My ST4s has over 6,000 on it now and no problems from the clutch. It is heavy, like all of them and a but clattery but no where near as much as my 900ss was, thanks to the alloy plates.
I ran the 900 to 22k on the original plates and only changed them because I was offered a new set at half price. They had plenty of meat left on them but the tangs on the friction plates were well hammered. It is this hammering action which can cause the slots in the basket to become grooved, affecting the release action which can get snatchy.
At 4,500 miles I'd be very ****ed off if the clutch needed replacing. Are they suggesting the complete clutch needs replacing or just the plates? It may be that the basket is grooved or more likely that the clearances between the tangs on the friction plate and the basket have reached the "service limit". The clutch can operate perfectly well with much more clearance but will wear the basket sooner rather than later.

the cost is £106 , labour is not charged for as they had it in bits anyway and Im sure its just plates.

I am ****ed off and disappointed but ever hopeful that they have decided its a warranty claim so i dont have to get shirty with someone as it only makes my blood pressure go up and thats no help at all.

thanks for the help, to clean the clutch out do I just need to remove a cover plate and get an airline in or should I disassemble it and clean it with some magic solution ?

Can you reccomend what i should be buying for a set of ST4S alloy plates and where from ?

clutchless up gear changes are my thing anyway and I never slip the clutch and as I said earlier at any opportunity I put it in neutral to save my hand from aching, all of which makes the whole fiasco worse.

again thanks for the help

Any Ducati dealer should have the plates, JHP is first try. ST4S has alloy ones as standard, the others have steel ones. Not much in the price either.

I take it all apart then lightly glaze bust the steel plates with fine emery then clean them all with brake cleaner and put it back together. Mine has done 15,000 miles now and five trackdays.

They are not as robust as wet clutches but you can get half decent mileage out of them!

At that price it is almost certainly just the plates, probably excess clearance at the tangs. Labour should be next to nothing anyway. It only takes about 15 minutes to change them. Make sure you get the old ones back.

The bike has the original clutch cover is there any advantage to fitting an open cover other than Blinginess

well its going to run and run as the dealer is saying that he cant do it under warranty and I will have to take it up with DUK, so I will.

Hopefully should be re-united with the bike tomorrow and the old plates.

Well it lets the noise and the dust out but lets water in and may not be that strong in the event of a crash. £106 is a set of plates. The basket is that again. Like Del said, make sure you get the old ones, i keep a set as an emergency trackday spare just in case!

18k
out of my cludh
and i really give it some stick when i'm in the mood:P

is that miles or kms