Hi guys, I’ve just joined the group... and Ducati ownership with an ‘07 1098 unfortunately on the first ride I noticed the clutch was slipping once you got into the power band with anything more than 20% throttle, so I bit the bullet and ordered a new set of plates and a basket from Ducati. Had a bash at fitting them last night after watching a few tutorials. first issue I ran into was that my bike hasn’t got the 32mm hub nut as suggested and instead has a 19mm Hex drive - no biggie as a I had the tool but a bit odd that this doesn’t seem to be the case for anyone else. the old clutch plates were properly spent with barely any friction material and heat marks everywhere. The old pack measured in at a smidge under 37mm (36.92mm to be exact) with the new ones measuring 39.35mm - I’d assume that this is an expected difference given the wear on the old units? second issue I had was that my clutch holding tool snapped when tightening the nut back on. I had read that the torque setting was 250nm which I was convinced was too high but several people said that they thought the same but that it was correct. I was putting a fair amount of force into it when the tool snapped so I’d imagine I wasn’t far off the torque setting but the wrench didn’t click to confirm. Anyway, I continued on and put it all back together then as I went to pull the clutch to start the bike I noticed there is no tension in the lever now, it just goes straight to the grip. don’t know what I’ve done wrong here or if the plates are wrong or the lever just needs to be re-adjusted - can anybody help? thanks in advance, John
Hi and welcome. I am perplexed by what you mean by the clutch having a 19mm hex drive instead of the 32mm hub nut - don’t suppose you have a picture? Normally, when one changes the basket and plates, there is no need to bleed the clutch cylinder as it should not have been exposed to any air ingress, unless the lever was pulled while the clutch was disassembled. Also, is it a slipper or standard clutch? If standard then you need to make sure that the little triangle cast into the pressure plate (adjacent to one of the spring recesses) lines up with the drum spring post with a little notch cut into it.
Hi Ricky, thanks for getting back to me so quickly!! So it’s just a standard clutch, but I can’t see the triangle you’ve mentioned on the pressure plate (photo attached). photo also attached of the hex drive. I think my dad may have actually pressed the clutch whilst the plates were out to put it into gear (id seen people say that putting it in gear might make it easier to torque the nut) .... hoping this might be the issue?
Did you try pumping clutch lever just changed mine 996 but same design It was fine after a couple of pumps
If you look on the boss hub(top picture bottom left above on your photo there is a groove in the screw point for screw and spring attachment) on the pressure plate there is a triangle, top on the right on photo below, this has to line up with said groove.
Not seen a nut like that before. I’m sure it’s fine though. Regarding your pressure plate - if it is aftermarket, perhaps there is no dot or triangle on it. What you need to do is to make sure that the teeth on the pressure plate engage with the ones on the hub. It will only engage in one position so you need to try the plate ( best without plates in) in each of the 6 potential positions and see which one allows the teeth to engage. Once done, Mark the position on the pressure plate with a Sharpie (other pens are available) against the post with the line in it. This could work, otherwise, get yer dad to bleed the clutch!
With operating the clutch lever with no plates in there is a slight possibility the plunger might have pushed out of the slave cylinder.
Aha... I’ve found a dot on the pressure plate so I’m going Sling the plates back in and line the dot up with the notched post (as shown in photo) Any advice on how tight the springs should be? I don’t have the appropriate sized socket for my toque wench...
So it’s all back together and I did the springs up hand tight with a screwdriver and then a tiny nip with the ratchet. I still don’t have a clutch lever though so I assume the next course of action is to bleed that... any advice?
19mm hex is correct and you need to bleed the clutch. The dot alignment won’t stop the clutch from working. You might be lucky and just bleed at the master cylinder. Either way it’s very straightforward. Looking at your pics of pressure plate - is the central bearing smooth and free to rotate. Looks like it’s been there a while and cheap/easy to replace for peace of mind. To bleed. 1:Remove top cap obviously. 2: Make sure you top up fluid as you go along. 3: Fit length of appropriate clear hose to nipple on slave cylinder and insert into bottle containing some fluid. 4: Pump lever several times and when pulled in open nipple at slave cylinder. Fluid should be released into tube. 5: Nip up nipple and repeat until no air bubbles. Note at this point you probably still won’t have a clutch. 6: Move hose to master cylinder and repeat from 4. Personally you might want to just try master cylinder. Regarding the central nut torque. Important it’s torque to 250Nm. A dealer renewed my 1098 clutch and shortly after whilst riding the bike came loose causing the clutch to start to seize up whilst unwinding its way through my clutch cover. A real mess but rectified and fixed by dealer.
Back again with more clutch drama ..... went out for a long(ish) ride yesterday c.150miles and all was well in the world. Then I pottered to the gym and on returning to the bike after an hour the clutch lever went floppy pretty much straight to the bar and made it hard to get the bike into gear. I've gotten it home and got the left & bottom fairings off to see if theres a leak anywhere. The bottom fairing was covered in blackness and assumed there'd be an obvious leak. Tried squeezing the clutch in a good few times and no obvious leak so thinking the blackness may just have been chain lube/dirt combo. I've topped up the reservoir and the lever has now gone back to normal. So I guess the question is, do these typically use a bit of oil? or could I have a leak elsewhere? ..... and is the rubber cone in the reservoir just to prevent the oil sloshing around???
The purpose of said "pocket of rubber gasket" is to prevent moist air from contaminating the brake fluid. It is supposed to come down as the fluid level goes down always maintaining the seal between the atmosphere and the body of brake fluid. But that is an odd one if you can't find a leak and then topping up and back to normal. Other than there being a leak somewhere i have no idea!
No they don't lose fluid so you have a leak. Yes the rubber cone stops the fluid sloshing around. I bet you see the leak if you take the slave cylinder off.
If the push rod rotates due to a seized pressure plate bearing, it will turn against the slave cylinder. This overheats the slave cylinder and can boil the fluid. This makes the oil ineffective. It may also make the slave seal leak fluid
Plenty leak from the slave cylinder seal. Most replace with an Oberon slave cylinder, which has the added benefit of making the clutch action lighter.
