TOPIC:

Hi,
I've recently bought a 500 saturno & need to change the cambelt, is the a car belt that will do the job ?
I know that the belt from a 16v Renault Clio will fit the Ducati 916 model range ! so was wondering if something similar for the Gilera's ?

ducatiderek wrote:

Hi,
I've recently bought a 500 saturno & need to change the cambelt, is the a car belt that will do the job ?
I know that the belt from a 16v Renault Clio will fit the Ducati 916 model range ! so was wondering if something similar for the Gilera's ?

Not that I know of. If anyone does it will be David I'll ask him.

A Renault 5 oil filter will fit (certainly on the Nordwest and I guess the Saturno). Check the FAQ sheet or Paul's excellent enhanced workshop manual.

Whilst waiting for a reply from David (whose technical knowledge way surpasses mine of absolutely zero) I would say my personalthought would be that I'd only ever trust the Gilera part when changing cambelt. My limited knowledge say that all the Bi4 engines cansuffer cambelt problems leading to serious engines problems. This appears to be when a bike has been stood for a while and the belt gets a chink in it and then the trouble starts. I've always been told that if I leave the bike for any length of time more than a couple of weeks, either to run the engine for a while every few days or failing that change the cam belt prior to starting it after a lengthy non-use period. That said, I'm non-technical and if David says dufferently, then I would certainly accept his opinion. Paul

I doubt that there is anything that will fit, and if so I suspect David would agree with you. Some Morini riders use industrial belts designed for lawnmowers or similar. I've never trusted one and still prefer a correctly graded 'A','B' or 'C' belt from NLM, and that's for a short belt on what is pretty much a 'non-interference' engine. Break a belt on a Bialbero motor and it will be expensive. Your advice about care with a cold engine is well founded. Also age. Three years plus and you are chancing it. Belts are still avaialable from Bob Wright AFAIK. Why spoil the ship for a h'apporth of tar?

Sorry I forgot about the time limits (thanks for reminding me Pete). For my two Saturnos, I had the belt changed every year and never left either bike unstarted for more than 4 days. Probably over the top but better safe than sorry and I never had the slightest problem with either bike. Paul

Hi Derek,
I'll go along with the advice of Pete and Paul, I start my Nordie and Morini every week, but being so far away from any supplier of genuine belts would consider industrial belts as long as I can find their spec in a belt catalog. After all the belt makers are supplying far more to industry than to small bike companies, I doubt they were specially produced with a different/higher spec, as long as it's an internationally known maker I think it should be OK, Morini's are slightly different as they have no tensioner so their belt belts were made in different sizes, but if you have the middle B size industrial belts should be ok