[Zanshin]

Howdy,

With the apparent service costs on a Multi, at least for the first 12,000 miles, it makes me think twice about buying one of these things. I’m a returning rider (20+ years out of the scene), who previously owned Norton Commandos and BMW R90s. I’m no mechanic, but I am mechanically inclined. I used to do all the work on my own bikes back then, but I have no idea what it entails to dig into a modern Duc. Is there anybody out there who does all their own maintenance and light repairs on their Multi? Is it something the average person who likes to tinker with things mechanical would want to get into?

I’m attracted to the Multi, but it will be my primary commuting machine and a long distance touring toy. If I can be confident that I can own one without having to spend $,$$$ per year just to keep it on the road, I’ll be that much closer to making the Multi my top choice. I would like to avoid going “mainstream” and remain faithful to European bikes if I can help it. But times do change and $$ does matter.

Any kind advice or personal experiences will be appreciated.

Cheers.

A-

[greenmanstunnel]

I'm planning on doing my own, but haven't done all that much yet. So far, everything I've done has been easy, and everything has been easy to get to. The only thing is that it has an annoying little indicator on the display that activates when you hit the specified service interval, and I have no way to turn it off.

[falcofred]

I refuse to let a machine beat me!
I've always done all my own maintenance on every bike that I own.
So far I've got an engine turning tool, a copy of the maintenance manual, and a DVD form Pro-Italia on valve adjustment. Let's face it, a Ducati is just a machine, not black majic.
I want to prove all my negative friends wrong, that claim Ducati's are too maintenace intensive.

[atwood]

(sorry if this repeats, my post didn't seem to go through the first time)

There's a program for PDAs (palmpilot, IIRC) that can read fault codes and reset the maintenance indicator. Problem is the price, $250. I've been thinking about trying to get together a group of 4 or more other MTS/ST3/?? riders in the boston area who are also doing their own maintenance. If everyone pitched in $50, we could share it and send/deliver the pda (they're pretty cheap these days) back and forth to whomever needed it. Just a thought for now, I only have 375 miles on mine so far. If anyone in the boston area reads this and is interested, pm me and I'll add you to the list.

First on my list of tools needed: a set of crowfoot wrenches that includes the 28 and 46mm sizes so I can continue to do my own tire changes (and carry the 2 ends along on trips). toolwarehouse has a set on sale for $66.

[lotus54]

I've done all my own maintenance on all the Ducatis I've owned (and a number of customers). I had to do a complete teardown of a 750 Paso (bought it with a bad countershaft bearing). Nothing is really hard on them, some things just take a bit of time.
Heck, a lot of the Japanese multis are way harder to work on.
The valves are easy to do and hold their settings very well after the first 10k miles or so, at least that has been my experience.

I did have Ducati Seattle reset the 'wrench' and do a bunch of the 600 mile, mostly just because of the warranty. I also wanted to double check the method I've use for years of the belt tension- they said they were spot on, so I guess I'm doing it right.

One of the local ST riders I know has the software for the Palm and says it works petty well. I'm going to try and get over to his place and try it out sometime- one trip to the shop would pay for it.

I'll do everything I can without comprimising the warranty. Yes, in the States they can't block the warranty for doing it yourself, but you have to prove you can do it right- and I"ll bet there is a lot of grey areas when the Dealer would fight for you, or just let it go.

The bike is really pretty easy to work on for the most part, from I've seen so far. I know the tank takes more time to pull than it should, but the ST's took too long to remove all the fairings also (I put Dzus fasteners on mine). I'm looking forward to learning the bike as I work on it.

Mark

[lotus54]

Will it set the mixture also?

You should buy one of the wrenches for sale on the list- I bought one and it worked wonderfully. I had to pull the rear wheel so I could take out the pre-muffler with my centrestand still on. It took me about four mintues.

Mark

[multi-me]

I have the VDSTS software that runs on a Palm or a PC. The serial interface is what actually controls the connection to the ECU and it is ECU specific. It will permit trim adjustment for the CO as well as view/ reset diagnostic codes and some other cool stuff. Technoresearch.com. I agree with FalcoFred. Its not black magic, just a slightly different tool kit than you used those 20 odd years ago. Also of note is the fact that the dealers are charging a bunch for simple things. Ferrari kind of rates and there is just not the level of technical involvement.

[Zanshin]

Thanks for the feedback everybody. The Multi is now higher on my list.

[wayward]

Here's a site I found that may interest you.

http://www.ducatisuite.com/home.html

[Chairguy]

Thats a very cool site .thanks for posting it

Urb