1st Ducati - clutch is it supposed to look like this?
 

The clutch rattles side to side - and the forks? on the basket are dinted a bit.

Bike is a 02 996 on 23k.

Seems to go OK though.

Any sensible suggestions as to this being normal or otherwise welcome.

i'd say that the plate tangs have gone a tad past normal tolerances!!

might need to have a look at the basket aswell

I should say so, smallest tangs I've seen, new set of friction plates needed I would say

Clearance between the tangs and the basket should be less than 0.6mm according to the workshop manual ... I think yours might be out of tolerance!

Other tests:
Drive plate thickness should not be less than 2.8mm
Clutch springs greater than 36.5mm in length
Overall clutch stack height for yours should be 38mm, ±2mm

Thanks for the replies - the clutch is obviously badly worn out.
I'll be contacting the seller tomorrow to ask him to put it right.

Front steel 14T sprocket is a bit hooked as well but not the rear, chain seems OK too.

tbh if it were mine, unless the clutch wasnt working, I wouldnt have even looked at it. So good luck getting a seller to cough up!

As Bradders said, good luck getting the seller to do anything about it, there was something in MCN last week about private purchase where its down to the buyer to check what he/she is getting before paying for it when buying something privately, if it was a dealer though you should have better luck.

I would say that bike has been very carefully ridden for the clutch to still be working ok with the plates in that state;)

It was from a dealer who will replace the lot with a s/h assembly under warranty. I leave the bike with them, they remove the clutch and send it to Ducati shop for rebuild - 'as its specialist work'.

They said after speaking with a Ducati dealership, the early models used steel pressure plates which will wear the basket down - a design fault later cured by a redesign with aluminium plates.

Does this sound right?

Kind of, but it's only half the story...

It depends on what your basket is made of! Ideally you want the basket and drive plates to be made of the same material so that they wear at the same rate.

As aluminium is softer than steel, having a steel basket and aluminium plates will mean that the alu plates wear quicker than the steel basket. Similarly, having steel plates and an aluminium basket means that the alu basket will wear quicker than the plates.

The rule of thumb says that if you have an aluminium basket, stick with aluminium drive plates. If you have a steel basket, stick with steel drive plates.

It won't stop the clutch drive plates wearing any less quickly (ie, the thickness of the drive plates and the overall clutch stack height) but it will help to reduce the wear of the plate and basket interface.

Thank you - I will tell them this if they do not already know.

OK I took the bike to Bike-tec in Tamworth for chris to cast his eyes over.

He agreed the clutch was noisy but was more concerned about a noise from the generator side. He though the retaining nut had come off and was allowing the rotor to wear the stator?

No comment on engine smoke abnormality.

I thought the generator locknut coming loose was a pre-1999 engine problem? Can I id my engine year of manufacture from the serial No?

Bike is on an 02 plate and has Showa/Ohlins - could the engine be old stock?

He suggested I did not ride the bike anymore so I will be asking the dealer to collect.

any of them cant, cant they? Just work loose and come off

I agree with Bradders - a poorly fitted nut will still come loose...

Check Ducati John's site re the stator nut

http://www.ducati-john.co.uk/alterna...aining-nut.htm

Easy way to tell a early engine from the later one is the amount of yellow wires coming from the casing on the LHS, if it has 3 its the later 3 phase generator with a completely different design of alternator and are far less prone to the Nut coming undone than the earlier 2 Phase alternator.

But as mentioned any poorly fitted Nut can come loose and to make sure its done up tight on either version a decent alternator holding tool is required.

If it is the later one and has never been disturbed since it left the factory it would be a rare case if it has come loose

Note Chris's link above relates to the early 2 wire single phase setup

John makes reference to it also happening on the 3 wire in his article

OK the shop have agreed to pick up the bike Monday and check over all my concerns.

I have suggested I will pay Trade price for new c&s and a front tyre to sweeten the deal a little.

Bike has a three phase alternator so I don't know why there is a noise.

I've had the alternator covers of two different race engines today, both have the later 3-phase alternator and neither show any signs of the flywheel coming loose

Any other suggestions as to why there is a noise from that side of the bike?

Water Pump

Hi,

On my 996R the flywheel came lose and the flywheel started to make a noise agains the engine casing so it can also happen on later bikes.

Got the bike back today - clutch basket & plates replaced by Ducati Wolvo. Steel & steel I was told.
Alternator nut checked, new front tyre.

Bike still smokes a bit so thats a job for next year.

Off to Mallory Park tomorrow so 1st TD on the 996 for me.:rodent: