Hi everybody,
This is the situation: '96 Monster 900, bought second? - third? hand 4 years ago.
Never had any problems / accidents (knock on wood)... dropped it once, when I tried to take it of the paddoc stand [bang], but no other damage than a broken mirror.
I had the bike serviced by an official Ducati dealer just after I purchased it. They replaced tires, chain, sprockets...the lot.
Today I'm cleaning the chain and sprockets and notice this (see photo) (http://flic.kr/p/df5Mz4)
(Link: http://flic.kr/p/df5Mz4 (http://flic.kr/p/df5Mz4))
The front sprocket (15 teeth) is touching the swingarm...
Has anybody seen this before? Is it just that the sprocket larger than it is supposed to be, or could something else be causing this (= should I worry).
I have never noticed the bike being affected by this while riding.
Thanks,
Milan
Chances are it's an out of spec sprocket.
The only other thing it could be is worn needle bearings in the cases.
If you have any way of hanging the bike with the rear wheel in the air you can check. You might have to remove the shock or rear wheel to actually feel anything.
There should be no play in that pivot.
Quote from: ducpainter on September 29, 2012, 06:46:07 AM
The only other thing it could be is worn needle bearings in the cases.
If you have any way of hanging the bike with the rear wheel in the air you can check. You might have to remove the shock or rear wheel to actually feel anything.
There should be no play in that pivot.
are you talking about the swingarm bearings(?) because that's what it looks like to me.
that looks bad. i don't think i'd ride it until that got fixed.
mmarell, have somebody hold the bike up by the handlebars while you pull sideways down in that area. i'll bet you'll see lots of movement at the swingarm pivot (and there shouldn't be any). pop that rubber cap off the swingarm, too. it looks off-center and shouldn't be.
Say there was slack, wouldn't you notice while riding? I have replaced the rear suspension spring about 1.5 years ago...but never noticed anything.
Maybe I'll bring the bike in for inspection. Would replacing the bearings be a costly operation?
Thanks!
Quote from: sofadriver on September 29, 2012, 07:04:42 AM
are you talking about the swingarm bearings(?) because that's what it looks like to me.
that looks bad. i don't think i'd ride it until that got fixed.
mmarell, have somebody hold the bike up by the handlebars while you pull sideways down in that area. i'll bet you'll see lots of movement at the swingarm pivot (and there shouldn't be any)
Yes.
There isn't much room there when everything is right though.
Quote from: mmarell on September 29, 2012, 07:07:06 AM
Say there was slack, wouldn't you notice while riding? I have replaced the rear suspension spring about 1.5 years ago...but never noticed anything.
Maybe I'll bring the bike in for inspection. Would replacing the bearings be a costly operation?
Thanks!
It shouldn't be too bad. The swingarm needs to be removed. I'll bet the parts from Ducati won't be cheap.
Thanks for sharing your opinions...I'm bringing it in for servicing asap.
Milan
that or the output shaft bearing has failed.
i rode one once that the owner hadn't picked anything with (bought it new). i got about 20m and thought "wtf is wrong with this thing?". felt like it had a hinge in the middle. just had a worn pivot pin and bearings.
It may be that the oval retaining plate has worn internal teeth allowing the sprocket to wander along the output shaft. Easy to inspect, just remove the two Allen screws. If that is the case you may be lucky and just have some wear in the splines of the shaft and sprocket, and MAYBE if you get a new plate and sprocket the shaft MAY not be worn where the sprocket locates when the plate and sprocket are in the proper position. Hard to tell from the photo.
Quote from: WTSDS on September 29, 2012, 04:14:19 PM
It may be that the oval retaining plate has worn internal teeth allowing the sprocket to wander along the output shaft. Easy to inspect, just remove the two Allen screws. If that is the case you may be lucky and just have some wear in the splines of the shaft and sprocket, and MAYBE if you get a new plate and sprocket the shaft MAY not be worn where the sprocket locates when the plate and sprocket are in the proper position. Hard to tell from the photo.
This is exactly what happened to me. I noticed the chain making more noise and thought it was time for a chain/sprocket replacement. After closer inspection, the sprocket retaining plate was completely worn allowing the sprocket to shift. Luckily the splines on the shaft were not damaged so I replaced the retaining plate ($8), and everything is back in line. That retaining plate had 33k+ miles on it.