[jellies]

I did a couple of hours in thick city traffic today and to be honest, I'm getting annoyed with having to baby the clutch. The scrambler clutch feels like this to my fingers. I even took off my gloves to get better feel:

(hands off) 999555444333222111111000000000000 (fully closed)

where 9 = locked up
5 = 50% slip
0 = disengaged

In other words I'm having trouble with the transition between 5 and 9.

On top of that, as everyone knows, although for a *ducati* the fuelling is good, for a *bike* the fuelling is still bad at tiny throttle openings so for example if you want to cruise along at 30kmh in 2nd gear. You can't do it with no throttle. You must crack the throttle a bit. Just a bit. Right at that transition from no throttle, to throttle the engine is uncertain.

So the combination of these two issues on my bike is making me dislike it in the city. I find myself riding the clutch e.g. when taking a 90 degree right turn, as insurance against driveline jerk.

All these problems go away when getting on it. Changes are fast, I just have to tweak the clutch, it almost feels like a quick shifter.

Maybe its my clutch. I've not yet booked it in for a problem where the clutch is dragging even when dis-engaged (in the 00 zone above) and the starter motor pushes the bike. Neutral takes 3 tries. Perhaps there is a clutch fault with my bike. The fuelling I suspect is on every Ducati that hasn't been re-mapped, if it were just that I'd be ok. But the combo is upsetting in thick traffic. I don't like not being smooth, nor sliding the clutch to be smoother.

How is your clutch. Do you feel the need to baby it in traffic?

 

[brendanfalkowski]

Clutch feels normal to me, pretty smooth transition. It's the fueling that's abrupt.

I'll roll up to a stop sign in 2nd at 15mph, half-pull the clutch to avoid feathering the throttle right on its angsty 2500rpm area, then roll on the clutch and throttle to pull through. It's definitely not my left hand that needs a light touch at low speeds. Clutch helps manage the fueling. Hopefully not wearing the plates too much.

 

[jellies]

yeah I dunno I'm hoping my clutch is weird and they can fix it under warranty.

When the bike is cold and in-gear, with the lever fully engaged I still have to put my whole weight (like both hands and really LEAN) into pushing it on a flat surface. that doesn't seem right to me.

That and that 2 out of 3 times, a gentle toe up from 1st doesn't get neutral. I'm just too lazy to get it into the dealers yet. Should do that instead of bitching on a forum. The demo bike I rode before purchase was smoother.

stock fuelling is annoying but I can live with it, it does get in the way of dawdling along behind a car in 2nd gear.
I feel I have to accelerate, or decelerate with closed throttle, but not in-between.

 

[asiaoildude]

That clutch is dragging or not disengaging.

 

[ELVISTO]

yeah I dunno I'm hoping my clutch is weird and they can fix it under warranty.

When the bike is cold and in-gear, with the lever fully engaged I still have to put my whole weight (like both hands and really LEAN) into pushing it on a flat surface. that doesn't seem right to me.

That and that 2 out of 3 times, a gentle toe up from 1st doesn't get neutral. I'm just too lazy to get it into the dealers yet. Should do that instead of bitching on a forum. The demo bike I rode before purchase was smoother.

stock fuelling is annoying but I can live with it, it does get in the way of dawdling along behind a car in 2nd gear.
I feel I have to accelerate, or decelerate with closed throttle, but not in-between.

Yes , you need to take it into the dealers, something isn't right, maybe it's just the free play at the handlebar end, did you check the gap at the lever, ?
I have mine set at 2 mm of free play, If you have to much you'll have trouble trying to get it into gear,

 

[greer]

I've always heard to set the lever free play with a nickel, and that's right at 2 mm. Let us know, jellies.

Sarah

 

[ichitz]

Yes dealer. That doesn't sound normal at all.

 

[Joooooooosh]

As others have said, the amount of force it takes you to hold the lever in is too much.

I'm annoyed with any bike that doesn't come with adjustable levers, it just makes such a big difference.

 

[egicar]

Befor going to the dealers, as others wrote, you should check the free paly of your clutch, as per user manual: 3 or 4 mm. I don't know at what page it is in the English version. I found it in the Italian version at page 107..

 

[littleowl]

Personally I think it's just the nature of the beast. My experience - my clutch has hardly any free play, and I still have occasional trouble finding neutral. I've asked the dealers to check it every time I've been in and they say it's fine!

The bike doesn't like to roll smoothly in first or second at low revs, I get the jerky ride every time I leave home and go down my narrow farm lane which has multiple blind bends (and pot holes!) so I can't speed up. I've pretty much got used to it and try not to ride the clutch too often as I don't want to wear it out prematurely, but there are certain situations where I have to.

BTW I found the clutch lever a bit hard and far away from the bars - but I have small hands and arthritic fingers . I replaced the levers with adjustable ones and they are soooo much better

 

[Phil Harris]

I did a couple of hours in thick city traffic today and to be honest, I'm getting annoyed with having to baby the clutch. The scrambler clutch feels like this to my fingers. I even took off my gloves to get better feel:

(hands off) 999555444333222111111000000000000 (fully closed)

where 9 = locked up
5 = 50% slip
0 = disengaged

In other words I'm having trouble with the transition between 5 and 9.

On top of that, as everyone knows, although for a *ducati* the fuelling is good, for a *bike* the fuelling is still bad at tiny throttle openings so for example if you want to cruise along at 30kmh in 2nd gear. You can't do it with no throttle. You must crack the throttle a bit. Just a bit. Right at that transition from no throttle, to throttle the engine is uncertain.

So the combination of these two issues on my bike is making me dislike it in the city. I find myself riding the clutch e.g. when taking a 90 degree right turn, as insurance against driveline jerk.

All these problems go away when getting on it. Changes are fast, I just have to tweak the clutch, it almost feels like a quick shifter.

Maybe its my clutch. I've not yet booked it in for a problem where the clutch is dragging even when dis-engaged (in the 00 zone above) and the starter motor pushes the bike. Neutral takes 3 tries. Perhaps there is a clutch fault with my bike. The fuelling I suspect is on every Ducati that hasn't been re-mapped, if it were just that I'd be ok. But the combo is upsetting in thick traffic. I don't like not being smooth, nor sliding the clutch to be smoother.

How is your clutch. Do you feel the need to baby it in traffic?

A throttle tamer fixes the jerky at small throttle openings issue pretty well. Search this forum for 'Throttle tamer', there are dozens of posts on the subject.
I have the G2 Ergonomics version with their 300 cam, makes the bike much more relaxed in traffic.

 

[motorhead1977]

Agreed that from your description it sounds like the clutch is not fully disengaging. Have the dealer examine/correct it before you have much premature wearing of the plates. I also installed a G2 Throttle Tamer with a very noticeable improvement in slow speed driveability. Changing out my levers for a set of Pazzo adjustable levers greatly improved clutch feel and allowed me to get the engagement point in closer to the hand grip. The stock levers had the engagement point almost completely out to the end of lever travel which was very annoying. I had to go to Pazzo levers on my VFR 800 for the same reason and I have large hands. Once these niggly issues are attended to I am sure you will enjoy the bike in the city too. I find it an extremely capable city dweller.

 

[SouthernIcon]

I had to adjust my clutch until there was very little play at the lever and the adjusting screw was out as far as spec. allowed in order to find neutral while running, dealer adjusted the inline cable adjuster at first service to get the handle bar nut back in proper position.

 

[egicar]

That play is very important for the clutch health. If it is too small, the clutch life will be short

 

[SouthernIcon]

That play is very important for the clutch health. If it is too small, the clutch life will be short

Correct, but any free play will keep the clutch disengaged, if it is minimized you can have better clutch release, you can check the connection at the engine also and make sure it is loose when the clutch lever is released.

 

[DaveK]

I find my clutch to be quite smooth. The dealer adjusted it at the first service and it has been very smooth for over 4000 miles. It requires very little pressure. I also changed the drive sprocket to a 16t. It has made the ride a joy. No throttle issues and no clutch issues... I feel very fortunate.