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Do I Need A New Clutch Basket?

Discussion in 'Supersport (1974-2007)' started by ck_uk, Jul 3, 2019.

  1. I don't like the look of those sawtoothed edges

    On a scale of 1 to 10, how bad are these (10 being very poor) ?

    IMG_8641.JPG
    IMG_8642.JPG
     
  2. Id say a 6

    Itll wear the plates quicker as theres more movement, and therefore noise. Its not the worst Ive seen. If you are putting new plates in, I consider getting a new basket.
     
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  3. Pretty bad but you can cut the noise and the wear at a stroke by applying the quiet clutch mod.
    All you need to do is to reorder the plates with a friction plate at the bottom of the stack. Because the basket slots are machined with a curve at the bottom, putting a friction plate in first means that the tabs of that plate drop down into that curved section, locking the plate into place and damping the movement of the whole stack.
    As the stack is now no longer free to oscillate, the noise is cut and the wear along with it because the tabs are no longer constantly bashing the basket.
    For the same reason, the wear-gap between the tabs and basket is no longer a problem, as the tabs are now stable and no longer bashing back and forth.
    If you love the dry clutch rattle though and don't mind replacing plates and basket every few thousand miles, this is not for you.
     
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  4. Excellent info, thanks. I think that mod is definitely for me.

    The dry clutch rattle is what it is, but had been getting excessively noisy; not helped by using an open clutch cover.

    I may have mentioned previously that when i rode to work one time, one of my colleagues who witnessed my arrival said "what's wrong with your bike? is it broken?"
    I let out a huge sigh.
     
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  5. I always laugh at "Is it supposed to sound like that" if I had a penny for every time I heard that
     
    • Agree Agree x 2
  6. This is all part of the steel basket appeal, my SS is very loud compared to the other Ducatis Ive owned. I like the noise, which most folk think indicates a broken engine. Sit at the lights with the clutch in
     
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  7. It’s dead easy to do.
    Simply remove all the plates and put one of the friction plates in first.
    The order of the plates is not terribly critical, it needs to be broadly alternate friction and plain and ending with a plain at the top under the pressure plate.
    You will get a slight reduction in effective stack height but it shouldn’t be enough to matter.
     
  8. I've seen them worse than that on my own bike , and I've been through quite a few clutches in 20 years / 100,000+ miles :)
    I've tried filing away those grooves , but it's really just " kicking the can down the road " .
    It certainly helps if you are getting grunts , groans and shudder when moving from standstill .

    But I wondered if the slightly increased width of the slots meant a bit more violence on the tabs of the friction plates .
     
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  9. I did have a set of those Suzuki clutch plates which were supposed to make for a quieter clutch. There's an old thread on here about that. I never fitted them though, as I wasn't convinced in the end that it would be a safe mod.
     
  10. Yes, it does
     
    • Agree Agree x 1
  11. Yes, Ive got these plates too
     
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  12. Yep me too, the weird thing is that when the clutch is pulled in it rattles more now than when out!!
    Not had any issues with the clutch at all so far, it was tight to engage gears for the first 50miles or so then became fine etc.
    Well worth doing and cheaper (much) than the standard frictions.
     
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  13. I bought some of those Suzuki plates and they are such a tight fit I got terminal drag from them binding in the slots as the motor warmed up
    I had to put some old loose plates at the top of the stack to get the clutch to clear and they’re still in there.
     
  14. Think i used one less than standard, but can't remember, I did have drag for the first few miles but then it sorted itself out.
     
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