Should I panic? Bike not serviced in 4 years / 3500 miles...

[Lukey]

Like the title says, my bike has had its initial oil change at 500 miles back in 2004 and nothing done to it since.  Is this extremely bad, requiring immediate attention or can I hold off until 6000 miles (maybe the end of this summer) before doing the service?  What kind of things could go wrong?  Thanks in advance, Luke

[ScottRNelson]

You need to get the cam belts changed right away.  I wouldn't even start the engine before changing the belts if it were me.  A bike that has sat like that will have hard spots on the belts where they've been bent around the pulleys.  Those hard spots are what break.

And you may as well get the oil changed while you're doing the belts.

Don't take a chance of breaking a belt and having your valves meet your pistons!

[Vindingo]

after doing what Scott said right away, you will probably want to get it checked out in 2500 miles, and not another 6000. 

[wbeck257]

Belts are 2 years or 12,000 miles. Change the belts for safe measures.

I change my oil every 3,000 miles. So I would change the oil.

The just check stuff. How is your chain looking? Lube that. Take a good look at your tires, they shouldn't be hard and dry-rotted, but look at them. Just give it a good once or twice over on everything, and ride to 6,000mi and get your normal 6k service.

(Another note, there are several people on here who got their 6k service at 10,000+ miles. That is a whole differnt call though...)

[Slide Panda]

Other stuff due for looking over:
Fluids - clutch and brake should be changed annually
Gas - drain that old stuff while you're dealing with your belts.
Battery - inspect the water level, might need some help
Tires - have a good look while on a stand for flat spots and dry rot.

[KnightofNi]

anything that has sat for a couple of years should have the fluids drained and replaced.

+2 or 3 on the belts, having the piston meet the valve isn't good and can be a bit of a pregnant dog to replace.

as for the service, it's up to you. my first service was done at around 36K and the bike was still ok. i'm not going to let ti go that long again, but it can be done.

[EEL]

BELTS CHANGE - BIG YES

OIL CHANGE - BIG YES

CHAIN - LUBE AND CHECK TENSION - YES

VALVES EARLY - HELL NO

BATTERY - BIG YES
I believe the 2002-2004 models suffered from leaky batteries that spewed all their internal corrosive goodness over the heads. I would switch it out for a new yuasa if you still have the old ducati battery.

GAS - BIG YES (if its been sitting for a long time)
You should siphon all leftover gas from your tank before you even turn the sucker on. just get a tube and do it the old fashioned way. then fill up with a full tank of fresh gas. I usually just mix the crappy gas into a new (almost full) tank of gas in my car.

After that just ride it and you should be fine.

[Alex]

This isn't a big deal at all.  Replacing belts and oil is about 45 minutes of work for a novice. Maybe an hour overall with the chain lube too. Get your belts from Ca-Cycleworks, and the only tools you'll need are an allen wrench set... This is all stuff you should be doing for fun!

[duc996]

1.belts
2.drain old gas
3.drain old oil
4.check tires

They pretty much covered it,just wanted to post  ;:|

[triangleforge]

Just to clarify -- I've re-read his post a couple of times & doesn't sound to me like Luke's bike has been sitting for the past four years; 500 miles on the odometer in 2004, 3,500 now. Not heavy use, but not just sitting gathering dust either, and his post doesn't mention taking a year or more off. How long is "too long" for cam belts to sit idle? 

Luke -- have you been riding the bike the last couple of years, or no? And yeah, get some fresh oil in it.

[Howie]

Just to clarify -- I've re-read his post a couple of times & doesn't sound to me like Luke's bike has been sitting for the past four years; 500 miles on the odometer in 2004, 3,500 now. Not heavy use, but not just sitting gathering dust either, and his post doesn't mention taking a year or more off. How long is "too long" for cam belts to sit idle? 

Luke -- have you been riding the bike the last couple of years, or no? And yeah, get some fresh oil in it.

There really is no way to know how long is too long so the spec is based on a worse case scenario.  You culd very likely go longer, but the risk is extreme engine damage.

[duc996]

Play it safe  wt:

[ScottRNelson]

I typically go three years between cam belt changes on my Ducatis because I don't ride them more than 3000-4000 miles per year.  But they never go longer than about a month without being ridden.  This is on the advice of Jim Davis at Nichols Sportbike service, one of the best Ducati mechanics around.  If the bike sits without being touched for six months or more, you'll get hard spots in the belts.  In that case, I would get them changed right at the two-year mark.

If the belts have been on there more than three years, regardless of how much the bike has been ridden or how much it has sat unused, it needs the belts changed.  You're taking a big chance of having a belt break, which usually results in contact between piston and valves resulting in very expensive damage.  The original poster indicates the belts are at least four years old.  Get them changed!

[A.duc.H.duc.]

If the bike sits without being touched for six months or more, you'll get hard spots in the belts. 

Apparently you guys don't live in a climate where you have winter 6 months of the year.

We still ride Ducati's up here you know.

I do try to start my bike once a month during the winter though, but I know lots of people who don't.

[ScottRNelson]

I do try to start my bike once a month during the winter though, but I know lots of people who don't.

And those are the ones that need to stick to the two-year belt changing schedule.

You don't have to actually start the bike to move the belts, just get the engine to rotate a little, like by rotating the tire while in 6th gear or something.