Recommendations please for supplier of good quality timing belts. Also, do they have a date stamp either on the packaging or belts themselves? There are a number of posts on this and other forums comparing prices and quality of belts from Ducati, Gates, Dayco, Flennor etc. Gates make most if not all belts for Ducati but apparently a Gates belt is a different construction to a Ducati belt made by Gates for Ducati???

73740021A is the original part number, also for the ST2 etc. but has this been superseded? Belt tensioning is covered elsewhere but it would be good to know peoples preferences for:
1. 5mm Allen key method
2. Spring balance method 10Lb ?
3. Frequency method - 110Hz ?

Thanks for any help or advice...

Also looking for a supplier of the M1R fork seals

Hi there,

I don't have a lot of info on the belt apart from me preferring the frequency method as I believe it's most accurate.

With regards to the M1R seals (and other parts in the forks like bushes and dustcovers), they are the same as BMW K100 (16V) and K1100 parts. All numbers you need are in this post viewtopic.php?f=3&t=3889

Cheers,
Bas

Fork seals are Ariete ARI.083.

The 5mm allen key method is often used and mentioned in different forums but noone can actually tell its origin. Imho it`s from the 4V guys as it results in a much higher tension. If you`d want to end up with ca 110Hz it would be the '8mm allen key method'. However the frequency method is simple and precise. The spring balance method will only work if the engine is out of the frame as there`s no way to use that on the rear cylinder.
The new belt number is 73710081A before it was 73740021A and 73710011A.

If the belts are replaced on regular basis I doubt you`ll notice any difference in quality.

I just replaced mine with Dayco....used the 5 mm allen method...seemed to work fine....I think I was over thinking before I dove in......
I took off Ducati belts, no idea how old they were...looked well used....no cracks or unusual wear in the teeth,or anywhere else...
Only took a couple hours or so....well worth the insurance in my opinion......

5mm works just fine, Hz is no more accurate. Both require the same care in checking and putting the slack in the correct position, Hz just cost you more bucks. It aint no piano, jeez

it`s a lot more accurate (if you`re using a proper microphone). Of course the 5mm allen key method works as will a higher or lower belt tension. It`s a bit like tire pressure.
However the 'we`ve always done it this way and it works' doesn`t change the fact that if you`d want to respect Ducatis belt tension specs the tension resulting from the 5mm allen key method is too high.

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For tensioning belts I use Gates Carbon Drive app on my phone

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I was told by an " expert " that it also depends on the garage/workshop temperature ! so in the cold weather/workshop temp. is lower I use the 8mm gauge as the engine would be less expanded than in the warm weather [ UK !! ] when I use the 5mm gauge , as others have said it has worked for me 20 yrs.

For belt tensioning I have used a similar (free) application from ContiTech called Tension2Go: https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... n2Go&hl=en

Verified the accuracy using a calibrated SKF tuning fork, and recorded the exact Hz using a Galaxy S2...

Cheers,