Ducati ST2

Always fancied a Ducati ST - and looking at current ST prices, they're
incredibly good value.

However, I have one doubt in my mind about them - although the engine is
what appears to be a 2v lump, they're also water-cooled.

Are they as simple to maintain as the 750 / 900SS lumps, or are they
verging on 916 complexity?

 

(SteveH) wrote in :

Based on your useage why not just get it dealer serviced? It's only going
to be a once a year affair.

I could easily do the maintenance on the R-GS. It's piss easy but a) I'm
lazy b) a 12k "main" service cost £150 at an independent specialist and c)
I can go shopping[1] in the cosmopolitan metropolis that is Cardiff whilst
he does it

[1] Greggs steak slices are fab and I can stock up on disposable Primark T-
shirts for work

 

Because Ducati dealers charge a fucking fortune for it.

I can get a full VFR service, complete with valve clearances done for
half what a Ducati dealer charges for a basic belt service.

Also, I do actually quite like servicing stuff myself, if I understand
how it works. [1]

Greggs steak slices may well be lovely, but I've lost quite a bit of
weight since I gave up the steak slice and danish pastry diet in favour
of home-made sandwiches and dried fruit.

[1] I'm quite happy to do basic servicing on the VFR, I now do most
stuff on the 75 (lots of access space in the engine bay), but I don't
like working on Katie's 156.

 

The engine is basically the old SOHC two-valve head jobbie, but with a
water jacket. So very simple to maintain. The only prob is that they're
the 944 capacity, so ultimately not as solid as the 750. And they never
watercooled the 750.

 

Change dealers.

As you'll have seen from another post, I've done a belt job, but these
days I CBA. I do all the usual stuff, and just throw it at a dealer
every 6k for a shim & belt job.

It rarely need shims (which is just as well), and the price for belt
replacement is about £100 all in, including VAT. A pair of belts: £30,
an hour or so's labour, and VAT.

 

Hmmmm, they're very temptingly cheap - especially as I'd get a Ducati
and Katie would still get a comfy pillion seat.

 

Yes but an ST4S is such a superior bike why short change yourself.

 

I'm scared of owning something with a 916 derived engine. It would
appear to be financial suicide.

 

If a few hundred quid once a year is financial suicide, I'd suggest
you've probably got more significant worries than what bike to buy.

 

what do you mean "sometimes"?

 

Figure of speech.

I don't want a bike that costs the thick end of a grand in servicing
every 2 years. (916 engined bikes are generally quoted as £500-£600 for
a 12k service / £300-£400 for a 6k service) - I'm not likely to want to
service one of those at home.

 

Are you claiming that a bike with a 916 engine is going to be cheap to
run?

See my reply to ginge. 500 quid / year in servicing is a price I'm not
willing to pay. It's not a case of 'can I afford it' - it's a case of
being a tight bastard who won't throw that kind of money at bike
dealers.

 

6k or 12 months, 12k or 24 months.

Unless you really feel lucky with cambelts. I don't.

Which is why I fancied an ST2 - I know I'm perfectly capable of looking
after one of those myself.

 

For all the bikes I've ever owned, I don't think I've ever asked
myself the question "is it going to be cheap to run?" before choosing
what to buy. I did once work out how much it cost per month to commute
on my 7R, but that was pretty much as an excercise to rationalise my
decision to start commuting by public transport instead.

If the need ever arose, I would consider commuting by bike again, but
not while I work in the City, and even if I did, I wouldn't feel the
need to buy something that was "cheap to run".

why did you use the phrase "financial suicide", then? Something would
need to be burning 500 quid/week for me to describe it in those sort
of terms.

500 quid / year is considerably less than what I spend on /lunch/

 

I don't usually look at running costs - unless I'm looking at buying
something that's known to be on the pricey side.

I've done 2 track days at a cost of around 500 quid all-in - which I'm
perfectly happy to do.

But I really don't like the thought of paying Ducati dealer rates to
keep a weekend toy on the road.

'financial suicide' was a figure of speech to express the fact that the
916 engined bikes cost one hell of a lot more to keep serviced than your
average Jap bike.

 

*shrugs*

It's all a personal perception.

 

Nah, 'financial suicide' would probably be if I tried to run one on my
daily commute, 'cos that would mean I'd have to get it serviced every
three months.

If you can blow that kind of cash on a couple of track days then you
should be able to spend that on your bike during the course of a
year. And if that seems too pricey, sir may want to investigate the
possibilities of getting a C90 instead.

 

It's a case of not wanting to throw that money at a bike, given the
alternative things I can spend it on.

The VFR costs me less than 50 quid a year in servicing, 'cos it do it
myself. This is something I like, but not something I could do with an
ST4.

I'm just a tight bastard when it comes to giving people money to work on
my cars and bikes.....

 

My oldest brother did that for about 9 months - commuted from Tunbridge
Wells to Stevenage on a mid-size Honda (can't remember which one - it
was the late 80's).

It died finally and terminally after 9 months. It was being serviced
about every month.. And from memory it died fairly messily.

Or a pushbike.

Phil.

 

Hmm, that's only about 20 miles more in each direction... Mind you, the
additional wear you get from this kind of mileage is quite noticeable.

There is that.