I just became a Ducati owner -- again. A 907ie just seemed like too good of a value and, before you know it I owned it. I paid $3,400.00 for a bike with 18k miles, pipes, chip, Corbin, nice bodywork (albeit with a couple of scratches), a new clutch, recent regulator, a new rear tire. Ran great; good deal.

The first problem I encountered was the chain/sprockets. I should have looked closer, but the rest of the bike was in such good shape! The rear had exactly two teeth left. So, $250 gone to a chain/sprocket set. Oh - and the front tire needed replacing: there's another 150.00 for a new Michelin.

The valves didn't sound right, so I popped the covers and radiator (a mere hour or two on this bike) to check them. Uh-oh - lots of side play on both exhaust valves - needs new exhaust valve guides. This, as I'm sure many here know, is not an uncommon problem with Ducatis. So, off go the heads, and I take them apart, only to find that not only are the exhaust valves shot (not surprising) but the intakes are bent! Riddle me this: how do valves on a stock, never taken apart desmo engine get bent?!?

A quick call to my Ducati dealer (one very highly regarded by many people, including me) and I find out that new Ducati valves are 126.00 each! WTF?!?!? Even the Ducati dealer thought this was extreme, but hadn't really looked around for an alternative. That's where I'm currently at, trying to find a realistically priced set of valves..anyone have a suggestion?

So, here's the current bill for my 907ie:

bike 3,400
tire 150
chain/sprockets 250
Valves, if I'm forced to buy from Ducati 500
guides 50
headwork 200
gasket kit, with shipping 50

Total of 4,700.00 give or take, plus a lot of labor. I'd guess conservatively ten hours once I'm done, bringing the total to... well over 5k, or what I thought the bike was worth in top condition. I'm still glad I bought it, but I'd certainly lose a lot of money if I sold it tomorrow..

There are two points I'd like to make. First, to Mr. "Looking for a 907IE to fix up". Great bike. Great idea. But realize that you will probably spend more fixing one up than buying a clean one would cost you. I'm a relatively knowledgeable Ducati guy, having built and raced both singles and a belt drives for years, and I'm still only coming out even on this one. I'm not saying it's a bad idea to fix up bikes, just that it's hard to even break even fixing up any motorcycle, let alone a Ducati.

Second, to the buyer looking for tips - there are a million problems that you can't/won't see on a bike w/o taking it apart at least enough to check the valves. Most sellers are not going to let you bring the bike to an expert to do so, and anyone knowledgeable is going to charge you 100 bucks to really go over the bike, so to a great extent you just have to trust the seller. Well documented service records are a major plus - I now realize that the bike I bought, while obviously washed and waxed regularly, had probably not had more than 1-2 services in it's 18,000 mile life. Caveat Emptor.

Sam

Sam,

Check out Chris Kelley for parts; California Cycle Works. He may have valves listed on his site. BCM in New Hampshire is a reliable source. Ask for Miles and tell him Jon Slocum sent you.

Bent valves are not eas on these bikes. Did it run "great" when you bought it?