About to fit a new clutch that i have had sitting in the vault for a couple of years now....it was supposed to be supplied with 3 sets of springs to adjust the rate of slip....i was supplied only with the blue set. Can anyone shed some more light on what color springs are missing....the rate of the blue springs ( i.e soft or hard slip) And......does anybody have any spare ones...knows where i can get from. Thanks.....:handfist:
I have the black and yellow springs that came with the kit, originally used the black ones but clutch was so hard to pull in it fatigued my wrist. You should be able to source them from any Ducati shop as it's a factory part. Went with yellow springs and short hats and seems to be working fine now (Taller hats don't compress the springs as much). So essentially you get 4 options: 4 and 6 mil hats and stiff black springs and medium yellow springs. So 2 x 2 = 4 compression options. The only thing I wish is that the springs were stainless. There are a bunch of aftermarket stainless options, and if you could find some similar to the yellows I'd go with them. I've seen rusty clutch springs and it's not pretty and they always get wet if you wash the bike and are hard to dry off all tucked up in the clutch basket. Just a suggestion. Word of caution, when you buy/install the steels and aluminum friction plates, you should have one concave steel and one 2mm steel (the rest are all 1.5mm). I bought the suggested set from Ducati for that particular clutch and it did not have the 2mm plates. So best to have a couple on hand. The most important measurement is the overall stack height of the steels and frictions. Should be in the directions at something like 37.5 or 38mm or something near that. if you need to use two 2mm plates to achieve that, so be it. Also, make sure they are in the proper stacking order. One more important thing, the non friction plates (Steels) come coated with a weird sticky or waxy preservative. Make sure you use plenty of brake cleaner to get it all off or you will have one very sticky clutch that will be very grabby and not work right, until this wears off (200 miles or so). It can be dangerous too, because it slips and then just grabs and launches the bike forward. Trust me on this one, not a fun experience. Little blue springs are for the inner ramp. Make sure the ball bearings for the ramp are greased up well with white lithium grease and that they stay in place when installing (but not too much grease as it will spray out onto the clutch plates if too much is used). It also helps hold them in place when installing the clutch on bike as it a vertical application and they tend to want to fall down. Use a heat resistant locktite on the big main nut and torque to proper specs. You'll need a clutch basket tool to hold the basket when you torque the nut, so make sure you have one on hand. While you've got the basket off you may want to consider an new aftermarket Factory Pro Shift Kit. These have a stiffer spring in the detent and make shifting a more positive experience. Maybe 100 quid or so. (no more false neutrals). Nothing worse than cranking over into a corner at 100+ looking for that smooth transition to the next gear and finding nothing! Hope this helps, let know if I can share any other experience with you.
Oh forgot a couple last things. Make sure you have a long breaker to remove the old clutch basket nut. That nut is torqued to approx. 90lbs. (not sure what that is in nm?) of force and a few years of becoming one with the layshaft. It can be a bear to break loose! Notice too that when you remove the clutch cover the bolts are not all the same size. There are one or two that are longer by maybe 5mm, so when reassembling if you put them in the wrong hole they will only just grab the first thread and you'll think you stripped it out. Then you spend about $50 or the equivalent to go buy a heli-coil kit like I did and then realize oh shit, just need to put correct bolt in correct hole.
Yellow (Medium) Springs and short hats (h=6 mil) are working fine with stock power. I suspect the black springs are for 180BHP and above race engines??? Not sure, but they are tough on the left hand after a few pulls.
Again...awesome info...already got mine disassembled....i got my clutch plates from "Mr Clutch" here in OZ...they have the 2mm steel with it and a separate "race start" plate. Mr Clutch for Motorcycle Clutch solutions - http://www.mrclutch.com.au/ I hear ya on the stack height etc. Im am led to believe that the little blue inner springs should have come with two other options?
Seems to work fine with the blue ramp springs. I tried it and it's uncanny how well it works. You can almost not use the clutch and just bang the shifter as you enter the corner and it just slips the proper amount to keep the wheel rolling on the ground instead of skidding. But if you do bugger a corner and get in to hot, it's nice to know it's there. (That's how I tested it!) If you ask me, people should just learn how to shift properly and blip the throttle correctly and these modern driver aids wouldn't be necessary I'm showing my age aren't I?
And one last thing I remembered in looking at Mr. Clutch offerings. On the outside of the steels you'll notice a little notch. Don't align those, they are supposed to be staggered or spaced out evenly between the various plates. Something to do with balance or the like... Let me know how it goes!
Awesome...that clears up the spring issue...my box was open when i got it but i know now it was complete... Thanks for the tips...its the little things that can catch you out. Keep you posted and good luck with yours.
No worries mate, glad to help out. If I can save someone time from the lessons I learned all the more reason to share. I remembered what the little notch's are for on the steels, has to do harmonics, don't ask me why or how, but that's what I was told. Kind of like tread blocks on tires are not the same size or else the tire will sing, along those lines.
