For those who don't know by now I don't really hate motorcycles...but I did dump my bike and it pissed me off a lot.  Sorry in advance for the inconsistent quality of photography.

Anyways this is what happened to my clutch cover



I managed to take it off and the clutch looked okay.  The cover did not depress enough to touch the clutch itself.  BUT I found a tiny bit of medal shavings in the cover.  FYI what is seen by the five o'clock and 3 o'klock nuts is light glare reflection, not metal shavings.  Bike has a little over 5K miles so are these shavings normal part of break in or is it something to worry about?   



Clearances, plate thickness, and spring lengths were in spec so I reinstalled clutch pack and proceeded to do an oil change.


This is what I found on the oil plug magnet.  Just a bunch of black sludge with some spiked shavings.


Took the shavings off to get a better idea of what was going on. 



Anyways after I changed the oil I turned the engine a few times by hand to check for any binding and there was none.  Then the serious trouble started.  I pulled in my clutch lever to see that the clutch is operating correctly and what happened was, the first two friction plates would move with the pressure plate away from the rest of the friction plates BUT the rest would stay in place.  Here is a horrible picture of that 


Then I pulled in the clutch several more times and and three of the friction plates would move.  Here is a picture of that



I don't know what is supposed to happen when the clutch lever is pulled in but it doesn't seem logical that sometimes only two of the plates move and then sometimes only three of them.  Aren't they all supposed to move with the pressure plate...am I wrong about that???   

The bike is indeed destroyed.  No point in wasting time trying to fix it. I'll be a nice guy and give you $200 for it, shipped to WA.  PM me if interested. 

You didn't like the wet clutch anyway.  Admit it.

  What?   

Hes jsut messsing with you. You just hasve sticky plates, happens when the bike is still cold (ever wonder why its hard to find neutral from 1st when cold? thats your reason plates are stuck to each other.

but those metal (not medal) shavings do indicate a serious problem. Ill offer you a much better price. $1000 shipped to NYC.

no worries man plates do that, i see no problem other than the cover

The metal inside the clutch cover might have, at one time, been on the outside.  Your cover was ground through, it's possible that some of that metal ended up inside.  It wouldn't hurt to have the plate stack out and have a look for any more metal.

The stuff on the drain plug looks pretty typical.  If they look like they are just some shavings, that normal.  Things to look out for would be things that look like they were part of some larger assembly.

I don't get what you mean by serious trouble.  What are you expecting the stack to do?  The only part of that assembly that really should move is the pressure plate.  The drive and driven plates will spread apart some because the pressure's been removed... but nothing magical will happen.  In fact it's pretty normal for the plates on a wet clutch to stick to each other because of the oil.  If you can turn the rear wheel by hand with the bike in gear, and the clutch lever pulled in then everything's operating properly.

To remove power from the drive line, you just need to remove enough pressure from the stack that there's little to no force being applied to the driven plates, by the drive plates because of friction.  The clutch is designed to apply enough force to the pressure plate so that it creates enough friction to effectively (for sake of simplicity here) make the stack 1 piece and transfer the engines power to the wheel.  By pulling the lever you just vary the percentage of the force, from the clutch springs applied to the stack.  That variation is what allows you to slip the clutch at take off, for example.  When you've got the lever fully pulled you've drastically reduced the amount of friction in the system and as a result, reduced the force to the wheel, but the amount the plates need to move is pretty small. 

Do you have any manuals?  Since you've already started, you should snag one.  Getting the ducati factory manual would help you learn a lot.

I appreciate you eagerness to tackle this project on your own - And I mean no offense, but it really seems like you should do some reading up.  Taking some time out now and reading up, and also cooking up a solid plan of attack well save you a lot of hassle, heart ache and cash.

QuoteThe metal inside the clutch cover might have, at one time, been on the outside.  Your cover was ground through, it's possible that some of that metal ended up inside.  It wouldn't hurt to have the plate stack out and have a look for any more metal.

No actually thats not possible because the sound barrier that mounts to the inside of clutch cover was not pierced.  As far as checking out the plate stack out and having a look for any more metal; I did that and there was none.  As far as reading up...I read the whole section on the clutch in my workshop manual but I am just not familiar with how a clutch actually works and in that sense I am definitely a newbie compared to you but I do appreciate that you appreciate my eagerness.

Quotebut those metal (not medal) shavings do indicate a serious problem. Ill offer you a much better price. $1000 shipped to NYC.

Corrected that...thank you my good sir.  You guys are messing around way to much with someone who is as paranoid about his Duc as I am.

 ....now that clutch cover looks very similar to the one i saw on the brand new Honda 600 crb rr guy that slid 30 seconds in front of me for 100 ft ( I could see the frame slider marks on the ashphalt; frame slider was ground down 1 inch! they are good for something) on a hairpin .... luckly it was only the clutch cover that was scratched right through just like yours and an bit of road rash on his riding leathers ...  i hope your the damage was only to the bike & ego and U'er OK!.  The crash analysis on the honda was he either hit the rear break too hard or let out the clutch too agressivly going into the turn in first ... rubber side down is more fun and less expensive ....  we all fall off hopefully to tell the tale .... reminds me when .... I leart what a "high side" was on light snow; shade then sun on an oiled gravel hill as I goosed the throttal around a bend ;had the back side sliding fine; kicking up snow and gravel on a TS 75 at 14 ... FUN untill i saw the sunny spot; I knew it was going to happen but i couldnt do anything; the back wheel bit hard; much to my surprise, I high sided; bike stood up straight at 90 degrees to the road and shot ... flew; 20 ft down an embankment onto rocks; hit the handle bars with my chest; knocked the wind out of myself and the bike landed on my leg and I couldn't move for 2 minutes and realised that no one would ever find me so I had to pull myself from under the bike; drag the bike up the hill; with very sore ribs (it hurt to breath, today i realise that they were fractured, back then I) I continued on slowly after a couple of kicks started her up and continued on with a bent shifter, sore ribs and foot .... misery loves company; that was all to make ya feel better ... cheers DD [moto]

Thanks man but honestly I think I am pretty much done riding in the streets.  I might ride like once a month or something and just take it easy.  But my goal is for the majority of my riding to be at the track from now on...but thats easier said than done when your finances are not really up to par and you have a Monster to repair.

The accident gave me a perfect excuse to disassemble the front; even though I don't have a front stand.   I put a jack under the oil mesh filter area and before I new it I discovered that the right wheel of my rear stand was at least an inch in the air!  Man I was so close to tipping my own bike over on my head.  Anyways once I find a secure place to put the jack I am going to remove the front tire to check things out.  Then the unadjustable forks will get new springs put in from race tech,  once I find out which spring will be suitable for my weight.  Then the triple clamps will come off for powder coating.  Anybody know how I can inspect the triple clamps to see if they were bent or not?  I know for the forks there is the old school method of rolling them on a flat surface to see if the got bent but I don't know what to do for the triple clamps; hopefully a visual inspection will suffice. 

Quote from: uclabiker06Anybody know how I can inspect the triple clamps to see if they were bent or not?  I know for the forks there is the old school method of rolling them on a flat surface to see if the got bent but I don't know what to do for the triple clamps; hopefully a visual inspection will suffice.

Once you've check the forks themselves, clamp them back in the trees and use a narrow piece of window glass on the sliders.  The glass should lie flat against both sliders at the same time.  This will only work if the forks are straight.  Otherwise you won't know if the forks or the trees are tweaked.

As to street and track, the street is not the track and you should not be riding that hard.  The fact that you've been down twice probably indicates that you're running too hard for the street.  Keep it mellow on the street and and save all out for the track.  Read this: http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/flashback/122_0911_the_pace_nick_ienatsch/index.html

Also, and no offense meant here - we all crash, some rider training will probably help you learn your limits and the bikes limits so you can enjoy riding more and worry less.

I agree with the above, your clutch is fine but some of those shaving in the engine may have come from the side plate grinding down.  Clean out everything you can see, then add oil, run at idle until warm, and drain immediately after.  That should get any stray filings out.  If the base of that cover is flat (does it sit flat on a glass plate?) and its not rubbing anything then you could just get that ding welded up if you don't mind the ugly factor.

With the tail on a stand you should be able to jack under the front cylinder to raise the front end.  It still could tip so have a degree of care here.  And you don't want to put too much pressure on it so no sitting on the bike while it's raised.

If you're worried about the forks disassemble and inspect.  To check the inners roll them down a large plate of glass.  if they are bent they will make a 'tink-tink-tink' sound as they roll.  As mentioned above a plate of glass across the forks will help you get them aligned in the trees.  With no wheel, springs or oil the forks should move smoothly without binding when assembled.  If they don't you have a problem.

Good luck with the rebuild,
Scott

Okay, great.  Thanks for the tips.  Does anyone know where I can get can get the special tool for to remove and properly torque back down the ring nut for the upper triple?  I looked at the Motowheels website but could not find it. 

I am definitely not a fast or overly aggressive rider and I don't think that my accidents had anything to really do with speed.  I've been riding for over seven years and my last accident involved an old man driving a PT Cruiser,  who decided to make a left hand turn in front of me at the very last moment (not at an intersection but from a center divider).  I was going the speed limit and their really was nothing I could do.  I have nothing against street riding though.  Maybe I'll ride in the street more often maybe I won't.  I guess its just a personal decision I will have to make on my own.