Clutch Plates Wanted

Are these any good for you Rick? I've never looked into this mod, is it the friction plates you need?

Pop me a PM with your address and I'll drop them in the post for you. (or the steels if it's these you need)

 

that's a really nice gesture ^ ^ (yes, it's a friction plate that's needed for Q.C. mod)

 

It's perfectly possible to do the quiet clutch mod with no extra plates.
The first people in recent times to try this reckoned they used two extra plates but there was no way I could squeeze two in and that goes for everyone who has tried it recently as far as I'm aware.
So, I started off with one extra plate but now I have simply re-ordered the existing plates and it works a treat.
In fact, I actually have fewer plates than standard but that's another story.
As long as you start with a friction plate and basically alternate until you finish with a plain plate at the top, you'll be fine.
There's one plate that's thinner then the others and this is theoretically dished, although I can't detect any dishing. You might want to double up on two plains together there and also at the top.

 

All of my slippers are ordered in that way as standard and sound like a bag of hammers have been thrown into a tumble dryer. :Wideyed:

The dished ones are hard to detect. Easiest way is to put them on a flat surface and push your finger down on one end. If the other end pops up, it's dished. I've had to put a couple of dished plates in before to stop a graunching noise when pulling away. I've tried all the perceived wisdoms of scoring the steels and cleaning the friction plates, but this is the only thing that has worked.

 

Yes, I understand the slipper clutches use a friction plate first.
It's interesting to hear that they are just as noisy as a conventional clutch though.
My guess then is that slipper clutches have a flat, square end to the slots in the clutch basket as well as the clutch hub.
The quiet mod relies on the clutch basket slots having a curved end to them. With a plain plate in first, the friction plates all run in the parallel sided section of the basket slots. However, if you put a friction plate in first, that first plate will then drop right down into the curved section at the bottom of the slot and will effectively jam there, unable to oscillate. This in turn stabilises the whole clutch stack, stopping the oscillation, stopping the racket and also, stopping the wear.

 

That sounds like a jolly good way to detect both the dishing and the plate.
I have relied on the tiny stamped dot that is a nightmare to find unless you know exactly where to look. The dished plate is a thin one, so that's a good starting point. Then you have to look at the base of the clutch hub tooth adjacent to the half-moon cut-out. On one side is the tiny dot and the side it's on tells you which way round it is.
Your method sounds better though.

 

I do have open clutch covers though, which makes a massive difference. The noise has never bothered me, in fact I quite like it. :Happy:

 

I know lots like it and hear it as Ducati "music".
I hate the sound of metal bashing metal though and the sound is translated directly into wear.
Derek on here got something like 36,000 miles out of a quiet modded clutch before having to replace the friction plates and the drum and tabs were still perfect.

 

I've popped them in a jiffy bag and dropped them in at the Post Office for you Rick (luckily it's open till 11pm).

They should be with you early next week. Have fun.

 

My slipper has always been quiet as a mouse unless I pulled the clutch in.

 

agree, my slippers always help me stay on my feet.

 

Mine is the exact opposite, pulling the lever in is where it's at its quietest. :confuse:

 

Looking at the STM diagram, I
can see why.
The basket slots appear to have the same rounded bottom end to them that most conventional Ducati baskets have, so the tabs of the first friction plate will jam into those curves and prevent the stack from freely oscillating, exactly as in the quiet clutch mod.