Don't worry, it can't get into your engine oil, it usually intermingles with the (usually grubby) front sprocket/chain area so rarely transposes into a typical dripping crankcase.
Thanks for clarifying. It's all making sense now - I've had an oily area on the footrest hanger & down behind the gear lever linkage. I assumed I'd over-lubed my chain. Now I realise it's been brake fluid & muck ! Dealer can't fix it for another week - that's not good, they say they're too busy.
It will leak from the slave cylinder and run down to the gearbox sprocket from which it will get spread all round the chain. If you have been keeping the chain well lubed, especially if you have a Scottoiler fitted, you won't notice. Half the reservoir is not a lot of fluid when it is spread about.
I’ve just experienced my THIRD clutch slave failure. It’s started leaking fluid again & only 6 months since the last one was replaced. I’ve had the bike from new (a 2016 Mutley 1200S). I’m really dissatisfied that the problem is ongoing. The fluid goes black in the master reservoir a month or so before failure & the dealer said its normal to discolour dueto carbon from the seal. Hi wonder how much truth is in that statement or is it a fob off until I’m out of warranty. I’m wondering if I can get the dealer to fit an Oberon & ifone is fit, is that the end of the issue or is there an underlying problem in the design?
I put an Oberon slave on my ST4. It was the end of the problem. Personally I’d go straight for the Oberon and forget the OEM. I’m sure many others on here would agree.
Fluid goes black in all hydraulic clutch systems. It doesn't affect the way it works at all. The Oberon one is the way to go in all honesty. You should have no issues once it's fitted.
I’ve another year’ Warranty left so will try to get the dealer to fit an Oberon then. Failing that I’ll carry some fluid with me on my next tour. Thx for the useful info though.
So the main stealer wouldn't put an oberon on, but investigated the current one & said it was a faulty seal & that I'd been extremely unlucky in having 3my 3rd replacement. It shouldn't happen again as it was a faulty batch of slave cylinders they got from Ducati. Watch this space !
The standard clutch slave cylinders are poor and often go wrong. They have been like this for several years. It is not true to say this is a "faulty batch". Fitting a new one just like the old one is hopeless. The solution is to fit an Oberon ASAP, then you will have no more problems. If you choose not to do this, problems will recur.
I might regret saying this, but I've never had to change a clutch slave cylinder in ~20 years of Ducati ownership. I know I've probably been lucky, which may be because I don't do a lot of town riding, but clearly they aren't all bad. Oberon is definitely an improvement over OE, but if the dealer will replace it under warranty I would personally go with that. No point in paying for parts until you have to
Thanks guys for all your replys. Obviously Operon is the way to go, meanwhile the Main Stealer has put another new on from Ducati. Waranty isn't up until October, so lets see how it goes. As soon as it shows signs of leakage after then I'll be straight onto the Oberon shop
well, well´, well...my recently bought DVT 2016 is missing gears with neutral flashing between some of them. It´s quite difficult to find the Neutral between 1st & 2nd when stopped at the traffic light. When I engage first gear, first time in the day, it gives a big kick too. The pitch black clutch oil is less than 5 months old since last service at Ducati. And seems to be going low too. But I had no idea where it could be going before reading this topic! Is it good for the chain? I can´t believe Ducati has been selling faulty clutch slaves in their bikes for decades! I´m considering going the Oberon or other clutch slave upgrade as recommended here. But somewhere they were saying that if you install a bigger slave, and you have a short lever fitted, you won´t be able to use only 2 fingers for the clutch operation as it will require more travel. Well...I always used short levers in all my bikes and only 2 fingers for action. Anyone using Oberon and short levers to give me a practical user opinion about that, please?
Well, well, here we go again. I'm 6 months out of my 3yr warranty & my Multi has just drunk it's clutch fluid again. This will be the 4th Clutch Slave it's been through in three & a half years of ownership. These things are consumables like rear tyres. The bike's only done 21000 miles too ! I guess it's time to give the Oberon one a try. I'm on short levers too, so will let you know how it goes.
