Stiff clutch - trouble finding neutral
 

Lovely sunny day so I took the morning off work and took my bike out for its first proper spin since getting it back from servicing shortly after I bought it in Jan.

When it was serviced the comment came back that the clutch is badly worn so they had repacked it and reshimmed the inner drum.

The only difference I can feel is that it is now much stiffer to operate and very difficult to find neutral - before the servicing it was a breeze.

Anyone know if it has been set-up badly, or is this just a symptom of it being badly worn? What's the cure?

Excuse my ignorance but I'm not mechanically minded at the best of times and I've never had clutch problems on a bike before!

Cheers

re shimmed Drum ?
all sounds a bit strange. not worth the hassle IMO
just by a new clutch pack and be done with it
if its worn its worn

Never heard of re - shimming clutch packs, unless they are trying to make up the amount of wear in the friction plates by artificially inducing excess clamping pressure. Who did this work??
A set of worn friction plates will incur clutch slip (roll on throttle and very little forward motion although engine revs rise), was this happening before??
Clutch now sounds as though the pack is dragging somewhat, does it move forward when in gear but the clutch is dis-engaged (lever pulled in).
Any problems take it straight back, if no joy with them, contact a subject matter expert in your area. Near you (well Bristol) is moto-luigi, someone on this site will have his number. Give him a call. Good luck :)

I've heard of putting in an extra driven plate to take up the wear.

So now I'm being advised that if the clutch needs replacing it isn't wise to just stick in a new pack of plates - it is better to replace the whole thing (basket etc.) in the same way that when you change chain and spockets together because the worn will knacker new. I gather though that a new set of plates for a 996 SPS is about £150, whilst a completely new clutch could run to £500-600 including fitting. Is this good advice or is someone trying to pull a fast one?

David,

That all depends on the state of the clutch basket and how badly "notched" the fingers that the plates slide onto are .. it's not normal to replace the lot after the 1st set of plates unless they have really hammered the basket .... basket and plates probably cost about £300 ... you wont need anything else ...

can you get us a pic of the basket with the plates taken out .. might help..

Clutch basket£ 97.00 inc postage

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Ducati-Clutch-...cmd ZViewItem

Clutch holding tool (the one in the haynes manual)

http://www.allensperformance.co.uk/M...-CATALOGUE.doc

£ 14.50 plus postage less than £ 120.00 as you appear to have plates already

a nice set of clutch plates is indeed around 120-140
as others have said your basket should last longer than the life of one set of plates.
I go for light carbon plates as they don't hammer the basket so much.
do a bit more searching.
also have a shop around on flea bay.
the clutch is not as scary as most people think it is to work on.
you'll sort it out for less than 600 I'm sure.
K

as dibble said you shouldn't need a new basket with every clutch pack, but if it's been through a couple of clutches already then perhaps the basket carries accumulated wear marks from the tangs on the friction plates. These prohibit outward expansion of the plates on dis-engagement (clutch lever in) and may promote clutch drag, a symptom you seemed to be describing earlier. You could send in a few snaps of the basket if you manage to take out the plates yourself (keep them in exactly the same order as you take them out),. or if you have little faith in your workshop then seek expert help. In summary it's not uncommon to change baskets with the plates but you shouldn't have to at each and every pack change.
good luck:smug: