My own experience of a noisy clutch was that new plates (less backlash on the friction plate tangs) and careful stacking made a big difference. As to the 'Ducati sound', I've got an 888 and a Multistrada 1200, and much prefer the quietness of the wet clutch, although open clutch covers do look good on a sporty bike like the 888. I know it's a personal choice, but take a look at this before deciding .... If you ride a Ducati, you've got to be able to take a joke!
a little off topic here guys but. Why wont my ducati start again after turning the engine on and then quickly off..? i started the bike, and a minute later turned it off. and then the bike wont start. this isnt the first time this happened. and the only way i can fix it is by taking the plugs off. torching the tips and then letting the fuel in the chambers evaporate, put the plugs back in, and it starts.... is this a known issue with these bikes?
Get the fact the first friction plate is jammed in so not moving but why don't the others continue to rattle about? Also, why don't Ducati just do that? I can't imagine a bloody loud rattling clutch is a USP.
They can and do when the clutch lever is pulled in but not otherwise. However, although they don't chatter in the same way, they do make a sort of jangling sound when you pull the clutch lever in, which is not unpleasant. My clutch, with its last set of pretty knackered friction plates, used to not only make a racket at rest in neutral but also when riding along on a neutral throttle. The extra friction plate stopped the racket so effectively it was like you'd put a new clutch in. Why don't Ducati do it? Well, from what I've read, some dealers in America did start doing it as a matter of course some time ago but stopped, allegedly on instructions from Ducati, because there is a potential problem. That problem is that, after a high mileage, the extra friction plate tangs can cut into the bottom of the slots, creating a step. Once a step is there, the action of the clutch becomes erratic, as the tangs can suddenly drop into the step as you pull away and this can be dangerous with stalling at junctions or whatever. This potential problem does have a solution though and that is to radius the tangs with a file, so they roughly match the profile of the bottom of the slots. They then don't cut into the bottom of the slots and don't create a step. I have done this.
I think you need to start a new thread with this and describe what is happening more fully. Eg Is the engine turning over as fast as it was the first time? (when it actually started). Can't help wondering if it's actually your battery (which needs to be tip-top on these bikes) and the starting after playing with the plugs has just let the battery recover enough to allow it to not only turn the engine over but have enough juice to power the ignition system as well.
Of course new plates will help but only until they start to wear again. The thing about the quiet clutch mod is that it virtually eliminates that wear and gives a quiet clutch at the same time. Derek reckons to have got 30,000 miles or so out of a set of plates using this mod. It also cuts down on wear on the basket at the same time. Win-win.
so i also bled my clutch today, and its still the same. somehow even after bleeding, it feels soft... i also have an oberon slave cylinder which i have cleaned as well. i feel like the pressure plate isnt getting pushed out all the way.. i can move it by half a mm if i pull the clutch in REALLY hard, and i mean so hard that my fingers hurt. only then i can find neutral when the bikes hot. isnt there anything else i can adjust ?
Did you say you have an aftermarket pressure plate? I think I read somewhere that either changing the pressure plate and/or slave can require a longer rod. How long is yours? I expect the more experienced guys would know.
Sounds to me like your plate stack is still too deep, how much movement do you get from the pressure plate when it's unloaded (ie no plates fitted) in total there's only about 2-3mm of push
@Old rider no, im not using the full set of the new plates, im using the method you mentioned... @Cream_Revenge ive got an aftermarket pressure plate yes, but ive always had these. so there isnt anything new.. the slave and the pressure plate have been there for over a year. and ive had no problems up until now. @Tobytyke i have not measured it like that yet
I think @Tobytyke could be right. It sounds like you've made progress in that you now have a clutch that works fairly well but you're not quite there in that you can't easily engage neutral from rest when hot. Can you explain what plates you have in exactly please?? I have a 36mm stack height now, excluding the extra friction plate at the bottom, and the reduced pre-load resulting from that is giving me a super-light clutch with no drag and no slip. I can easily pull the clutch lever in with two fingers now and I can also engage neutral at rest by tapping down from second as easily as tapping up from first. If you can do that, you have a really drag-free clutch... As @Tobytyke says, it sounds like you have too high a stack, giving too much pre-load on the springs. Do you still have any doubled-up plain plates? If so, you can take one of the pair out or one from each pair if you have two sets doubled up. If you have no doubled up plates but have an extra friction plate at the bottom, you can remove that extra plate and simply re-order your plates so you have a friction plate at the bottom.
@Old rider this is my current setup. 1x friction plate 2x steel plate 1x new friction plate 1x steel plate 1x new friction plate 1x steel plate 1x old friction plate 1x steel plate 1x old friction plate 1x steel plate 1x old friction plate 1x steel plate 1x old friction plate 1x steel plate so i have 7 friction plates in there... which is what these bikes take right? so you suggest i should take that doubled up friction plate and have only one instead of two and see how it performs then?
if the steels are 2mm you dont say what amount of what you have.... then x 8 = 16 friction plates are circa 3mm x 7 = 21 total 37mm........ plus are you finishing on a steel plate as you said your pressure plate doesn't have the teeth on it therefore the pressure plate is spinning against a steel..............that should add to the "quiet clutch" bollox i would give up!
Can you not measure your stack height? If you don't have digital calipers, I suggest you get some. They are invaluable. It does seem though that the stack height is still too high as @Tobytyke says. So yes, give it a go and see what happens.
the after-market pressure plate has the teeth on there and its matched upcorrectly. The above is a quote from earlier in the thread.
right so, its been a while, and well, today i removed one of the steel plates off, the one thats doubled up, i removed one, and the clutch seems to be A LOT better, but its still not quite there yet. i still have to press the lever quite hard to be able to engage neutral from 1st and 2nd.... is there anything else i can do? also i have the quiet mod on there as well.
Glad to hear it's a lot better, if not quite perfect yet I'm not sure why you would have to pull hard to get the clutch to disengage the clutch completely. To the bar is to the bar and it's odd that have to pull hard to get it to the bar. My clutch is mega-light now - 2 fingers light - because I'm running such a low stack-height, which reduces the pre-load on the clutch springs, It sounds as though you have too much preload on your springs and they are binding before the clutch lever is fully in. Reasons for this could be: Stack height still too much. What is it now? Springs too long. Unlikely, as ok before. Bolts too short. Ditto Pressure plate different thickness. Ditto Pushrod too short. Ditto Is your slave-cylinder bolted up correctly and tightly? If that is not quite in place properly or is loose, that would have the same effect as a short pushrod. If all that is correct, that brings us back to stack height. Btw, It's worth cleaning and greasing your pushrod for reduced friction.
