Has anyone had problems with rockers getting damaged,have been told this
is a lubrication failure but im not so sure,i had same problem with vf1000r
rockers but no lube problem after i had them tungsten coated.Would
appreciate any feed back on how long or often rockers have lasted or
issues with failing cam/rocker parts!!!!!!!!!!!

Rocker failure on 2 valve Ducatis is very unusual. Can't say the same for the 4 valve Desmoquattros though. Doing a service on an ST4s with 20,000 miles on it yesterday and found 2 openers with flaking chrome.

never had any trouble with the rockers for the last 32 years on 2-valve Duc's. the only thing popping in to my mind is as service is neglected the rockers can come under stress of too much play or lack of play.
Valveguides. specially the exhaust side are more common.
4 Valve's from '96 or '97 to 2003 or 2004 faced problems as the hard chroming process had flaws.

Bertus

CHEERS for the reply!Bikes done 85000 k's and is in really good condition but is
in need of attention which it's getting now(had it one year this month),love
working on it as much as riding it.Found st2 cams for $550 nz(400 euro)in mint
condition so they can go in the mix with mbp collets,new guides,valves(didn't
need doing but had them anyway).
Hope all you northeners looking forward to summer,ours has been crapp !!

Hi ocean,
charged my battery. this week I'll awaken her for a ride.
last year we had a very nice spring, crap summer and a beautifull autum.
So, I'm eager to catch the first sun.

good luck with you're upgrading of the valve train.

Bertus

As guys stated, such problems are mostly in 4 valvers between some years, not in 2 valvers. I had to change already few to my 2002 ST4S engine but i havent seen ever such in my 2-valvers. Still: It is connected surely to few modell years for those 4-valvers, not all of them. You can read plenty of this from another forums....

on my restoration bike the rockers had worn a 'flat' & needed to be resurfaced , including new hard chroming [I think]. It had around 95,000km on the odo.
Bob Brown of Melbourne Desmo, reckons it quite common, but then he has seen a lot of bikes...! The valve guides were stuffed and the rings were totally wrong, like a 3-4mm, yes mm gap. All fixed now.

On my other bike; the heads are off as it was pissing oil out from the barrels, mostly Vert. The rockers are ok, this motor has about 50,000km. The rings had lost their spring , so we have sourced new pistons & barrels very cheaply [NOS] around $250 for a pair! Heads are getting skimmed to check for flatness. He noted some wear on 6th gear. Hopefulluy a reasonably oil leak free motor...PLEASE!!