[Matt5d]

A month ago I was on my way home and started having major issues with clutch slippage. It was to the point where the bike could be in gear and it felt like neutral. I tried all the adjustments but nothing worked. After some people advised (and reading this forum) it seemed clear that the clutch needed to be rebuilt at only 6,700 miles. Sure enough, when I opened it up, the plates had some severe wear.

After a bunch of hurdles, I put in a new full set of Adige plates (oem), checked the bolt tensions about 10 times and everything seemed fine.....

Until I turned the bike back on.

As soon as I put it in 1st gear, it did engage a little bit but I can still push it around similar to neutral. Yes, I've checked the line and adjusted everything probably 25 times. NOTHING seems to be working and there's still no power to the rear wheel. (the chain and sprockets are all in good condition)

Has anyone out there had this problem or heard of it?? Any advice?

thanks for your help

 

[xPepi]

Have you been able to figure this out? I remember reading this a while ago and I see you have no replies yet? I'm afraid I can't offer any insight other than the standard adjustments you've already done, ie; clutch free play, actuator, oil change, proper amount of oil etc...

 

[philgoodscrambler]

Somewhere on the forum recently à Guy said he straightened out his clutch cable with a cable tie at the handlebars. This cured his problem.

 

[xPepi]

Somewhere on the forum recently à Guy said he straightened out his clutch cable with a cable tie at the handlebars. This cured his problem.

Oh wow...

 

[Matt5d]

Turns out the problem was worse than expected.

After breaking 3 clutch pins, about 4 dozen times taking the plates out & back in and talking to anyone that would listen about the problem, everyone seemed completely stumped. So, completely fed up and feeling defeated after the bike sitting around for over 2 months I pushed the bike 2 miles to the nearest reputable Ducati mechanic near me. I wasn't doing anything wrong. The drive shaft was stripped!!! The mechanic had never seen or heard of that happening on this bike, nor had anyone at Ducati, or anywhere else online. I'm not riding it hard either. Maybe I'm not a perfect rider but does that exist? I do live in NYC so I do have to use the clutch a bit more than in suburbs but still...a stripped drive shaft!!??

Oh...and because Ducati uses such shitty hardware in some places, 3 clutch cover bolts broke before they were even fully tighted. (torque wrench wasn't even clicking yet) Fortunately, I was able to get them out without using an extractor.

I had three options at this point.

1) Replace the driveshaft. This would have been very costly since it requires days of work to rebuild the whole motor. Because of the high labor costs here, the mechanic recommend....

2) Replace the engine. This would have been cheaper and easier than rebuilding it. Both of these options would have ended up costing over $2000 (way out of my budget for now). Plus, given the horror stories with the clutch on these bikes, I'd be taking a risk on another problem if I got a low milage engine. He had one more option....

3) Mill the clutch boss down 4mm to get the nut on the remaining usable threads. This seemed to make sense and after talking to some other people with reliable history building bikes also suggested it, I went with this. It did take nearly another 3wks calling around, waiting for calls, etc... until I could find a machinist in NYC that could/would do it and not over charge. (yeah, you'd think finding a machinist would be easy to find here. think again.)

In the end, after purchasing new plates, losing a new gallon of oil, 3 clutch pins, two lost tubes of gasket seal, towing fee, machining, replacement bolts, a couple lost tool and mechanic fees this ended up costing around $1200.

I missed basically the entire summer of riding and doing any road trips so you can imagine how excited I was when the mechanic finally called. However, now there seems to be an electrical issue and I guess from sitting, I also need to replace the chain. It was still ridable though. However, the next day, I was riding to Harlem from Brooklyn to meet some friends for a ride (finally!!) when my shifter rod fell off on the FDR!!!! Yeah, the fucking shifter rod just fell out. I don't know how this is even possible but it happened and you can't just buy the rod...no, Ducati makes you buy the whole thing with the connectors. Another $45 down the drain. FML

 

[philgoodscrambler]

How old/many miles on the clock when you got it?
Who did you get it from?
How long before the problems started?

 

[Max Kool]

The drive shaft was stripped!!!

Assuming the gearbox' primary shaft, to which the inner clutch basket is bolted?

I wouldn't be surprised, if the clutch as you said has been removed 3 or 4 times before, the thread was stripped by a ruthless mechanic at some point...

hoping the splines are still ok?

 

[DucatiPaul]

@Matt5d

What caused the pressure plate pin to snap?? My Hypermotard snapped the pressure plate control pin, I replaced it and it snapped again 150 miles later?

i cant see anything that would cause it to snap??

Paul