Time to report my first problem with my new 1200 S DVT (apart from the trip reset issue) I was out on my running in loop today and the clutch started to feel soft when changing gears, resulting in half shifts and the odd false neutral. Looked at the master cylinder reservoir and found that the fluid level was right at the bottom of the reservoir. Further inspection of the slave cylinder at the engine engine revealed that there was hydraulic fluid leaking from the inside face of the slave, down the side stand switch cable and onto the side stand. When you pulled the clutch in and out with the engine off you can clearly hear a bubbly noise. probably fluid escaping and air being drawn in. Luckily I was near a garage so topped up the fluid from a fresh bottle and got home with some clutch action left. I then gave it a good clean down with a spray can of brake cleaner. A ring to my local dealer and I am taking it over there tomorrow morning for them to look at it. Little bit disappointing with only 345miles on the clock. I expect they will have to get parts in but you never know, they might be able to swap the whole system. Any other experiences with this problem from anyone?
very common across the range but usually when bike left standing unused several months - less if in damp conditions.
Thank you. Hopefully of it's a common problem it's an easy fix. The dealers should have seen load's of them
Noticed false neutrals between 3rd & 4th and 5th&6th. Put it down to being used to a smooth inline 4 Kwacka. Even my old XT660 has a sweeter box lol . Will check my clutch and report back. Thanks for the heads up
I too experienced false neutrals on the demo, and noted the gearstick has more throw so you need to be a bit more positive with your changes and i have small feet so the stick needs slightly adjusting, I'm going to overcome all this and put a translogic shifter in the linkage rod.
I took the bike into my dealers this morning and as I suspected the clutch slave seal is kaput. As is the way of the world, these are now a sealed unit, so I am informed by the service manager and they don't have any in stock. They will order one on Monday and will fit it Tuesday afternoon once it slave arrives. I opted to leave the bike at the dealers rather than ride it. I still have plenty of time to get the rest of the running in miles done before the 1st service after the bank holiday. I am happy with the service given by the dealers and am not too upset at the moment. In the old days the running in period was when you found all the problems from assembly at the manufacturer and got them put right by the dealer, so nothing has changed really. I suspect that as with most components Ducati bought this in from a supplier who make them in batches. I think that it was assembled wrong at manufacture and let go virtually as soon as it had a chance. The odds are a new OEM one will be ok, although that hasn't stopped me looking at an Oberon aftermarket clutch slave. Having owned a KTM950SE in the past, they were a popular fitment to overcome the same issue. 9/10 for the dealer so far. I have high hopes that it stays at a 9. The bike is also a 9/10 even with this and the trip issue. I have seen plenty of 15 plate cars on the back of recovery trucks, especially expensive ones.....
I am on my 4th Ducati and this is the only spare part I carry with me on the long trips. when those slave cylinders decide to fail you get very little warning. Sometimes you will get lucky and be able to do a quick bleed but if you find yourself having to do this more then every 4000 miles chances are it is getting ready to die on you. You can change that slave cylinder on the side of the road in about ten minutes and another 10 minutes to fill it with fluid and bleed. I have done it and it is pretty easy, I would rather deal with this over a standard clutch cable any day!!
I'm glad to say I got back on the road yesterday and the new clutch slave feels much better. Happy enough with the service and glad it's fixed but underwhelmed by the QA department at Ducati for it's subcontract suppliers. The good thing was that I rode through a downpour of Biblical proportions for about 40 miles on the way home through rivers of rain and field wash off and the bike didn't miss a beat. If I am going to pay this much for a bike, it's going to get some stick... 1st service on Tuesday so as long as the trip gets sorted we will be back to 100%.
Common problem across most of the range as has been said. If the Multi has the same sort of slave as the older Dukes then new seals are readily available from Ducati for a few quid and take about 10 mins to change plus time to bleed obviously. I agree that Ducati quality control has taken a nose dive over the last couple of years if the tales on here with the Multi in particular, are anything to go by.
Sorry to hear that. Bloody bad timing as you say. I don't know of any temporary repair except stripping the slave and replacing the old seal like the old days. I'm not sure what makes it non-servicable in the eyes of the dealer. It went together, so it must come apart, unless it's peened over somewhere in the assembly. I didn't try it myself though as I was able to get it in the dealer within a few days. I was considering buying one of these to keep as a spare. It's listed for a 2015 so should do the trick. An oberon slave was almost a standard upgrade on my old KTM 950 SE. Ducati Clutch Slave Cylinders If you really want to you could buy one, fit it, do your trip then re-fit the knackered oem one in time for the dealer visit next thursday?
I upgraded to one of these, lighter pull, easy swap. (They were on special offer when I bought mine) Ducati Clutch Slave Cylinders Carbon Inlay CNC Racing
I don't think I have ever heard of clutch slave cylinder failure on anything but Ducatis! It's the only vehicle I've ever had where a slave seal has needed replacing, although I think I did once change the clutch master cylinder on a 1970s Mini.
Just fitted an Oberon slave to my DVT. As mentioned above, fitting is pretty easy, and the pull is lighter and smoother. I did give the whole area a clean after removing that plastic bit over the front sprocket as it was full of sticky black gunk from chain lube. I had a slave cylinder failure on my KTM 950 Adv S and on my Aprilia RSV, so better safe than sorry. I'll keep the original slave nicely wrapped under the seat just in case.
I've a 6 month old Multistrada 1200S that's just drunk all it's clutch fluid & it's now at the dealers. If it is the same slave cylinder issue you all describe here, I can't believe that it's not fixed properly. I'm finding lots of forum comments on it dating back to 2013 & possibly earlier. My main concern is where's the fluid going. Can it get into the engine oil? I've not seen anything on my garrage floor & the master Cylinder is more than half empty now.
