| clutch plates
A couple of tips I have recentlydiscovered,
1)Sintered steel backed drive plates produce lots of expensive dust,(wearout quickly),can be grabby ,do benefit from cleaning ,do mess the bike up if you use open clutch cover;-also narrow steel drive tangs ,if you alow bike to idle(disconnect sidestand switch) rapidly wear and damage the basket.
2)the late model alloy-backed wide tang plates,wear out quickly,are softer in take up (more feel) suffer less abuse,are quieter during idle have relatively less flywheel inertia,have wider drivetangs and consequently less loading pressure on the tangs because they have more drive area.Still hopeless!
3)The best affordable solution is a set of japanese wet clutch plates in a ducati dry clutch;-these plates have alloy backing have lasted well , have wide tangs so last well in the softer alloy clutch baskets without causing excessive wear inthe basket, produce little dust,after run-in find nuetral easier than any ducati clutch I have used!,have plenty of feel, cost relatively buggerall!,have japanese quality ,and have outlasted any ducati clutch I have ever had need no cleaning,seem to be self cleaning! The only thing I have noticed is although the fit perfectly on all the drive tangs the section of plate between the dive tangs does not contact the clutch basket, you might think they then would not self center but if you consider the geometry of the drive tangs I can see how they do have to self center ,I believe this anomally may explain why they dont need cleaning the dust has an easier path to freedom,
4)use a short-throw, low lever pressure, master cylinder with these plates and you have a very controlable clutch;--because it takes more lever movement to effect the same amount of plate movement it enhances clutch feel. (in other words the clutch engagement occurs over a larger lever movement,which is the opposite of a grabby clutch where the clutch engagement occurs over a very limited range of lever movement and you are not able to modulate clutch release and it appears like a switch)When I first tried these plates, I immediately noticed the bike was much easier to take off on ;- because I progressively slipped the clutch it had the same feel as a lower gearing!! before anybody says they wouldnt be caught dead with jap plates in their ducati,Or this all sounds like bu------t just consider if any of it makes sense?
Finally I have contributed to a few technical discussions and nobody is even interested to comment ,maybe you guys dont look at your bikes too mechanically?I would like some feedback and the opportunity to talk to anybody interested in ducatis ,so if you are interested to drop me a line I will tell you where to get the best ducati road clutch from,which japbike that is, ha!, ha!
I have tested these clutches in my 996r/998r motors and will only use sintered plates for track days,infact these cluches may well stand some extreme abuse! dont know yet, the clutch has 7000kms sofar I havent looked at it yet!!!!!
note clutch shim packs are available from motowheels or ducati kamna;--one of them? alot of ducati clutches are prematurily destroyed because the pressure-plate bottoms on the clutch hub;-as this starts to happen it reduces the clamping pressure supplied by the springs,-this allows the clutch to slip,and the plates are then rapidly stripped,soon as the clutch starts to slip wack a spacer shim in and instead of needing a new clutch it is sometimes possible to get more miles out of it,another thing is the first clutch plates in the drum seem to wear the greatest so at clutch mid life take the entire pack out and reassemble the pack reversed back into the drum ,this prolongs the life of the clutch because as you allow plates to become stripped the total torque capacity of the clutch reduces as the coefficient of friction changes,(because the plates have lost their friction material);-as soon as the clutch slips and turns hp into lots of heat the clutch is gone;-hope some of this helps BREAKOUT
quote]Originally posted by mikecardiff
Sounds a bit like mine was, more like an ON/OFF switch than a clutch sometimes - probably best just getting a new set of plates maybe ? made a huge difference to mine as they were pretty much worn out.
I have noticed Duc clutches dont seem that smooth or progressive compared to cable ones on Jap bikes, so it does take a bit of getting used to.
Worth the effort though, new clutch plates and an uprated slave cylinder and the bike is transformed for town riding. [/quote]  | 
20-Jun-2005, 17:08 
The life span does vary from as little as 4000 miles to 14000 miles but just don't expect much life from even a new one. Hmmm - I feel a poll coming on.
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