My Rs has 4800 miles on it with the DP kit that was installed by the dealer. Its my second monster and 3rd bike overall.

With that being said, today was an amazing day and I went out on a long ride. 50 miles from home I'm blasting around on some winding road, I jump on the throttle and the bike bounces off the rev limiter, and I knew something was wrong.

I have a open clutch cover so I hear the clutch when I leave from a stop and it will groan, or make a squeak for almost a second as the clutch engages and the bike takes off. I have never had any issues with the clutch but its gone, I barely made it home.....but I did get the bike home.

Is this something I will have ANY chance of getting ducati to warranty or should I just take it on the chin and buy a better clutch?

I mean 4800 miles for a clutch lifespan is kinda.....I dunno un-acceptable.

thanks for any advice...

It's a wear item, so I doubt it's warrantied.

I don't know how hard you push your bike, but that number does seem low to me. It's no Rs, but the ole S4R has 27k on the original clutch, and I haven't been remotely nice to it.

Thanks.

Thats what I thought that its a low number too. I completely enjoy my motorcycle but I never felt the pace I ride at (well within my abilities) would result in a clutch failure this rapidly.

And I figure that will happen when I talk to the dealer....Its a wear item....bla bla bla...

Would plates and fibers be enough to fix this from happening again or would I need to get a new basket too?

QuoteWould plates and fibers be enough to fix this from happening again or would I need to get a new basket too?

Give us a pic of it to decide from.

THANKS....

I will be calling my local dealer tomorrow, if they are even un-sure about it being a warranty decision I will be ripping it apart myself.

So hopefully I won't have to post pictures and its a warranty repair, but I have no faith of that happening.....

So in the last 2 months:

My DP steering damper failed
I drop my bike and bend my right rearset and scratch up my billet clutch cover
Clutch fails at 4800 miles

I don't believe your dry clutch is done with 4800 miles even if you ride on the track.  Most people get 20-30k miles with some deglazing of the driven plates, a restack, and maybe an additional convex plate.   I didn't understand your post...why does bouncing off the rev limiter make you think your clutch is worn out?  I bet that if you measure the friction plates width and the total stack width it will be within spec. 

Sorry, never mind...I reread your post.  You hit the rev limiter because the clutch was slipping.  Wow, 4800 miles on a dry clutch...you need an automatic transmission or an electric bike.

Quote from: slash on September 01, 2008, 03:39:27 PM
Sorry, never mind...I reread your post.  You hit the rev limiter because the clutch was slipping.  Wow, 4800 miles on a dry clutch...you need an automatic transmission or an electric bike.

There's no need for snark. It may be he has a bad part, or some other issue. Implying that it could only be a piss poor rider isn't constructive.

Quote from: someguy on September 01, 2008, 05:24:13 PM
There's no need for snark. It may be he has a bad part, or some other issue. Implying that it could only be a piss poor rider isn't constructive.

Thanks for that, yes I like to think I'm a good rider, and don't ride like a knucklehead. Anything more then 2-3k of rpm and the clutch just can't hold now. All I can figure is that something is wrong with the friction plates or something else has gone wrong in the clutch.

I took out my dial caliper, the base of the fiber plate with no friction material on it is ~ 2.5mm
the friction material is ~ 3.0mm to 2.8mm

And my clutch basket looks beat to shit too....

OH and now after putting it all back together the clutch has a metal squeak sound to it....is that the rusty clutch springs or should I take it back apart and put some grease on the rod that moves the pressure plate?

and if it couldn't get anyworse....I picked up a broken piece of a screw driver in my rear tire while I was limping the bike home today.....JOY OF JOYS 

Quote from: jesse370 on September 01, 2008, 08:48:09 PM
I took out my dial caliper, the base of the fiber plate with no friction material on it is ~ .25mm
the friction material is ~ .30mm

I don't have a manual with the minimum specs, but I'd think these numbers are good. Without a minimum spec, though, I cannot confirm my opinion.

Quote from: jesse370 on September 01, 2008, 08:48:09 PM
And my clutch basket looks beat to shit too....

Compare to those pictures, if you think your basket and plates are bad, you'd cr@p if you saw the clutch basket and plates in my ST2.....they have 38k miles on them

Quote from: jesse370 on September 01, 2008, 08:48:09 PM
OH and now after putting it all back together the clutch has a metal squeak sound to it....is that the rusty clutch springs or should I take it back apart and put some grease on the rod that moves the pressure plate?

I don't know about a metallic sound, but the groaning and chirping that you described earlier is common of bikes with a lot of clutch dust in the clutch housing (closed clutch covers) and clutches with glazing on them. I don't worry about it. My ST2 has been groaning like that for over 30k miles. As for grease.....I always put a small amount of grease on the clutch push rod when I have it out. You may also want to change the o-rings. I think all of them are only $1 to replace and most dealers keep them in stock.

after being able to sleep and put together a thought without being tired the sound the clutch makes now is like a old rusty, squeaky hinge.

Now if you think the plates are within spec what would cause the clutch to not be able to hold anything over minor throttle inputs?

AND to increase the this sucks factor.......

I bought the bike used, and neglected to inquire as to its original registration date....OUT OF WARRANTY



 

so with these pictures, should I replace the basket or anything or else or just plates and fibers.

My main concern is what caused it to fail this rapidly, I would hate to just to plates and fibers and have it go again. But really I mean a dry clutch is pretty simple and I just can't see anything causing that to happen this rapidly beyond a bad set of fibers???

Quote from: jesse370 on September 02, 2008, 08:50:33 AM
My main concern is what caused it to fail this rapidly, I would hate to just to plates and fibers and have it go again. But really I mean a dry clutch is pretty simple and I just can't see anything causing that to happen this rapidly beyond a bad set of fibers???

RS owner here with open clutch cover.  I've got ~6500 miles on the OEM plates and basket and everything is working fine.  When you removed the plates, how were the springs.  Could the clutch be slipping because the springs are weak?  All the little markings on the pressure plate lines up properly?