Ducati Sporting Club UK > Model Specific - Discussion, Technical Problems and Help > 998 / 996 / 916 / 748 > Clutch Plates

[RickyX]

Following recent TD at Brands my clutch is slipping like a good 'un.

It's a 916SPS with standard clutch/basket.

Looking to replace the clutch plates and, before I go to my local dealer and get a standard pack, was wondering if anyone had any experience with using non-Ducati plates such as Barnett or Surflex.

I'm not looking to get a slipper as I am happy with the way the standard clutch works.

Alternatively - anybody got a lightweight 48T STM/Sigma non-slipper basket they no longer want??

Cheers.

[nelly]

Surflex are suppliers for some of the DP kits. Work very well, but pricey. I think the SPS is spec'd with a clutch pack equivalent to one of the DP kits as standard.
Have no experience of Barnett, but what i've seen are expensive, even by DP standards.

[Shazaam!]

The Ducati dry clutch on most models use steel plates, hub and basket. It’s noisy and it’s heavy, compared to aftermarket units, but it’s pretty durable and the friction material lasts at least as long as aftermarket plates. So they're a good choice for replacement.

The reason that they’re noisy is that each time you shift, the edges of the plates hammer the fingers of the basket, causing each to deform, causing the gap between them to get larger, causing higher impact forces, and causing more rattling noise when the clutch is disengaged. So they get louder and louder until the plates and basket are replaced.

You’ll need to replace the plates when the thickness of the friction material gets too thin to prevent slipping. You’ll notice a little slippage first when starting-off in first gear, but when it starts to slip in top gear it’s time for a new clutch pack.

Depending on the mileage and the depth of notching, you will probably will want to replace the basket at the same time. A notched basket will be louder, but I’m not convinced that it makes it any more difficult to for the plates to separate when disengaging the clutch. But replacing just the plate stack, which then has to engage the basket notch pattern worn-in by the previous plates, will possibly affect your ability to shift smoothly.

[RickyX]

Originally Posted by nelly

Surflex are suppliers for some of the DP kits. Work very well, but pricey. I think the SPS is spec'd with a clutch pack equivalent to one of the DP kits as standard.
Have no experience of Barnett, but what i've seen are expensive, even by DP standards.

Nelly,

Surflex and Barnett are both cheaper than Ducati OEM Clutch Pack....
They are both around £180 for steels/frictions while the Ducati pack is around £240!

Wanted: good secondhand (standard) clutch plates (to keep me going while I save up!)

R