Ducati Monster Forum

My 09 696 manual says to change the belts every 24 months / 15k miles, and to check/adjust the valve clearances every 12 months / 7.5k miles. I don't ride anywhere close to these miles, so I am wondering when I should actually perform these tasks?

Does the timing belt go bad after 24 months? Do the valve clearances change by themselves?

I can log maybe 500 miles a year on the bike.

The service manual for my 796 has a footnote denoted by a (1) indicating "operations to be performed only if set distance interval is reached" (i.e regardless of time). Adjusting the valve clearance is one of them. Replacing the timing belts is not. Maybe the timing belts are like tires and become less pliable with time.

Whats the point of owning a bike then? unless you like collecting them.

The reason for the belts time limit is because the material degrades as its exposed to different temperature and humiditys.

Even if you were to keep it in perfect conditions, i would still replace them. Mostly because you are probably allowing the belts to sit for a long time, they tend to take the shape of the cam after sitting down for a while.

In all reality though, your belts wont really snap even if you went pass the mileage and time by a few thousand or even a few months. But the damage is not worth the risk.

After 5 years you probably really should change the belts. Don't worry about the valves until 7,500 if it runs OK. Ducati is conservative regarding the belts for obvious reasons. They have no issue with you putting 15,000 miles on them in two years before replacement though.

The later belts, maybe on your '09, are Kevlar reinforced and have red lettering or numbers. The manufacturer rates these at 10 years, but not necessarily doing Ducati duties.

In "olden time" on my Pantah-based bikes, Ducati had no time recommendation. Those I used to replace when they started throwing "powder", (Lots of black "dust"), maybe every 3 - 4 years.

When I asked my dealer, master tech, about this, he indicated that the 4-valve bikes were a lot harder on belts than the two-valve bikes.

I'm told by engineers in the field that a standard for part strength is three times expected load.

I never asked about how that relates to maintenance, but have always expected most recommendations are similarly conservative.

Therefore on certain recommendations I'll double the time requirement assuming I've not yet at least met the mileage requirement.

it varies A LOT.

if you use a number like 3, you knowingly admit that you dont really know when it fails.
a value of 2, means you know when it fails but you dont really trust the application of the load.
a value of 1 is you know exactly when it will fail and you know the exact load at which it will fail.

When materials undergo cyclical loading, it is not uncommon to see a 50% reduction in the load required to caused failure ( or a ratio of 2.0). cylical loading to damage is not linear, so if you increase the reducation to say 40% it does not mean you've increased the life of the component equally. All materials are a bit different.

therefore you cannot assume that if you have a reduced the load by 3 times, you can get 3 times the life out of it. You may actually get 5 times the life out of it.

As for the length of time, conditions vary too much to make a assumption on how far you let it go. If its mild temperatures and mild humidity, i will do 3 years without worrying too much though. Outside of that, its up to you. belts are cheap ($100 for a pair in most cases) and easy to swap. why risk engine damage?

So, I've put ~17K on my bike since I had the belts done last April, they still look great, but I have to say I check them pretty regularly (after every ride, usually daily during the week). I also have open covers which makes this a bit easier. The new belts are the CA Cycleworks belts so I'm not really sure when I should start to worry.

I guess I should add that my doubling of the time on some maintenance items (again assuming lack of mileage) is also based on two decades of professional observation in the field of vehicle maintenance and repair.

It also assumes my own personal usage and care which is on the gentle side of things, meaning little abuse and relatively mild temperatures.

It's also a very loose standard that I vary case by case.

That said, my research into belts led me to feel comfortable planning to change ours this coming summer.

after seeing them lift thousands of pounds with the belt. im pretty comfortable running them 3years of 24,000 miles of moderate riding.

I was hoping to hear something like that...

After 4 years and very few miles the belts on my 900 were more like plastic rings than pliable kevlar reinforced belts.

I reckon time has a bigger effect than miles, particularly if the bike is sitting around.

I just pulled some belts off an M900 that a dealer (interstate) said were changed as part of it's regular servicing. The bike sat around a lot, unused due to issues and the old looking belts had cracks and splits appear when you squeezed them in your hands off the bike which otherwise were invisible when on the pulleys.

The more I read, the more I'm gonna stand by my four years, gentle usage, 7500 miles change interval...I'll let you all know for sure this summer....

Strength of the belt is only one factor.  Time, temperature, contamination, frequency of change in RPM and load, belt adjustment, frequency of start from rest plus many other factors I can't think of at the moment will all affect belt life.  Factory intervals are preventative maintenance, therefore conservative since the idea is to replace before failure.  I was working on cars with timing belts back in the early '70s when the common interval was 25K miles.  I also owned two of them, a Honda and a Lancia.  I saw cars with 100K, belt never changed.  I also saw many premature failures, including my two.  The Honda at 24ish K on the road, thank goodness not an interference engine and the Lancia while manually turning the engine to line up the marks.  That was an interference (like our Ducatis) engine.  If I started it up that morning it would not have been pretty.

If an individual wants to extend the interval and increase the risk, fine.  To advise others to do the same, IMO, is not so fine.

2014 Monster 1200 calls for a belt change by time at 60 months, 796 is still 24.  Difference?  Cam profile and timing maybe?  They just haven't got around to changing the interval for the older bikes?  Dunno, but I wouldn't want to find out by extending the interval on my 796.

To be clear, I'm making no recommendations other than to explain my reasoning and, so far, my experience...ymmv

That said, even you admitted, factory maintenance intervals are CONSERVATIVE.

Yes I did.  Sorry if you thought I was referring to you.  If not, thanks for the clarification.

The master tech at my dealer has told me the belts don't need to be changed until the 4 year mark, assuming the mileage isn't too high.  I had to insist the belts on my Sport 1000 be changed after three years, but my 796 won't be changed until fall 2014, which is about the four year mark.

The belts on my 696 are over 5 years old. It seems like a lot of work to even just inspect them, I might replace them if they are easy to do. I'm trying to find a DIY write-up for the 696 as I have never done this job before on a Ducati.

Just making sure...it's all good.

Consider the ramifications of not replacing them before you make a decision based on ease of replacement.

i once ran a set of ca-cycleworks belts over 24,000 miles.  in fact it was more like 30,000.  That was in a little over 2 years.  I compared them to new ones when I replaced them and except for the logo being worn off they looked and felt just like new ones.  They were a tiny bit bigger/longer than the new ones, but less than 1/2".

However, OP, if your bike sits, the belts can allegedly deform around the pullies which might cause more trouble.  5 years?  That's beyond my comfort, but I guess it's not my bike.

There's a pretty good video chris kelley did about replacing the belts.  The vert cylinder is a pain in the ass, but otherwise I think the first time I did it was about a 90 minute job, from putting in on the rear stand to taking it off.

I can agree with this for my bike. It was sitting at my dad's house for 3 years while I was away in Japan. When I found out I was coming back, I called up Tom in Phoenix and had him pick up and service the bike. I didn't want to start it after it had sat for 3 years on those stock belts.

Now, I have the CCW belts now and ride between 600 and 750 a week. Like I said ~17k since last April. I'll continue to check them regularly...

 FWTW, when I picked up my current bike it had the original belts, 3000 miles, and was assembled in 2007. I got it in august of 2013. I rode it a little bit then installed the CWW belts, and the old ones looked perfect and the tension was good. I will be doing the job at Ducatis recommendation in the future.

FWIW tire rubber is normally good for up to 10 years according to some major tire manufacturers. I understand there was an ABC news segment that said it is 6 years, but I physically contacted a bunch of tire OEMs to ask and they said no more than 10 years if the vehicle isn't driven much and is stored indoors outside of the elements. Kevlar reinforced rubber sounds like similar material to tires.

They're both black.  

And since tyres are exposed to UV, if your belts are still under the stock belt covers..... by your logic they should last for decades  [thumbsup] [bang].

Well, Harley final drive belts are toothed, kevlar reinforced rubber belts, and can last for a decade or more, and 100k miles ...

Herpes lasts for life.  What's your point?
 

That the Harley final drive belt is as close to apples-to-apples as you find in the world of motorcycles.

It's a toothed belt, that, although not timed, does NOT jump teeth without failing.

It's under no less tension or stress.

It's under no less severe ambient operating conditions.

Yet lasts SIGNIFICANTLY longer than the seemingly uber-conservative replacement intervals of the Ducati timing belts.

Hell, let's look at autos. What timing belt equipped auto, working against significantly higher forces thanks to valve springs, has a replacement interval anywhere NEAR 2 years/15k miles.

They're more likely 50-90k miles with nothing less than maybe 5-10 years.

PS, I've seen the commercials, you can take your herpes kayaking...

Cool.  So some shit lasts longer (or is forecast to last longer) than some other seemingly similar shit.  Got it  [thumbsup].

I agree Ducati timing belt replacement schedules are conservative.

As conservative as the consequences of belt failure are nasty.

Would you say that automotive interference motor timing belt failure is any less catastrophic?

Hell, I could buy a new Ducati for the price of some longblock automotive motor replacements.

I guess I'm playing devil's advocate here, but I'm mostly saying that Ducati replacement intervals are RIDICULOUSLY conservative for the average street bike.

Depends.  How much does it cost to replace?  Can I do it at home myself?  Is it a rental car?

I'm mostly saying that the catastrophic damage resulting from finding out the point at which ridiculous ends... is something I'm prepared to approach conservatively  ;).

AHAHAHAH!!!! Ive got a screen full of spit and water!!!!


Unless you have the math to prove it (or a copy of their design calcs) I wouldnt say something with such certainty. You dont know if they designed the belt with a safety factor design or a type of load resistance factored design (which uses probability of failure modes to apply a strength reduction factor). You dont know what kind of assumptions they used when they designed it, in fact the only thing you do know is that it hasnt broken on you.

Automotive timing belts do not run anywhere as tight a radius at the sprockets and generally don't run as high RPMS or changes in engine speed.  Nor are most automotive belts removed and re-tensioned (another stress) for valve adjustments They also do sometimes fail prematurely.  There has also been a slow move from belts back to chains.  

Condition of the rubber is, although the usual failure on a Ducati, not the only consideration.  The aramid fiber will, though not as quickly as steel, eventually fail, undetectable to the eye until too late.

That and more.  My dad never changed brake fluid or transmission fluid in his cars and never had a problem.  Guess I should do the same?  Or maybe that is why I couldn't stop his Lincoln from 100 MPH?

You're right, I don't have any hard and fast science to go on with regards to the particular belt composition, loads, etc.

I only have anecdotal evidence.

It seems to me that in this thread alone with have what, a half-dozen (I didn't go back and count) people who have DOUBLED the time requirement on their belts without a single report of a problem.

It seems that at least one report from a Ducati master-tech who advised the same.

Though not direct comparisons, the Harley final drive belt and the automotive timing belts certainly add some evidence that belts in these types of applications can have SIGNIFICANTLY longer shelf lives (with regards to not degrading too rapidly just from ambient exposure over time).

Certainly I would think the Harley drive belts have much higher loads on them, even considering what I think is a larger size belt.

I don't know that I'd consider the rpm differences that much between an automotive drive belt and Ducati, not unless we're talking a race environment. But of course, the difference in replacement intervals are just staggering, off the chart different. Perhaps radius is a bit tighter, but is it enough to make THAT big a difference?

I guess part of my attitude stems from watching maintenance intervals across the entire industry both be extended as materials and designs have improved, and also be ignored by the average consumer with only the most extreme examples usually resulting in a catastrophic failure. I realize that is a HUGE generalization, but it certainly suggests that manufacturers are purposely conservative with their recommendations (perhaps as much to counteract the public's tendency to stretch it out anyway as it is to protect their reputation by preventing problems).

Again, I'm not telling anyone what to do here. But the overwhelming evidence that I've sourced from multiple owners of Ducatis is that given reasonable/gentle usage, the OEM replacement interval of time alone seems uber-conservative.

No, I'm not about to use it till it breaks for a data point.

I AM trying to make sure that we at least hit the 7500 mile mark by the close of year 4 and we'll just go ahead and do the whole she-bang (belts and valves).

But I'm certainly not going to stay up late at night worrying that 3 year old belts are gonna go on my bike with only 5k miles on em.

I asked Gates and they weren't adamant about any type of lifespan for the belts (probably to cover all their bases), but they did say the shelf life of timing belts is typically 6 years.

This is not saying that the OEM Ducati belts will last shorter or longer, but it seems like the same conservative estimate that some tire manufacturers used to use a few years ago, although many tire OEMs now indicate the shelf life is 10 years for tires.

-Shelf life is not the same as service life. Shelf life is idea storage condition, with out any loads.
-Engineers don't use loads to design, its about stress (which takes into account cross sectional area(..or whatever type of load geometry that is important), so the larger belt with higher load is the same thing is a lower load on a less wide of a belt). i.e. there is no comparison of force that is valid.
-The pulley diameter has a SIGNIFICANT impact for two reasons. First is the moment arm, the bigger a pulley is, the less load it applies on the belt (consequently, you can increase the load by decreasing the pulley diameter , this is why it is easy to leverage a 1ton block with a 10ft pipe, and not so easy with a 1 foot pipe). the second reason is that the smaller diameter leads to increased velocity at the leading edge, faster moving belt = larger kinematic stresses, which if you are looking at it from an energy stand point, double the speed actually squares your energy input. So while the force between the two comparisons (harley final drive and the ducati pulley) isnt really a reliable stand point, the pulley diameter is.

Lastly, as materials improve and testing becomes more involved, we dont just say, well use the same conservative factor to reduce the service load. Instead we make the part smaller, and load it closer to failure, since we know when it will fail. So it should be even MORE important for us to follow the maintenance schedule.

That said, even if there are dozens of people here (myself included) who have safely gone past 2 years,12,000 miles. Just dont try to sell it to someone without telling them the ramifications.


Funny because my dad never changes his oil. His 1988 toyota 4runner had the same oil (actually, thats a lie, the gasket blew at 150,000 miles and it required a top up every 5,000 miles so theres your oil change) for its whole 350,000 mile life. About the only thing that was changed was the spark plug (fouling from burning oil). It lost a cylinder in its last 5,000 miles of life before hitting the scrap yard. If you dont particularly care about your car, or its reliability (though it was deadly reliable) id say its cheaper to NOT change your oil and just buy another freaking car when it dies!

Sorry for misusing terms, but in-service life, stress, or bend aside, my anecdotal points remain.

I'm not trying to sell it to anyone who doesn't understand the ramifications, or honestly to anyone who does other than to explain my conclusions after researching with many owners and techs.

I've spent my life around engineers, and was raised by one, so I understand their reluctance to abandon math for intuition and experience, but I also think even the best engineering calculations are proven or disproven in testing, and THAT'S where anecdotal evidence comes into play.

Interesting.
Has anyone actually experienced first hand a broken belt or is it all what if?

My Dealer says it is OK to do 4 years on a belt. They have not had any snap. All they say is check the tension and see if they are showing signs of deterioration regularly.
I hear lots of horror stories about belts braking on many forums but there is not much evidence, most breaks seem to be due to neglect (Tension).
I just searched this forum and I could only find one snapped belt thread.
The comments about pulleys being small unlike cars which is a reason for more frequent changes is a bit lame. The crank pulley on my M1100 is more or less the same size as that on my Lancia (car) admittedly the cam pulleys are way bigger, but a lot of cars now run balancer shafts with tiny pulleys the same size as the cam pulleys on the Monster, these camblets last considerably longer.  And if you factor in heat how can an exposed air cooled engine run hotter belts than a transverse mounted encased belt turbo charged engine?

It is a shame no one has solid proof other than hear say. You pay your money you take the risk.

Edit
I found this if your interested some FACTS on belts from Gates http://www.gatesmectrol.com/mectrol/index.cfm?location_id=5319 (http://www.gatesmectrol.com/mectrol/index.cfm?location_id=5319)

From a design perspective, I would want to make sure that the valves open and close at the right time relative to the crank/pistons.  There will be minor changes to the valve timing when the belt stretches (and it does every second the engine is running), since we all know the load on the belts is not uniform.  What this basically means is that the cams are being tugged around by the belts and sometimes the cams might be "ahead" of the crank and sometimes "behind"  thus, the timings is very minorly "variable".  If you keep your belts replaced on a regular basis, the stretch and flex experienced over the service time will be more uniform, thus performance will be more consistent (all else being equal).

From a racer's perspective, trying to keep the engine running and bike performing as consistently as possible is the best way to achieve race wins.  The practical result from consistent bike performance on a road bike is reliability/consistency.

Ducati's main goal is to achieve customer satisfaction.  They gain nothing if a customer bombs an engine because the factory service schedule is set to aggressively. In fact, it is to their detriment because then they will likely have more warranty claims (which cost them money).  Also, Ducati has only a very small amount of experience with the bikes they sell when they initially put them up for sale.  But of course, at the time they put them up for sale, they have to make some kind of recommendation about when to change parts and they can only go on past experience and how good they feel about the new design.

In aircraft design, fatigue/maintenance limits are defined by calculations and mfr experience at the time of certification/approval.  As customer experience is reported back to the mfr, the mfr adjusts the service times/limits accordingly.  Ducati does the same thing, only they probably don't worry too much about revising old models since they are a lot more disposable than a 747 engine.

I've had my 750 for 5.5 yrs and changed the belts after about 4 years and 15000 miles and only adjusted them a few times in between.  I am just now adjusting the valves.  This is my own schedule based on how the bike feels to me regarding power delivery and also due to my laziness.

Most people buy Ducati's on emotion not on the maintenance cost, and Ducati knows this.  They also know that people buying Ducati's probably have the cash to change belts to make sure they can ride the bike down to the coffee shop and show off their coolness to all the other bikers.....   [evil]

Just a few comments: your thought on the pulley size being a lame excuses i the lamest thing ive ever heard. (see how that works?....hint: it doesnt matter if its lame or not, science isnt as cool as you think it is sometimes). BTW If you click on the link you provided the first thing they say is how the belt is affected by the timing gear. Im putting this in layman terms since its a pretty technical article.

Anyway, i should probably point out that belt failure isnt caued by the belt SNAPPING (though it can certainly fail that way). Ive never heard of a belt snap (on a ducati, and the only one that did was caused by CA cycleworks bouncing a shit ton of weight on one). Belt failure comes from the strands coming loose (its the glue that fails) and the strands get caught in the pulley.

I've seen two types of belt failures on Ducatis.  The rubber itself becoming hard and brittle or the cords failing.  Strength comes from the cords, power is transmitted through the rubber.  As I said before, I've been working on cars with timing belts since 1974, before many of you were born.  I also owned several of them, two which failed prematurely.  And, yep, one day when visiting a dealer I saw a rather hard ridden 748 (red belts) that came in for the 12k service with the belts held together by a few cords.  One more start up, kaboomy! I also saw belts last four and five times the interval.   

Since we don't get Lancias in the US I am not familiar with the layout of the timing belts so I can't comment, but balance shafts generally have little load and the belt might not wrap around them as much as a cam sprocket.  Also most cars do not have you release the tension on the belts to adjust valves, then retension, an added stress.  Again a maintenance interval on a part like that will be appropriately conservative, but to not follow the schedule is like not putting money in a parki8ng meter in NYC.  Save a quarter, possibly loose hundreds and a lot of inconvenience.  Belt breaks you will at least need some valves at about you are looking at over $100 per valve plus labor at a minimum, a trashed engine worst case scenerio, and if it happens far from home?

I dropped a valve at highway speeds and did a ton of damage. $1000 for both heads to get new valves, valve guide and gaskets. This doesn't even  include the labor to get the head off and back on. I ended up just getting a new motor entirely! Failure mode was different bit the damage was the same. Not worth it!

Preventative Maintenance beats Corrective Maintenance on any day, even on a good one.  I am forever confronted (challenged) on the beat-to-death subjects of Safety Factors and of ‘Over Engineering’.  Truth be told; your life, limbs and wallet have probably been thankful many a time for those without you even knowing about it.  These factors empirically take care of the Conditions that cannot reliably be calculated or foreseen – or which might simply not even have been anticipated. Where they can be, they are incrementally considered – which is why Service Intervals are increasingly improving.  Everybody uses their Bikes in different ways; some nurse them, some race them, some abuse them, neglect them.  Some will start them cold, smoke the rear tire for half a minute at top revs to impress their swaggering mates and then shut it down again.  Sometimes you miss a gear, sometimes you lug it and stall it.

And there is NO WAY that you can compare the highly strung, erratically loaded life of a Timing Belt to an H-D Final Drive, or to tires.  Each individual component faces unique Engineering Prerequisites and bespoke Design Conditions.

Do yourself, your Bike, its next Owner and your Wallet a favor and follow the Manufacturers Recommendations.  Always.  It never seizes to amaze me how many Users of a Product will forever know better than its Originator.  There is no problem with fitting higher spec Consumables (e.g. best-in-class Timing Belt, Oil Filter Brands) or even servicing more frequently than mandated (e.g. Oil & Hydraulic Fluid Changes), but if you choose to undercut it might just be at your own peril.  The Brits quite rightly call it; being penny-wise and pound-foolish.

Changing it every 2 years even though it just sits in a garage or gets ridden 200 miles every 2 years just seems ridiculous. Everyone says it is easy to do, yet I haven't seen a single thorough DIY article on changing the belts on a 696/796 that covers all of the procedures (not just the tensioning part).

I had questions about the horizontal exhaust pipe, the O2 sensor, and the vertical timing belt cover bolt (the one that sits behind the frame) that remained unanswered by people that supposedly did the easy change.

I have the ExactFit belts and the crank turning tool, as well as some 6mm steel rods to secure the cams, but I won't be doing this until the weather gets above 50F which means April or May in Michigan. But I have been taking notes, it just seems odd that there aren't more resources on changing the belts on a 696/796. I have the factory procedure but it tells you to remove everything without going into details or providing suggestions on what tools to use.

[roll]

So dont.  See if anybody else cares.

FMD  [bang]

Thanks for the informative reply. I said it is ridiculous, but I am still planning to change them since they are almost 6 years old on my 696. When mentioning this aspect of Ducati maintenance to other bikers at work who have Harleys or Japanese bikes, they agree it is also ridiculous to have to do this so often even if the bike isn't operated.

However, I still have questions about changing the belts on the 696/796 that no one seems to have answers to, even though many people have said it is easy and they have done it previously.

Do I need to remove the horizontal exhaust pipe? If so, what tool should I use to remove the O2 sensor? How do I access the vertical timing belt cover bolt that is right behind the frame? A ball-end allen wrench fits, but how do I torque this to 10 N-m if a socket cannot fit? I think I have a good grasp on the tensioning, since there are many many guides and videos written up for 2V/4V engines - but its the 696/796 specific tasks to access the belts that I'm curious about.

Sure sounds like a bunch of people care... <shrugs>

Sorry  :-[

I sincerely apologise for my flippant response.

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=sawzall (http://lmgtfy.com/?q=sawzall)

I would certainly not remove the horizontal cylinder header.
The vertical, yes, unless you have Cinderella hands  ;D
The tank should be getting lose, to allow easier vertical cover slide up.
You better have flex joint tools in your set, as things are tight in there (vertical cylinder).

Hmmm, but the horizontal header is the one that runs right in front of the timing belt covers?

I have a flex joint adapter, but there doesn't seem to be enough room behind the frame to access the vertical timing cover bolt. I can fit a ball-end allen key but that's about it.

A few ideas:

(http://thumbs3.ebaystatic.com/d/l225/m/mUvYoXARYijICJOFve0Fo2A.jpg)

(http://www.greatnecktools.com/upload/products_images/28007.jpg)

(http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/wcsstore/CVWEB/staticproductimage//N3417A/large/25980654_kdt_kdt82400_pri_larg.jpg)

Yes, remove the horizontal exhaust pipe.
You'll need a 24mm open-end wrench to remove the O2 sensor.
Use the short end of a regular L-style allen wrench to both loosen and tighten that cover bolt, and a ball-end to do the wholesale turning.
If you want to be fanatical about the 10 N-m, use a torque wrench to tighten one of the bolts that's accessible, then loosen it with the L-style wrench to get a feel for it.
Then have a conservative go at tightening that bolt with the L-style wrench, and then check with the torque wrench.
Repeat as necessary to get a 'feel' for it.

It's really far more difficult and time consuming than it should be, but that's the case on most every maintenance item onn newish Ducatis.

Maybe we mean the same thing, but I have to ask.
What do you mean for "horizontal"?
The horizontal cylinder header, or the header which crosses horizontally the vertical cylinder cover (IOW, the vertical cylinder header)?
Because I see no reason to remove the former.

This header, that connects to the horizontal cylinder:

(https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSlwNLDVDVOwrU8H7wswrBvzoPFiGiO31CwGIDrth0HdXtI4jxJsw)

OK, 696 land. I was speaking 1100 EVO-ish  ;D

don't you just hate specifics.

before you remove the 696 belts put some locating marks on the pulley surrounds.  they don't have any timing marks for the cams.

Well, I won't be able to tell you how long my CA-Cycleworks belts last. Had about 20K on them and found a seized tensioner bearing on the horizontal cylinder. Belt held up remarkably well considering I have no idea how long it was seized.

NAKID: Damn, that sucks!

I pulled the horizontal timing belt cover just to look around (still too cold to work on the bike in Michigan) and noticed quite a bit of bearing grease on the inside of the cover and around the tensioner and idler pulleys. How much grease is too much grease? They still spin freely.

The belt still looks almost new after 6 years. I didn't see any belt dust or excessive wear on the smooth part of the belt, and the cogs look about as new as the new CA Cycleworks belts I have in the box.

I noted that the pulleys have purple/yellow paint dots, and my stock belts are the Ducati 737.4.024.1A part number and marked "Gates PowerDrive HT-D, Made in UK".