To Ducati or Not To Ducati?

Re: Don't worry about it.

"Modern valves seldom go out of whack after you get a few thousand miles on them. I've had bikes go 40K miles without needing an adjustment. "

Aaaaaah, don't say that about Ducatis! If you neglect the valves, bad things happen, like broken stems and dropped valves for one - horrible stuff. The valve adjustments are frequent for a reason, the setup of the desmodromic actuation leads to more shifts in clearance. The situation is remedied by getting EMS / MBP collets, which are precision machined and more durable than Ducati half-ring collets (and cover more surface area around the stem), and extend the adjustment interval to nearly 20 000 miles.

The problem with 4V adjustment is it requires many steps, and if the closers need adjusting the entire assembly must be taken apart (cams out, rockers out, shims and collets off, etc). 2V is much simpler - but both are straightforward, just time consuming. There are two shims on each valve, and two measurements for clearance - one for the top opener rocker, the other for the bottom closer rocker. Just imagine everything doubled in a normal valve setup, and half of it upside down, and you have an idea of what is involved. I was nervous at first too but the shop I work at used to be a Duc dealer in the bevel-head era and my boss gave me the real story. It's simple.

Now, 7500 miles (6000 for pre-06 models) is a "check" interval, it doesn't mean that they will require adjustment. But it helps if you expect it anyway.

If you have it done at a shop, expect 500$ for a full 6K/7.5K service on a 2V, 1000$ on a 4V. Some places are much more reasonable (I've heard 250-450$ respectively from one reputable shop) but in general dealers charge a lot. Why? Because they can.

I own an '05 S2R 800 Monster and am quite happy with it. The 1000 with adjustable forks and about another 20 hp is really da bomb!! My dealer was upfront with me about service costs as I was concerned with this also. They printed out what they did at each service and told me what to expect for cost. My first service was about $280 which included an oil change using full synth--Motul 300V. Labor was a little over $200 and parts about $80 for fuel and oil filters, washers, and oil. They said the next service cost depended on whether the valves needed adjustment and if so, how many. Cost might be $500-700.

Ducati is aware of their reputation for high maintenance costs and supposedly implemented better tooling that results in lower costs--they say up to 50% less and somewhere on the Monsterlist someone said there are pricing guidelines that dealers are supposed to use, so they should be able to tell you what to expect on '07 bikes. ProItalia in Glendale CA sells a video they produced showing how to adjust 2-valve desmos:

http://store.proitalia.com/vid1.html

I've seen it and it seems like something any experienced mechanic can do. I borrowed it from a guy that has been doing his own valves for years.

Definitely check out the Monsterlist. Some owners have experienced a fueling issue that some people have solved by disconnecting the O2 sensor, plugging the lines, and then disconnecting the battery for a short time. Disconnecting the battery makes the ECU reset itself differently. You can probably find the thread by searching for O2 sensor.

Here's a link to a review by another Ducatista that rides a 999:

http://twistingasphalt.com/index.ph...ucati-s2r-1000-monster-the-definition-of-fun/

It's not a really critical review, but from what I've read there's not much to dislike about the S2R1000. Do it! Ducati's are amazing!