I bought a set of newfrens for my 1098, I think £75 delivered, I also found the stack too high so I swapped a thick steel for an old thin one, all seems ok now, will hopefully try it this weekend
No - this is not what we're talking about. If you whip the cover off your clutch and give the clutch pressure plate a jiggle, rotating clockwise/ccw, you will hear the familiar Ducati Dry Clutch Jingle sound... I recommend you do this without the engine running You get this noise because the tabs on the plates have worn and it increases the gap (S) between the plate (A) and the basket (B). A worn basket will also increase the gap. The Ducati recommended max gap of S is 0.6mm!! The only way to stop this is to replace the plates and/or basket. It has nothing to do with the order of the plates. HTH.
Re-ordering the plates, or preferably adding an old plate will work. If you don't believe me (and you clearly don't...), just try it. I think you'll be surprised... Actually, there is a caveat. It has to be a basket with curved ends to the slots.
That's been done. Somebody has actually tried cobbling up a means of adding oil to his dry clutch to make a semi-wet clutch. He was pleased with the result but even I think that's going a little too far.
Can you explain further how changing the order of the plates reduces the wear gap marked "S" on the diagram?
t Certainly. Of course, as we both know, it doesn't and couldn't. What it does do though, is to dampen the movement of the clutch stack, so it can't oscillate and chatter back and forth making the noise so beloved of some but hated by others, which also translates into wear. The more the tangs wear, the more the stack oscillates and chatters, so wears even more. It's a vicious circle. The damping effect happens because the slots in the basket, which the friction plates engage in, just happen to have curved ends to the bottom of the slot. Normally, with a plain plate in first, the friction plate tangs all locate in the section of the slots which have parallel sides, above the level of the first plain plate. However, if you put a friction plate in first, it will sit below the level of the first plain plate and the tangs will now jam down into the curved sections at the bottom of the slots, preventing that plate from moving at all. The contact between that plate and the rest of the stack damps the movement of the whole stack and the clutch is then quiet. The usual procedure is to put that first friction plate at the bottom of the stack as an additional plate. This is what I have done and I can assure you that it even makes a well-worn set of friction plates quiet. However, some people simply re-order their existing plates, so that a friction plate goes in first. I too was sceptical of this approach, as you would think you'd end up with too low a stack height but the proof of the pudding is in the eating and a friend who has a 900SS has done exactly this. I can assure you that his clutch is every bit as quiet as mine and he assures me that he gets no slip whatsoever. Therefore, the answer to your question is that changing the order of the plates does not reduce the excess wear in the friction plate tangs but it does make it a lot less relevant. Try it...
Best explanation I've heard. I need a new clutch and basket after 22K, so I'll be keeping an old plate to do this mod.
