Hi,
So the 696 is my first bike (and therefore also my first Ducati). I noticed today (170miles on the odo) that when I put the bike in Neutral there's an audible sound and a slight vibration if I let the clutch lever all the way out. It goes away immediately if I pull in the clutch. Shifting seems fine, the clutch doesn't seem to have abnormal play.
Only idea I've got is that I can't seem to see any fluid in my "MIN" window on the clutch cylinder... doesn't mean there isn't any fluid in there I guess, but I can't see any level to see if I'm at MIN or not. No leaks in the line anywhere and I haven't cracked anything. Since I got the bike there's been a little sweating at the top of the clutch cylinder (on the handle bars) where the cap meets the body. I also don't know if this is a new problem or not... I've just never noticed it until today. Maybe it's normal? What are your suggestions?
If you think I should put more fluid in, is there any special thing I should know? I opened it (carefully and with rags) and saw that there's nothing but a vertical slit in there and I can't see the window from the inside.... there was some beads of fluid but no standing pool of it. Thanks for your help!!
Quote from: Amlethae on September 10, 2008, 05:56:55 PM
Hi,
So the 696 is my first bike (and therefore also my first Ducati). I noticed today (170miles on the odo) that when I put the bike in Neutral there's an audible sound and a slight vibration if I let the clutch lever all the way out. It goes away immediately if I pull in the clutch. Shifting seems fine, the clutch doesn't seem to have abnormal play.
Only idea I've got is that I can't seem to see any fluid in my "MIN" window on the clutch cylinder... doesn't mean there isn't any fluid in there I guess, but I can't see any level to see if I'm at MIN or not. No leaks in the line anywhere and I haven't cracked anything. Since I got the bike there's been a little sweating at the top of the clutch cylinder (on the handle bars) where the cap meets the body. I also don't know if this is a new problem or not... I've just never noticed it until today. Maybe it's normal? What are your suggestions?
If you think I should put more fluid in, is there any special thing I should know? I opened it (carefully and with rags) and saw that there's nothing but a vertical slit in there and I can't see the window from the inside.... there was some beads of fluid but no standing pool of it. Thanks for your help!!
Sounds like you are a tad low and since you are new and you have so few miles, I'd suggest a short visit to the dealer, let them fix it for now and asked them for an inspection. Unless it took you a few months to reach that 170 miles, the bike came that way from the dealer. The sooner you take it back, the less they will argue when they have to fix it under warrantee.
The cylinder is sweating because the gasket under the cover was not seated correctly. You can fix it by taking the screws out and making sure it's in the right place (not too tight) but again, best to take it back.
Viewing fluid level through the sight glass is difficult, even more so if the level is above the sight glass. To be sure, remove the cover. Use caution, fluid may come out, and is bad for paint work. Anyway, if your fluid level is too low the problem would be the clutch failing to disengage, not noise/vibration. A slight difference in noise is normal, but over the internet I can't say your noise is normal.
Thanks guys. It just sounds a little clanky like a couple of coins or something rattling around... like what a dry clutch sounds like but not nearly that loud. If the sound and vibration gets worse then I'll definitely start to get worried. It sadly did take me a few months to reach 170 miles -- found myself unexpectedly busy for most of the summer after getting the bike, and being a new/inexperienced rider I didn't want to take it out of town with me. Now I'm riding to and from school (in Manhattan) every day. The clutch definitely engages and disengages fine.
I picked up some DOT 4 brake fluid for it in case I needed to top off the cylinder a bit... would this be very bad to do without flushing the whole system and starting anew? I'd be topping it off mainly just to keep air out of the system, the fluid in it doesn't seem worn out.
Thanks again for your input!
You can top it off, but be careful not to overfill. Halfway in the sight glass with the reservoir level is fine.