there's a real logic there, by using it regularly, spraying it occasionally, I think it would have come loose on it's own..
Mark, how were the splines on your final drive shaft? Edit, just checked the 748 factory manual and it specifies "inspect and test" every 10,000km. The only time I have ever checked mine was when the chain and sprockets were replaced or the gear selector jammed requiring the generator cover to come off. Original has always gone back on in ok condition. Will be more diligent in future
I think you’re right Derek, I can only assume the material was too soft, there is a school of thought that incorrect chain alignment can cause the plate to wear prematurely but I’m fastidious when tensioning the chain so I’m sure mine has always been correctly aligned.
Mark, I asked how the splines were because they will indicate if the sprocket was moving around too much - which could be a symptom of misalignment, how many there are is of no consequence. The front sprocket normally has slight slack on the shaft to allow it to run easily and to slide on and off,(sorry Paul), if it is too loose that plate will take the brunt of the wear followed by the splines. You can get similar issues with poorly made cheap sprockets, eventually the splines get so worn the problem cannot be resolved.
And I seem to have misread your original post Denzil, I could have sworn it said “how many splines”!, apologies, the splines were fine
Ah it was you with the front sprocket problem was it Paul, so when you finally got it off did you discover what had caused it to jam?
Derek got it in one. The consequences of the heinous crime of leaving a Ducati stood, unused, for a significant number of years in an environment that was not humidity and temperature controlled. It’s mint now though The bizarre thing was, my swingarm pivot bolt came out with very little fuss
I've never seen one wear like that, a couple of oddities come to mind, firstly looking at traces of yellow - please tell me that isn't painted brass is it?? also, the plate has strange "fingerprint"-like marks around the two fixings plus some circular deposits. You have no reason to think this was a non-std part Mark?
Hi Chris, I bought the bike new so definitely the part was a standard part, the fingerprint marks on the ends are, erm, fingerprints, not sure what the brass colour is unless Ducati lube them with “brass slip” instead of copper slip at the factory, which they don’t of course, if you do a google search on images you will see lots of photos of this condition, so it’s not just my bike unfortunately, I asked nelly if it’s an Item that’s checked in the service and he confirmed it is, I only bothered with the yearly service whilst it was under the 2 year warranty, this happened at approx 3 years, I hadn’t checked it when I did my service on the bike because I had never heard of this issue, well I have now!.
You wouldn’t think it possible for a sprocket to seize on with rust like that, obviously it is! What does the panel think to greasing the splines under the sprocket?.
Just did a bit more googling, here’s one at 2631 miles, I was going to check mine every 5k miles because mine failed at approx double that, I will check more frequently now I’ve see this!
I definitely greased my shaft before putting the new sprocket on. Lots of grease, along it's entire length. Then I did the one on the bike too ....... boom boom
