Ducati Monster Forum

My wife got me an open clutch cover for my 2000 900sie.  Put it on, viewed the beauty of the previous owner's upgraded clutch and started the bike.  Sounds good, nice clackity clack.  Then I pulled the the clutch lever and the clutch started to squeal.  Like a high pitched whine.  Is this normal?  I don't know any other Duc riders in the area and its been to nasty outside to go for a ride.

I'd check to make sure the throwout bearing wasn't sacked.

check the inside of the clutch cover for contact, you may need to add spacers between the engine and the cover.

What is the "previous owner's upgraded clutch"? 

My EVR slipper makes a noise like you describe but it's not very loud.  In a closed garage it is.

theres a few reasons for whining.

1) the steel plates are rusted, common if you ride in the rain.
2) the plates are on their way out and your starting to get just steel on steel isntead of friction material.
3) as speeddog said the throwout bearing is cooked.


if its a slipper clutch, then they tend to be loud like that, you have to adjust the stack height to get it shut up, but even then, on hard take offs they squeal pretty loudly.

How can I tell if he swapped in a slipper clutch?  The noise (squeal, metal on metal sound) only happens when I pull in the clutch.

I took off the clutch cover entirely and the noise remains.  Not the clutch cover rubbing against the clutch.

How can you tell if the throwout bearing is going bad?

Sorry for the newb questions, I have always worked on cars, and have limited experience working on bikes.

Thanks!

Just pull the pressure plate off and feel the bearing.  It should spin freely.  The push rod might come out with it, but no big deal and it should be inspected anyway.  Do not over tighten the screws on installation.  "screwdriver tight" does it.

A conventional clutch will have a simple pressure plate, basically a cast or machined piece of metal and a simple basket, hub and plates.  A slipper will have some type of ball and ramp design to apply pressure in one direction and release pressure in the other.
Examples:
http://www.sigmaperformance.com/slipperclutch.html (http://www.sigmaperformance.com/slipperclutch.html)
http://www.hardracing.com/STM.htm (http://www.hardracing.com/STM.htm)
http://www.yoyodyneti.com/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=T10901 (http://www.yoyodyneti.com/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=T10901)

Put up a photo and you'll probably get some great feedback on what you have in there.

Great idea!  Let's see if this works:

http://i43.tinypic.com/2hzjx8o.jpg (http://i43.tinypic.com/2hzjx8o.jpg)

If you put it inside the img tags, it comes out like this:

(http://i43.tinypic.com/2hzjx8o.jpg)

Looks like an OEM cover that's been painted or powdercoated.

I went to an event at Erico Motorsports today and ran across a guy with open clutch cover and his made the same sound as mine.  I was just being overly sensitive.  Thanks for all the input and help everyone!