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

[748IOM]

I need to clean out my clutch by taking the cover off as it is slipping a bit when pulling away.

Is there any way to easily check for wear on the clutch plates? What are the signs?

[moto748]

It may be just a build-up of dust inside the clutch. You'll soon see when you take the cover off.

It's pretty self-evident if the plates are worn: the first couple of friction plates wear the most; you may find the friction material worn completely away in places. There's not that much thickness to start with, mind.

You can "hide" worn plates nearer the back of the pack by swapping them around. Make sure you keep the dished plain plate in the same relative position, though. It's near the back.

Check the friction plate tangs and the grooves in the outer drum for wear. But don't be too picky about this, as long as the clutch isn't dragging, or you'll be changing clutches every five minutes.

Get yourself a Haynes manual if you haven't got one already.

[keefer]

strip it down measure the pack and see what's really going on inside.
the clutch is not overly complicated. and once you have done for the first time its a dodle

[moto748]

And don't overtighten the spring screws when you reassemble!

It's quite possible to shear off the "turrets" in the inner drum!

[748IOM]

Thanks for the info guys and I assume the overtightening screws is talking from experience!!

I haven't had time to get near it tonight but I intend to strip it down to stop the jerking it give me every now and again as it can cause the engine to stall.

Sometimes when I pull away you can feel it slip but only for a split second, the revs don't go up (that I notice), it just give a short squeek and lunges a bit, which is usually when I give it a bit too many revs when pulling away. This can sometimes lead to it stallling as it snatches.

I'm assuming that its correct to be putting the blame down to the clutch.

[moto748]

748IOM>

Not my experience, but a factory-trained Ducati mechanic did it to my bike!

Upside was, I got a whole new clutch under warranty!