More problems on 1098 - Concluded?! hell no

The amount of problems and reworks you have done on this bike defy belief Martin, over years now. I almost feel guilty for having had no issues whatsoever with mine ('07 1098S) in over 92,000 kms, apart from the (3) radiators (all replaced FOC) in the early days. I have replaced nothing in the area of the starting mechanism, for example. Just good luck? Maybe...
This including doing a full engine rebuild at 76,000, where I simply replaced piston assemblies and big end shells and bolts, and little else apart from gaskets and seals, having already gone through the heads at 42,000. (Well, apart from replacing the few remaining steel bolts in Ti while I was in there).
The only other item I replaced being the improved gear locater kit, which I highly recommend. Just back from a ride on a perfect day here, and can't fathom why your experience has been so different to mine. My suggestions are only so you can get back to problem-free riding - please don't read offence into my suggestions.
These are a pretty sound machine in my experience, having owned and worked on Ducatis since the early '70s. We didn't have it so good in those days, with dodgy-quality gearboxes and fragile big-ends (although those were worse for some owners than others...).
As to the question of bent valves - if you have the top lid off, any damaged/bent valve will exhibit excess clearance from its rocker. But of course a simple compression check will also indicate any damage with head cover in situ, with a low (or no) reading.
Not trying to give you the shits here mate - I too have read with dismay and amazement the extent of problems you have encountered. I get the feeling 'between the lines' that you are working a little outside of your experience, although I 'hear you' on the lack of support you have locally.
But truly my friend - you need someone with experience to sort your bike for you, once and for all. I'm afraid you are doing something wrong. Someone with experience on your model, or even just Ducatis generally, will spot what's wrong very quickly. You can't learn how to do good work on these from a book.
There is no substitute for years of doing this work, and I suspect the right person will spot and remedy your issue(s) in minutes. Like you get a builder to build your house, an electrician to do the wiring, a pilot to fly the 'plane etc. I feel certain you would have done more riding (and less spending) if you had had it sorted by the right person years ago.
There is bound to be someone within a reasonable distance of you that can sort it for you, even if they're not a franchised dealer. (Sometimes better if they're not)! Maybe put some time into finding that person rather than blundering on with it.
The time has come. Before you lose your mind going round and round with it. We can't take much more - surely you can't either!

Yes well - certainly don't want to "jinx myself", although I think you may be allowing for more esoteric forces than I have found actually apply to mechanical endeavour!
But your example of timing the cams is exactly what I'm referring to. If you had general mechanical experience and insight you would be able to time your cams without marks etc. You would know from setting myriad engines up over the years how to find the correct TDCs, and what the cams should be doing at that point in the revolution.
Obviously on TDC compression both cams are inactive, with all valves closed. The action of the cams will roughly 'centre' around that TDC as you rotate the engine back and forth past that TDC.
On the 'other TDC' the cams will 'rock' into action either side of that TDC, opening symmetrically around it as you rotate the engine back and forth. Of course a handle mounted on the LH crank end better for this than simply using the back wheel.
But virtually any four stroke engine can be set, at least to the nearest tooth, by this method.
But of course you are the one who makes any decisions around your own bike. As I said - I was never trying to give you the shits about this - only to move your Ducati-owning experience to a better place.
Your experiences with the mechanic you used previously are definitely horror-story stuff. From this distance it's difficult for me to fathom; 1. How this person is still in business, and 2. How come you weren't able to bring some sort of agency to bear on his failed 'service'.
That's what consumer protection agencies are for, surely? But proceed as you see fit. I only hope you find your way to the reliable ownership that mine has provided for so long.
It was only that your ongoing reports suggested you had been through so much of this that you may have been losing perspective. The reality is that reassembling these engines and setting their valve timing is actually no more difficult than the average engine, regardless of the multiple valves or the Desmo actuation.
Basic laws apply to all four stroke engines. I was only suggesting that the assistance of someone to whom these laws are clear, and 'second nature', could save you a lot of time and headaches!
All the best with it Martin.

So.

With everybody around me putting a doubt into my mechanic capabilities and went and sent the bike to a dealer to time my cams and tighten the belts; everything went well. $400 later.

Then they delivered the bike to my shop then I finished assembling everything.

Hit the button, fired right up.

Got pimped up, put it into gear, off I went home.

Everything was fine but maybe 10 minutes into the ride home...it stalled. Never to start again.

Called CAA, they picked me up and brought the whole heap home.

Took me 3 days before I started diagnosing that thing...mad and sick of it.

Took off the tank,. took off the belt covers and sure enough, timing is again out of whack.

No pulley slippage,no belt that lost anything, no sign of slippage or anything...just out of whack again.

So last year I did the job well by myself, there is just something else that probably got damaged when the cams seized...a key or something that perhaps is not totally destroyed but gives up when some load is asked...I got no idea...dealer wants it for doagnosis...here we go for another $3k job that will lead me nowhere.

I might just look for a used engine at this point.

Pretty sad to hear this is still going on Martin.
Never mind the insane registration and insurance charges where you are. We are relatively lucky here, with my Ducati's registration (and compulsory third party personal insurance) totalling $478. The 750 Cagiva's now $357, but I am now in a 'rural location' about 60 miles out of Adelaide. But yes - like the Californians we get to ride year-round.
Back to your valve timing - clearly the timing needs to be checked, with regard to key locations, from top to bottom.
Please get your work checked by someone who really knows, with the actual cams and rockers exposed, before running it again. The timing marks on the camshafts change between models, so this is not a 'one size fits all' knowledge.
An actual visual check of cam positions (at both TDCs, on both cylinders) is vital with the changes in camshafts over the models. You are certain that all four cams are original, and from the correct model? A for aspirazione on the intake and S for scarico on the exhausts. (And of course the inlet/exhaust cam position is reversed on one head against the other).
Do a check using the actual TDC - checked via the plughole - rather than relying on any marks.
But, as you said, if only one cylinder is out of time (and you are certain of this) it has to be from the paired pulleys on the right-hand end of the crossover shaft, or above.
I have seen an Ergal pulley that damaged its keyway when it wasn't tight enough, but it never actually lost its timing - just developed play back and forth. But a close scrutiny of these keys and keyways probably a good starting point.
I prefer to refer to the 'half-time shaft' as a crossover shaft on these engines rather than a layshaft, as a layshaft tends to refer to the shaft in a gearbox which has neither the input (primary drive/clutch) nor output (final drive sprocket) mounted on it, like that in the old bevel engines.
Not trying to be pedantic here as much as be clear on what we're actually referring to.
All the best with it Martin. Pretty ordinary that the business who helped you with it can't simply fix the problem they didn't fix as a matter of responsibility, rather than trying to turn it into another money-making opportunity!
I would have expected your consumer protections to offer some support with this (and your previous situations) but of course I'm in a different country, and have rarely had to get a shop to do any work for me.
You may think "well bully for you!" but in reality this lifetime of working on motorcycles has not made me wealthy - only knowledgeable and with dirty fingernails...
And with a lifetime of reliable Ducatis! Sorry I can't offer any more help from this distance. Surely you are close to sorting this..?

Damn Martin what a story. You're way more patient than me!

I have read everything so let me recap the present situation. Your engine now have a new complete vertical head (i know it's used but i mean you haven't reused any parts from the seized one), and after a 10 mins ride you now have the lower timing pulley and the horizontal cam pulleys all on their marks, but a cam in the vertical is not where it was? No mystery then it jumped tooths again.

Are you sure oil reach the cams journals? Did you verify turning the engine by hand that oil was flowing out of the oil ways? Sure the head gasket had all the necessary holes?

If in doubt next time you are ready to press the start button i would do it with the vertical cover removed, maybe making a box with clear plastic to avoid mess but that should not spray everywhere.

Did you verified at any point that your oil pressure is in spec?

Show us a picture of where your timing is now?

Sending you a pm about "the mechanic", not the first horror story i heard.

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