much better their work is?? How could the customer know, assuming doesn't know mechanical enough, who is truly right or wrong?

NOT saying either is right, I just know that there is always 3 sides to a story, a story that doesn't always need the truth to be entertaining :D....

BUT always good to share info about a caring shop, non the less!

i've seen a few ex sydney mid 90's bikes recently that haven't ever had the tps reset.  stuff like that.  lots of valve clearances on testa motors too that are within ducati spec, but much different to how i set them up.  and it's not much fun doing all 16 on a testa motor.

so it can depend on how you do stuff or what you personally think needs to be done.

very easy way to know who's telling the truth here, just ask anyone who's had work done at a brisbane dealer, then been to eurotwins. bevan does not rubbish any body, in fact i would go as far as to say he goes out of his way to be diplomatic in ways i can only dream about. remember, word of mouth is THE best form of advertising, and i'm one of many who reccomend him for anything bike related, not cause he knows it all but because he knows what he knows and if he doesn't he's honest enough to say so and point you in the right direction.

paul.

I too can only speak highly of Bevan.

With regard to the issue of what was and wasn't done all the Ducati "paint marks" were in place and it's virtually impossible to change the fork oil and head stem bearings without putting some marks on the aluminium. It was pretty obvious when it was pointed out.

I myself am a motor mechanic and did a couple of years at dealerships and know only too well it's all about the bottom line not about quality.

I currently drive a high tech turbo diesel and when I dropped it off for it's first service asked what oil they would use. The answer was "the red stuff" which is in this case Caltex Magnatec. Unfortunately it's not the recommended oil, far from it. I was warned about this tendency to simply use whatever was in the 200L drum by my son, who is also a mechanic.

So once again, buyer beware.

have heard lots of good stuff about Bevan, he has a good following up there..

Having worked for a Dealer I can tell you a lot of the items on the Ducati list don't get done, I never saw brake fluid replaced, Forks done, Fuel filters replaced, Etc, Etc.

I know of one other dealer who never checks valve clearances, The owner says it's set from factory and they really don't ever go out of adjustment much so why worry.
They replace the belts, Oil & filter and send them on there way with a $1000 bill.

That folks, is why I did all my own service work.

How much of this stuff actually needs to be done?

One of the blokes i rode with on Sunday had 50,000km on his last MV F4. He is a mechanic and does all his own work and whilst he checked the valves he said they never needed adjusting. Reckons the valve adjusting is just crap.

crikey! glad he's not my mechanic!
you're missing the point though, it's not whether or not the stuff actually NEEDS to be done, it's that guys and girls are being BILLED for the work when it's not actually getting done, and yes, the work needs to be done.

paul.

I'd have to second Loony. I've been a mechanic since 1978 and have done a fair few valve adjustments and trust me when I tell you that they need checking. Do they always need adjustment, no.

Valves and heads wear due to the forces being applied including heat. As the valve and seat wear the valve slowly "sinks" into the head thereby exposing more of the stem. That reduces the clearances. New materials and better cooling have done wonders but I can guarantee that if you don't check clearances you'll pay the price sooner or later. Worst case is when your exhaust valve clearance get too small and the valve can't seat properly. That will reduce power but more importantly won't let the valve cool between strokes. That leads to valves 'loosing their heads" and you can imaging what that will do to your lovely Ducati engine.

One thing that really confuses me, particularly on 2V engines, is why you wouldn't check them. Lets face it I never owned a bike or car that has such easy access to check valve clearances. My SV650 is way more difficult as was every Honda and Kawasaki I ever owned (don't even get me started on my Alfa).

once mv opened the valve clearance specs from a 0.05mm to a 0.10mm range the need to adjust them pretty much stopped.  so they probably are always ok on it.

but as loony says the issue is deception and taking money for it.