Pretty sure I won't have any thing to joke about once the Ducati Mechanic slaps me with the bill for this one so I might as well enjoy now.........

'02 Monster 620 Dark, 6600 Miles

On my ride home last night I noticed a few inconsistencies with my clutch........basically it started with being really hard (make that impossible) to get into neutral at a red light........just kept bouncing between one and two every time I tried

Then I noticed that my clutch lever had ZERO travel before engaging........normally the bike doesn't roll till it's a good quarter of the way out, but in this case it jumped if my hand even twitched! almost like it never even disengaged.

It did this a few times then all went back to normal on the ride home, figured I would have it checked out over the weekend

Rode to work this morning and on my way to lunch it got worse, it's still pretty intermittent but now when it happens, I completely lose the clutch

won't shift out of whatever gear it happens to be in and won't disengage when I stop..........limped home and parked it

Anyone with any ideas? I know it's really hard to tell without looking but just in case..........I'm figuring it might be a cable?

I compared stop mechanism behind the clutch lever and the brake lever and they seemed a bit different, causing me to think there might be a broken part?

meh, figured it was a long shot anyway, will take it in tomorrow.

thanks in advance

sounds like the clutch is not disengaging usually = failing clutch slave
no big deal an aftermarket slave will set you back $100-200 oem will probably be close to the same. aftermarket will be repairable later in life. I have not found a source for the new seals in the new slave..... yet

pop off your slave and see if it is leaking at the weep hole. also check your master for fluid level being low, you could bleed the slave and see if it helps, it might fix it temporarily.

+1.  These are the typical symptoms of a slave that is not pushing the pressure plate far enough off the stack.

Possible causes:
1. Leaving slave - like DucVet noted.  IF it seems like oil is leaking from behind the slave - it's a good sign that it's actually the slave leaking.
2. Clutch fluid too low - which leads to #3
3. Air in the clutch line - ever bled it?
4. Somethings gone wonky with the master (unlikely)

you guys are awesome, just got off the phone with moto austin and they pretty much said the same thing about master/slave failure or possible air bubble due to low fluid in either cylinder

I'm going outside to inspect.......................I'm thinking I will try bleeding first and then go from there.


anyone ever done this before?

Quote from: gh0stie on January 23, 2009, 01:02:18 PM
you guys are awesome, just got off the phone with moto austin and they pretty much said the same thing about master/slave failure or possible air bubble due to low fluid in either cylinder

I'm going outside to inspect.......................I'm thinking I will try bleeding first and then go from there.


anyone ever done this before?

Yep - go inspect 1st though.  It'd be a good idea to pull the slave off and have a look.  IF it is leaking, it can be sneaky and not obvious w/o some attentive looking around.

If you don't spot an obvious leak - then bleed it.  It's a simple job, but needs to be done slowly.  I won't like, bleeding a clutch is a hassle since the bleeder port is ones of the lowest points in the system.  But if you go slow and steady it's time consuming but painless.  But sure not to run your reservoir dry, or you're starting all over .

After you bleed it (You might need to refill the reservoir a couple times BTW), strap the lever to the bar and leave it for a day.  This can help left any air trapped high in the system to work up into the reservoir, and out of your hair.