As the weather's picking up and MOT due soon, I decided to service the Monster today. Oil changed, no dramas. Chain tensioned, a bit of a tight spot but it'll do, everything else checked out OK so I'm thinking I've got away lightly. Clutch has been quite noisy lately, not all of a sudden, it just creeps up on you. To the point where children ask "Is your bike broke Mister?". So, I thought I'd take a look, remove the plates, give them a clean, a quick 'shuffle of the pack' if you like but I was a tad disappointed to see this; Now I can't remember what the official service limit is for play between basket and friction plate tangs (couple of mm?) but, I think 7mm is possibly a tad too much? I do have a set of plates in decent condition, here's a good one next to the old one for comparison; But, given the notching in the basket, it maybe wise to replace it or the new plates will likely wear out rather quickly plus, the retaining ring around the basket is loose for extra rattle. This bike wears the drivetrain out so much faster than my 916; clutches, chains & sprockets, gearboxes, bearings, rear tyres etc. despite being less powerful and lighter, it's just the way the power hits that seems to do it. BTW, the clutch was working fine with a nice progressive action, easy to select neutral and, noise aside no problems plus the most annoying thing is that there is still 3mm of thickness across the friction material - the same as new plates, maybe should have left it alone. Bugger.
Its done now and all is ready for the imminent arrival of sunshine! Have you treated your jacket yet?
Believe it or not the recommended clearance is 0.6mm. Yes, 6/10ths of a mm, not 6mm. Your clutch drum looks worse for wear too. You may have to replace that too as well as the basket and the friction plates.
Indeed, I'm getting a new basket and though I don't need them if I get new plates with it they're only £35 so, a no brainer really and the 916 plates are getting a bit rattly so I'll change them for a bit of aural peace. Might even go back to the original hub with the cush drives in it on the Monster - might help reduce some of the wear? though the same lightweight, billet hub setup has been in the 916 for many years with no detriment.
I knew it was a small tolerance, so small that you'd be changing the clutch every year if you stuck to it. 7mm might be taking the piss though.
Change the whole sheebang and be done with it, all in one go ! Mind you, my fairly recent experience tells me Ducati clutch drums don’t come cheap.
Well, I've got a good OEM hub, the heavy steel one with the cush drives in that I might fit. The lightweight one in at the moment is not as bad as it looks in the pictures though, it's more marked than damaged.
A comparison: Yesterday, I stripped down the clutch on my 916. This clutch has the exact same basket/plates combo as the Monster as I basically copied it to the Monster as it seemed a good setup. The 916 has had this clutch for a year or so longer than the Monster and when I stripped it the tangs on the friction plates are worn by about 1mm so still got 11mm remaining of the original 12mm and whilst the basket has some notching it's nothing serious. Given that I had a spare set of frictions, I fitted these to it anyway and it's now as quiet as a Ducati dry clutch can be. Goes to show how a different style of power delivery makes a huge difference as to to clutch (and other parts) wear - Monster has got through 2 sets of clutch plates with this second set practically destroyed along with the basket, 2 chain/sprockets (and batteries) and munched a gearbox in the 25k miles that I've had it plus, the current chain/sprocket is far from pristine and will need replacing soon. In contrast, the 916 makes at least 25hp more than the Monster (and is heavier) yet somehow puts far less strain on the clutch, chain/sprockets and gearbox, is only on it's 3rd set of clutch plates (and the last ones were only changed to swap to alloy from the original steel rather than being worn out), 3rd chain/sprockets recently fitted (with alloy rear sprocket compared to steel on the Monster) and are still in good condition, in it's 55k miles life and the gearbox is still going strong. I really like the Monster, it's great fun to ride but it has been very maintenance heavy compared to the 916 which has been remarkably reliable.
New clutch fitted, basket, hub, plates and release bearing; Should be good for a while now except, if I work on the 0.6mm wear limit because there's 0.5mm with all new parts having not even fired it up yet. Maybe I'd better order some new plates. I'll be needing them by May. Reckon the old basket was spent though;
