Bike servicing, rebuilding, restoring, manuals, etc..
Well, after my last blog entry Sissy the ST4 has had very little use (by my standards anyway) having only moved 2,600kms since her 'valve check' was done, oil filters tune blah blah. On a run over the Pahiatua Track yesterday we noticed a few fresh spots under the bike, and a big black drip hanging off the paddock stand mount. Having asked my 'regular' service agent to look into this issue before, (twice no less) and being told it was 'chain splatter, its nothing of concern' ...
I often ask mechanics and other 'knowledgable' folk what REALLY happens if you dont service the Ducati at the intervals they reccomend. So the ST4 was just shy her next valve service, but was running pretty horrid, just felt gutless, sounded rattly (more so than usual) and seemed to be using oil faster than I would have expected for a healthy motor. Biting the bullet (and extending the overdraft) I booked her in for the BIG one, and lo and behold got informed my valves were ...