Hard clunky shifting, cant find neutral

[brecchi]

The bike is a 2001 Monster 900, fuel injected.  The other day the shifting became very difficult, not too bad upshifting when the bike was moving at speed.  At a stoplight though, neutral was impossible to find and the shifting was really loud and difficult, almost violent.  The clutch reservoir was empty and I thought refilling it would take care of the problem.  Didnt do anything, so I just did a bleed and refill.  Topped up the reservoir and a few pumps later the pressure came back, but still the same problem.  Marginally improved, maybe about 10-20%.

The clutch was replaced a few thousand miles ago, but it has been a few years.  What should I be looking for at this point - a slave cylinder replacement maybe?

Thanks,
Ben

[koko64]

Check your slave cylinder for a leak. The fluid went somewhere. Master cylinder dry and ok? The fluid dissappearing is telling you something and topping it up is a bandaid. Check your clutch line too to be sure. Slave cylinder failure comes up on the forum from time to time. Our sponsors all have parts if you need them.
Also check the clutch pressure plate bearing, just in case. That failing can take out the slave cylinder. Fortunately the Ducati dry clutch is easy to work on and good parts are plentiful.
Good luck and keep us updated.

[brecchi]

Im pretty sure there is no obvious leak but Ill double check.  It really doesnt seem like there is a leak of any kind.  The fluid hasnt even been checked in a couple of pears at least so it doesnt seem too weird that it evaporated in the meantime.

Getting into the actual clutch is a bit more than I am used to doing on my own.  It is an open clutch - Anything I can look for without actually taking it apart?  Or maybe if its simple enough I can start taking it apart on my own....

In the meantime, is riding it around as it is doing any bad damage to the clutch or related parts?

[hrharb]

The dry clutches are easy, I changed one in a parking lot after mine burnt out on a long trip. Just take care to observe exactly how you removed the old ones and just replace the new ones in reverse order, exactly the same way. You need an alan wrench and a thin tip screw driver to get the plates out and off, put the plates back in the same order and sizes in the same order. Piece of cake.

[Buckethead]

The fluid hasnt even been checked in a couple of pears at least so it doesnt seem too weird that it evaporated in the meantime.

Clutch fluid does not evaporate, especially not from a closed system like the clutch is supposed to be.

My money is on either a slave cylinder, or with as little as it seems to get ridden, maybe the o-rings on the clutch pushrod. Both are ridiculously easy fixes.

Out of curiosity, whereabouts are you located?

[brecchi]

Im located in MD, not too far from DC and Northern VA.

I think Ill start with the slave cylinder and O rings.  Is the only way to really see if they are bad is by replacing them?

[Howie]

Unbolt the slave and you will probably find fluid around the weep hole.  As said before, clutch fluid does not disappear.  The level in the reservoir should actually rise slightly as the clutch wears.