I bought a new slave cylinder for my 2000 Ducati 900SS ie. It bled up nicely, but the lever is rock solid. No Movement. It fits perfectly and the piston moves when the slave is removed from clutch push rod and lever pressed. Somehow its movement is fouled when fitted to the bike. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Titanium...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2648 So I put the old old slave back. Still works, just fancied a lighter clutch. Did the 2000 900ss run a different slave?
Could it be to do with the long/short pushrod issue? Basically older bikes use a 10mm shorter pushrod than later bikes and so if using a new slave cylinder require a 10mm spacer to make up the length, Oberon (and maybe some others?) supply the spacer with the slave cylinder to fit if required. If you have the short pushrod and no spacer you won't get any movement on the pushrod as the cylinder will bottom out but not touch the end of the rod and, presumably if you have the spacer fitted with a long pushrod it would jam as there's nowhere for it to go? I'm not sure when the pushrod length changed but I think yours would have the shorter rod?
As per Oberon's fitting instructions; *Included in the kit is an extension rod (pre 2000 Ducati models), and should be fitted ONLY if the pushrod length is less than 30mm from the crankcase face* http://www.oberon-performance.co.uk/acatalog/Ducati Clutch Slave Cylinder Instructions IV.pdf
Thanks. Yes I think that you guys are spot on. There is a spacer which I didn't use. It will stop the piston bottoming out.
Interesting. There are two lengths of pushrod and only two, so if you haven't added the spacer and you have a solid lever that won't move, that suggests you have the longer pushrod, which for some reason is effectively too long. I wonder if this could be related to the latest slaves and pushrods being 'anti-spin'? If the bearing at the pressure plate end gets sticky, it's possible for the pushrod to then spin against the slave piston causing friction and heat - not good. Therefore recent slaves and pushrods are designed to not spin at that end. I have an older bike, so have never examined exactly how this is done but maybe your pushrod is not engaging properly with the slave because of this? It might be worth checking out how your spacer engages with the slave to see if this is a possible cause of your problem.
I was thinking the opposite, that maybe the pushrod is too short, so the piston is so far out it is fouling the engine case and not able to move any further. It would be useful to know if the clutch is 'activated' when the lever is solid, that way we'd know if the pushrod is constantly under pressure or not being pushed at all. Nasher
I when changing the starter brushes on my 907ie I managed to lose the pushrod spacer. I had a hell of a job making another one the right length. I think it ended up at 7mm. 1/2 mm too long and the clutch would slip and the lever only got half it's travel. 1/2 mm too short and the clutch was dragging and I couldn't select neutral. The anti-spin on the later models works by having a pin through the pushrod which engages in a slot in slave cylinder housing so that the pushrod can't turn.
