2007 S4RS Clutch / Transmission Issue

[Spitfire76]

Hello All,

Just purchased a S4RS on Monday. Everything seemed great for the first couple miles until it started. Downshifted and all of a sudden I seemed to be in a false neutral. After I downshift and get on the throttle the revs raise and I don't go anywhere. No neutral light. This happens randomly but frequently. It seems that when I downshift it is not smooth. There is a bit of a clunk and the tranny doesn't engage. It seems as though when downshifting and the slipper kicks in it stays in full slipper and does not move to the next gear. This has happened in several different gears. Not just going from 2nd to 1st. To get moving again I have found that pulling in the clutch and shifting up to 4th or so will engage it again. I then, bogged down, move down the gears till I can move and rev normally. This normally happens on a downshift but it has happened once moving from 4th to 5th on a freeway on ramp.

Clutch is an STM slipper. Bike has 10k miles on it.

One further note. It seems that when pulling hard in lower gears, 2nd and 3rd, the clutch starts to break loose round 7k rpms. I am pulling hard then around this mark it breaks free, the revs go up to 9k or so but with no acceleration. Have not tried this in higher gears.

What does this sound like. Slipper out of adjustment? Something broken or out of alignment inside? Worn plates, fried clutch entirely?

This is my fist Ducati. Don't know if it is something I am doing but it definitely does not seem right. Everything else about the bike seems great except for this. It's nerve racking to know that if I need to downshift for a situation or what not I may be hung in a neutral situation.

Any ideas or insight would be much appreciated.

Thank you.

[ducpainter]

Sounds like a couple things going on. It sounds like the linkage might be out of adjustment, false neutral, and that the clutch is slipping a little, revs rise with no forward motion.

You'd have to pull the left side cover to check the adjustment. The clutch can be brought back into spec by changing out a 1.5mm steel for a 2.0mm steel. Slipper clutches wear from the way they work, and require more maintenance than a regular dry clutch.

ETA...You can't 'pussyfoot' a Duc shifter even when it's adjusted correctly.

BTW...welcome! You should introduce yourself... http://ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?board=14.0

[Spitfire76]

Being my first Duc, i am a noob when it comes to them.  Do you happen to have a photo of the cover you speak of.

Also,  thank you very much for the quick reply.

Much appreciated.

[ducpainter]

It's the left engine cover...



You need a puller to remove it. Yours, being water cooled, will require the cooling system to be drained. You also need to either drain the engine oil, or lay the bike on it's side enough to not spill the oil.

This is where you're going to end up...

[Howie]

Before doing anything check these two things:

Clutch lever free play, should be at least 1.5 to 2mm., less and you can run into a slipping clutch.
Gear shift lever.  Try raising a bit.

Cheap and easy first.