Ducati Monster Forum

Hey guys,

Im new to Ducati's... not bikes. I used to be a stunt style rider on Japanese machinery. [evil]

My bike mechanic told my that ducati clutches are expensive an weak? My question is who clutches there bike up for wheelis? And how has your clutch held up if you do?

Obviously for me riding a bike with this much talk and not wheelstanding it is killing me...

Thanks [beer]

P.S its an s4r and i know its "torque" [thumbsup]

If you like to pull wheelies all the time, that's the price you have to pay then  [cheeky]

Barnett plates will cost under $200, swap out is simple and how long they last is probably not much different than any other clutch that gets worked that hard.

Thanks Dan. I was thinkin a Barnetts would be the way to go.

I thought this bike was the hooligan of the ducati family? None of you like to wheelstand? strange :o

No problems dry clutching wheelies up, but I prefer power wheelies ;- )
The clutch can get grabby when warm, but no worries beyond that - oil starvation may be a bigger concern.


Sorry, that would be the Hypermotard!

watch the oil breather valve on the back of the motor. you may have to mod it to stop oil from going back into your airbox. the 696 stunt team did that

Yeah if i had the money, i would have bought a hypermotard... Love that bike.

I'll talk with my mechanic re the rear oil breather...

Thanks for the feedback [thumbsup] [thumbsup]

It seems a lot of people are hesitant to clutch up their duc; I for one, don't share that discretion.  [evil]
The clutch plates WILL wear substantially quicker than wet clutch. If you're a parking lot stunter spending all day clutchin back and forth, expect your clutch to be replaced every season or two. I actually prefer to use a staggered stance on one of the rear pegs, and a subtle 'bounce' as you crack the throttle. It's easier on the clutch and gets you to balance point almost as quickly.
Watch your oil changes! Once after a fresh oil change, filled to 100% level, after a few long standups, a significant amount of oil dumped into the airbox and out the breather, all over my engine, exhaust, pegs, boots, and rear tire, leading to a sketchy scenario and a bike puking oil out the exhaust. Be careful. I've found keeping the oil around 90-95% (basically just a couple kunt-hairs short of full), keeps the oil out of the airbox. Just keep a close eye on the level and clean out your airbox every so often, it should be good. Lot's o fun :)
  
(http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p74/DNAspark99/bikes/print_1_final_1.jpg)

I got pretty fast around the track, but I still can't ride wheelies  :'(   I do enjoy my occational power wheelies that surprice me, and I act like I meant to do that  [moto]   
 I envy you guys that can wheelie on comand  [bacon]

I ride my S4 like a dirtbike, lots of clutch all the time, wheelieing off of curbs, wheelieing (am I spelling that right, it looks funny?) pretty much every where I go. So far, no issues at all.   It'll clutch up in second or third, it's a hoot to ride. 

Thanks spark99. I share the same view when it comes to stance. Just makes it hard to cover the rear brake and change gears. I was a carpark guy. I still have a 929 fireblade with oversized sprocket and crash cages. Just wanna pull the odd one here or there on the monster.. ;D Cant help myself sometimes... Im sure you know how that is... Bouncing a bike up is so much easier on all mechanical parts... I'll def be looking into doing something with that rear breather as oil all over boots and tires spells disaster!  [moto]

 [evil] [evil] [evil] [evil] [evil]

Make sure when you wheelie you try to hold it as long as possible, like a quarter mile. The Duc engines really like this.

I gotta +1 this [evil]

I can wheelie my TS185 (17HP) but i can't seem to wheelie my 900SS or my M750 on command.  It's weird.

JM

only wheelie i've done on a street bike was total accident and racked myself.  [puke]

  Change the sprockets on the 900 to 14-43, it will come up every time you twist the throttle. ;D ;D

That's a great idea!

I was able to power wheelie my old  M900ie with clipons in 2nd with a 14/41 combo. . .

A quarter mile would hardly be trying now would it..? [evil] [evil] [evil]

I do understand the oil starvation issues involved and like i said i have a stunt bike for the more serious stuff... Just wanna have a little fun while riding the streets [thumbsup]

dont like to wheelie every time i do have to spend 45 minutes scrubbing clean the inside of my leathers.

I was SHOCKED to see that in the wheelie pic, you have on an ICON jacket and helmet DNA! So out of character for the Stunta crowd! lol

Big long wheelies on the S4R... Keep an eye on the oil light... The 996 series engines had an issue with oil starvation with extended time at attitude.

Barnett clutch will get smoked in a day.. worst of the bunch, try Sure Flex. More money, but well worth it.

Exhibit A of why I hesitate to buy used bikes.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^

And ill get my dad to sell it, so you dont suspect a thing [evil] [evil] [evil] [evil] [evil] [evil]

I've had 2 sets of Barnett plates on my track/race 749 - both lasted 1 track day. I've gone back to original Ducati plates. At least I know what to expect from them. Barnett plates for Ducati don't like abuse  [evil]

Kinda hard to miss frame cracks and leaking suspension forks.

AHHH pfft nothing a little crazy glue and chewing gum wont fix

I used to wheelie my old 01 M900ie all the time without a problem...all power, no clutching...I had a 15/40 set-up on it...that bike had almost 30K miles on it when I gave it to the ex cause she wanted it over the track bike...forks were still straight and not leaking and no starvation issues to speak of...

doin it with my Gran Canyon takes a bit more work as it is a lil down on HP in comparo to the Monster and a good bit heavier...so it takes being committed to it when I do it...scares the ever livin poop out of my GF when I do it....

I'll second that!!  The Barnett's are a waste of money. Had a set in a M900 and a 999. Both didn't last for beans. The Ducati plates are more expensive but worth it.

I don't do clutch up wheelies ... the shortest amount of time a Barnett dry clutch lasted me was 30,000 miles.  [cheeky]

Though yes, use the clutch to do wheelies and it won't last 3000 miles. No excuse for anyone to trash a great brand name, though.

Ooops wrong again, that hooligan of Ducati's would be the streetfighter...  ;)

Do you work for them!? Just cause they have a name does not mean people shouldnt speak the truth about the product... 3000 miles is BS out of clutch, wheelies or not!

He doesn't work for them but he sells their product.  Everyone's mileage will vary but I'm not hard on machinery and I don't wheelie, clutch up or otherwise. I also know my way around clutch usage & have been a mechanic for almost 40 years. All I'm doing is reporting my first hand experience with the brand that was mentioned. If someone gets 20,000 or 30,000 miles out of it then that's great. I didn't even make 5,000 so I'll never buy a set of plates from them again unless they are the absolute last resort. Just sayin'.

Not really.  Bad clutch control will lead to clutch failure, even without doing wheelies.  I remember seeing a 748 at the dealer for it's first service back around '01.  600 miles, fried OEM clutch, broken chain, dropped on both sides.

Back in the '70s I worked in a Fiat/Volvo dealer.  We had a customer with a 4 speed 128.  New clutch every 1000 miles.  You could smell the burning as he pulled away from the dealership.

I have used a couple of barnett clutch packs and they suck.  In the same bike with the same use they get about one tenth the life of an oem pack.

I'm wondering why Desmoquattro hasn't chimed in on this discussion yet? He can wheelie just about any bike--695, S4R, 1198s, Aprilia, Honda, you name it. He's happy to teach you how to do it. In fact, we even held a wheelie clinic a few years ago.

(http://lh6.ggpht.com/_vs9CJgfrQ_0/TAfQz8IjmdI/AAAAAAAAB9o/Y--Bbkxw1HU/s512/Joe_monster_wheelie.jpg)

I've got at least 15k on the Barnett clutch in my Monster and no noticeable wear.  I don't beat the snot out of it, but I certainly don't baby it either.  I wouldn't hesitate to buy another.

from what I've seen, Barnett makes the most inconsistent ducati replacement clutches in the market.

The same rider can get 15k out of one pack then 3k on the next.

I wouldn't waste my time on one, when the OEM packs aren't that much more, and are quality pieces.

cracked frame and blown fork seals?  [roll]
well, it's certainly not *impossible*, and probably much more likely if you're still in the _learning_ phase, but with proper 'wheelie technique' the landings are actually fairly smooth and easily absorbed by the suspension. Just don't slam it back down too often and you shouldn't have an issue...

'course, I did have my fair share of 'nut slammers' in the beginning, but that was on a Jbike (gsxr), and they certainly take more abuse than the duc!

...as for the 'gear', it must be due to the fact that I don't consider myself a 'stunta'. I prefer to wheelie from corner to corner, not back and forth in a parking lot!  [evil]

The point I was trying to make is that people on the DMF are sometimes too quick to bash things/products/people without regard to thought, intelligence, or fact.

Was that YOUR bike with 3000 mile life clutch? No. So you adding to this conversation is libelous writing against Barnett. Aside from that, it is poor form and rude behavior.

We have sold a few thousand Barnett clutches over the last 17 years. Are some not perfect? Yes. I can recall 3 or 4 people who got new clutches and something wasn't right on their setup (either from other parts or ??).

The real problem is that most of YOU, the people on forums, are too lazy to actually pick up the phone and CALL the manufacturer of the product or dealer who sold it. So instead of providing the critical feedback about a problem, you pregnant dog and moan all over the forums and expect Barnett to have read your mind and know there's a problem. If you actually arse to CALL Barnett, you'll find a sincere concern about their products' performance and a desire to make the situation right for the customer. They will normally talk about the situation and send out new parts. I know of this one time (in band camp) when Barnett authorized us to refund the customer and then they sent us a replacement kit for our stock.

We sell the products we sell because they are quality to begin with and are backed by a manufacturer that helps us by quickly handling customer issues. If something isn't quality, we get phone calls about it, which interferes with getting current orders shipped (ie, costs us money). If the manufacturer doesn't stand behind their product, we get left out to dry (which costs us more money).

IMHO, Ducatis are the absolute worst about clutches. Their wet clutches don't behave the way a similar Japanese made bike's wet clutch does. And the dry clutches are all supposed to be the same, yet from one bike to the next, there is a variance of effective clutch pack height.

Anyhow, as usual, my voice of reason will fall upon deaf ears... but I try to help people understand so that if the sponge between the ears can engage, reason might happen instead of emotional response.

:)
Chris

*poof*