TWS 4/13-4/14

[shilka99]

I'm going to be heading down to College Station Friday afternoon (the 12th) to get into the track before it closes (which I think is at 10).
Is anyone else planning to make it to this event?
I'll probably be teaching both days, not sure which levels yet, and camping in the pits.

[Striple]

Not me, that is a race weekend.

It's a fun track, and as long as it doesn't rain, it should be a fantastic event!

[Fish R1]

I have a corner work and ride weekend scheduled for May at TWS. The April dates at TWS is a tough sell for me with the volunteer track marshal duties at COTA the following weekend. Plus I am volunteering for corner work on Friday April 12th at ECR.

[shilka99]

Well I guess its obvious if I'm posting on one of the days I said I'd be at TWS. I took my Ducati in for a valve adjust before my last work trip. I figured it would be done in plenty of time for the TWS weekend but I found out Thursday that my bike is infected with the dreaded flaking rocker disease. It was a warranty issue back in the early 2000's but the warranty is well and truly expired. Tony at Eurosport is trying to get the parts and labour covered by Ducati but these things always take longer than expected. I sure hope he can get them covered under the warranty - there are 16 rockers and they cost $200 each... Not good for a bike worth $4000-$5000.

[milesmiles]

That hurts to read

[U-Turn]

Bad news ! Big time bad news.
Any options? Can you "redo" them somehow? Sandblast / replate? A different rocker all together?

[Fish R1]

Bummer.

[shilka99]

I'll post pictures of the damaged rockers when I get them - but the problem is the surface of the steel rocker is coated with a thick layer of chrome which is harder but heavier than steel, and also more brittle. A large percentage of the rockers that came from a particular supplier had the chrome layer peel and flake off. This completely destroys any chance of maintaining a consistant valve clearance which means compression is lost and therefore power. To say nothing of large volumes of metal floating through the oil passages.
There are several alternatives out there, such as damaged rockers with a layer of stellite (cobalt-chromium alloy) brazed in place of the damaged chrome, heavier rockers of harder steel, and OEM replacements from a better supplier...

I'll have to wait and find out what Ducati says about the replacements. That will be an interesting phone call. If they cant support their product I may be done with Ducati forever. After riding the 996 about 10 times...

[shilka99]

Today I got the call I was dreading. Ducati wont honor the warranty on the faulty parts in my motor. (The warranty expired in 2011).
It turns out not all of the rockers are a problem, but that leaves 8 that do need to be replaced. And the price of $200 each is small compared to the cost of the labour.
So rather than pay someone else to do work I am more than capable of doing myself I'm going to collect the disemboweled carcass from Eurosport and bring it home. The bike came with a workshop manual and I 've been collecting specialized tools since I bought it... so its time to order the rockers and a gasket kit.
I have 2 weeks before I have to travel for work again, and the next Ridesmart day is the weekend after I get back. Heres hoping there are no delays.

[milesmiles]

Let me know if you need an extra set of hands, i would learn a ton

[Fish R1]

$1600.00 in rockers. The gasket kit estimate is $100.00 + or - Estimated worth of bike $4000.00 to $5000.00. Glad I dont have to make that decision.

[shilka99]

Let me know if you need an extra set of hands, i would learn a ton

If you're interested Miles I'll be taking some vacation next week so I can do some work on this project. You can come over any time and lend a hand.