I’ve always been annoyed at the way water sits around the rear shock (drain hole gets blocked easily) but was unaware of the large opening around the exhaust side. Thanks for the advice from Nelly who has seen a few others seized. I understand that cleaning and greasing the rear hub has been added to the 15k service. The bad news is that these 2010 to 2015 bikes with this hole in the single sided swingarm, let in all the road crap and this will lead to your bike requiring a new hub/bearings (at 28k for mine). The Ducati part (Hub assembly) is £500+ but thankfully Baines Racing managed to find equivalent bearings at a much better price for me. Apparently there is no hole on later bikes. After research I found a plug to seal off this gap to avoid it failing early again. I ordered mine on www.shapeways.com. Just fitted mine and hope it stays in place. There is some good info. here as well regarding the bearing part numbers: http://www.ducati.ms/forums/44-multistrada/654153-come-gravel-swing-arm.html
That's not good, better do a search for plugs. I have read that the DVT doesn't have this hole but worth checking in case there are others!
After discovering a load of crap in my rear hub during a recent major service, Ive fitted the Shapeways plug on my 2012. It's expensive and a bit brittle but fits the hole nicely. Needs glueing in place though as the lugs don't hold it securely.
I was wondering how well those lugs would hold it. Hopefully it'll still be in place after yesterday's ride to the Excel bike show. What glue did you use; 2 pack Epoxy?
You could hold the Shapeways product in or probably fabricate something using Sugru and a bit of plastic. It's like blue tack and it cures into a rubber type compound and also sticks stuff together but allows a bit of movement. https://sugru.com
Naw, just some Super Strong glue from B&Q. Works okay, survived the horrors of last weekends Dragon Rally anyway.
I've been searching on the forum but can't find out if the swingarm needs removing to fit the plate. Can't get at my bike properly at the moment to see for myself..... Is it a case of dexterity or a few hours stripping things off and back on again? Thanks.
I managed to fit the plug to my 2010 without any great problem and certainly no need to disemble anything. Just had to be careful to not snap any lugs when pushing into place. So far it's stayed in.
Now the ice age has lifted I can drag some bikes out of the garage and get to grips with fitting this on the weekend. What's the best approach? Do you fit from above or below the swingarm? Cheers