First Ride - BIG grin - No neutral !!!
 

Having had the 748 Bip for almost 2 weeks finally got spare time to take it out today - when not in traffic it is lovely ( doesnt seem to like going slowly much, which wont be good for my license ! ).

Anyway... have read a few other posts on here and wanted some clarification.

It doesnt seem to want to go into Neutral at all, no matter how much left foot fumbling I do while stationary or coming up to junctions etc...

It goes into 1st fine, and up and down the other gears with no problems once moving, when stopped the N light did come on, but the bike was still in gear - did manage to get it into neutral more by luck than judgement once I got home, but had to resort to holding the clutch in in 1st at the lights.

So....

Is this likely to be anything major up with the gearbox ( bike is under 3 months warranty, but the dealer isnt local so dont want to be without it for ages if its something reasonably cheap I can get sorted by my local shop ) or more likely to be an adjustment problem - I have got the clutch lever on the closest to the bars setting as I find it more comfortable, so would changing it help, or should I look at having the clutch bled ?

Did also notice the clutch was a bit all or nothing when pulling away and trying to slip it.

Sorry if this has been covered, but I'm confused why it would go into all the other gears fine, but not be finding neutral properly, and why changing the span adjuster would effect this - the light does come on fine when its actually in neutral - do the Italians just make neutral really hard to find as a quirk ?

Any help or advice appreciated

Mike

p.s. every time I did stop somewhere, someone came up to me to talk about the bike, which was quite nice - shame it was middle aged blokes and not pneumatic young females though...
:sing::sing::D

[Edited on 24-3-2005 by mikecardiff]

Changing the span adjuster (outwards) would allow you to pull the lever further thus disengaging the clutch further.

Could be several things, clutch slave cylinder (is it leaking, or an aftermarket version?) could be air in the line, could be your clutch basket being worn, and sticking when disengaging.

Could be the selector forks in your gearbox

How old and how many miles has your bike covered?

Several things to go on there...

Will it go in/out easily without the engine running. If so, prob clutch dragging a bit.

would that be a blow up doll:lol:

It didnt seem to make a difference if the engine was running or not as it wouldnt find neutral when I was parking up during the journey, even with shuffling the bike back and forth and trying again etc...

It sort of felt to my foot as though it was slipping past neutral into second from first, there didnt seem to be any click or clunk where you could feel it going into neutral.

Bike is 98 and has done 13,000 - it did have a full engine service ( strip and belts etc.. ) around 700 miles ago ( this was before I bought it ) so I dont know if checking the clutch parts would have come under that - plently of fluid in the clutch resevoir, and its the original one, cant see any leaks from the resevoir or at the engine end.

[Edited on 24-3-2005 by mikecardiff]

Take it back mate, did it come from a Duke dealer?

So some bikes don't do this, (not going in to neutral thing) ? I thought they all did it when running but stopped ? not right :flame:

It didnt come from a Duc dealer ( general bike shop ) - thing is the shop is 150 miles away so I dont want to mess about getting them to collect it and have it for ages if its something that can be done simply.

It did go into neutral when I got home OK though :puzzled:

Will try fiddling with the lever and stuff tomorrow and see if it makes a difference.

ericthered40 - does yours do the same thing then ?

[Edited on 24-3-2005 by mikecardiff]

Golden rule of Ducati ownership number one,

Always start bike with clutch in!

So I take it the neutral problem isnt uncommon then ? is it just something that happens on some of them and not others...

It does seem to vary from bike to bike,my experience has been,
first SS not good
second SS(ie) OK
S4 terrible
Multistrada OK
888 good:D

My bike is fine when the engine is not running and I haven’t heard of any problems locating neutral when bikes are not running?
When its running and hot from a good thrashing it is a Bas***d and you do get the feeling that the leaver is pulled threw to first or up to second, goes straight in to neutral if you kill the engine.
Goes in to neutral rolling up to lights before stopping so I think its bit of clutch drag.
You feel like a right knob tapping up and down so just kill the motor at the pub and then stick it neutral, don’t forget though.
Better get on it before you hit the go button or you will watch it chug on to the floor in a heap,
Sometimes there are three or four of us looking for neutral, all part of the character you know.
:cool::cool::cool:

In my experience Ducati gearboxes are pretty good.My 996 was a pig to find neutral when the engine was new,but got easier as the milage piled on.:)
It sounds like you may have a slight clutch problem,(as someone else mentioned).It could be the plates or the basket worn ,or maybe the clutch simply needs bleeding.

It did seem a lot worse when the bike was hot from being in traffic, and when the engine was running, so it looks like mine is just one of the dodgier ones.

Will take it round to my local shop and get them to check over all the clutch parts and bleed the system etc... and see how it goes then. They're pretty good with fault finding so should be able to tell me if its anything more major like a problem with the gearbox.

Thanks everyone for putting my mind at ease though - thought I might have bought a lemon for a minute !

Just had another thought re ericthereds post - if we could find a box of neutrals ( maybe left over in the Duc factory - the ones they forgot to put in our bikes ! ) left over we could flog them on Ebay and make a fortune !:bouncy:

Couple of other things to check then, might sound obvious but has it got any oil in it, and if it’s had a set of rear sets on the linkage might not have been set back up properly and I think that can effect gear selection.