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[Richard230]

"Checking valves is free"

IF you do your own work.  However, a shop will charge you labor which around here is $125.00 an hour billed in half-hour intervals.  Exhaust valves seem to go out of adjustment more frequently than intake valves.  On my K1200LT they seem to be fully bedded in now as they haven't required shims for the past several years but in the early days I was always getting at least one or two shims replaced every 24,000 miles.  This was a piece of cake on my original 8-valve K100 which had no bodywork to remove and the shims were over the buckets.  However the 16-valve K bikes are more involved as you have to pull the cams to replace the shims (the buckets WERE the shims).  I don't know what system the new transverse-mounted K engines use but the 1600s have 24 valves to check as they're six cylinder beasts with four valve heads.  Like I said, at $125.00 an hour, that all adds up quickly.

I had one of the best Ducati techs in the world living here in Charleston for awhile. I paid him to do the duc valves. $125 or so... if you're paying over 1hr of time for a valve check, you're being ripped. You shouldnt pay more because the tech is slower than your average bear.

You gotta love Ducatis.   

[MrDude_1]

You gotta love Ducatis.   

I had a true love/hate relationship with my 749 and my 999...
On one hand, they felt amazing. sounded amazing. I love riding them.
On the other hand, I never had such a problematic bike. I had a coil crack so that the bike bucked and had issues in the rain. I had a spark plug shoot out. I had steering bearing issues. fork seal leaks. shock failed and had to be rebuilt... the clutch had to be cleaned and scuffed every 3k or so.. oddball things.
I used to tell people its like dating an italian model... very pretty, but very high maintenance.

heres a pic from my first day of ducati ownership. New-to-me 749 from charleston to myrtle as a first ride from my house.

[quixotic]

The biggest difference I find with my Zero versus my previous ICE bikes, is the amount of time I spend on them (referring to maintaining, not riding).  For example, I'm so glad I'll never again have to adjust the 8 valves on the little 250 Ninja that I used to have.     

[Richard230]

The biggest difference I find with my Zero versus my previous ICE bikes, is the amount of time I spend on them (referring to maintaining, not riding).  For example, I'm so glad I'll never again have to adjust the 8 valves on the little 250 Ninja that I used to have.   

I used to do the same thing with my 2003 Ninja 250.  Just getting the valve cover off was a pain and then trying to slide a feeler gauge past all of those little valves was a real struggle.  One time the gauge slipped out of my hand and fell into the cam chain tunnel.    Fortunately, I was able to fish it out with a telescoping magnet pickup tool.     But what a scare!  With the Zero you have none of that. Just get on and ride.  You don't even need a quart of blue Locktite to keep the parts together like on my Royal Enfield. 

[MrDude_1]

wow. I just found the only 2 guys that actually checked anything on a ninja 250...
I thought all their riders just kept riding it exactly like the day it came off the showroom floor. LOL

seriously though, both the baby ninjas, the 250 and the 500 are bulletproof bikes. they're abused by almost all their owners and they keep on ticking...(pun intended)

[Doug S]

One time the gauge slipped out of my hand and fell into the cam chain tunnel. 

First thing I ALWAYS did when I took the valve cover off any of my bikes was to stuff a rag into the cam chain tunnel. Guess how I learned to do that.