696 Aftermarket levers - clutch operation

[metroplex]

I just bought and installed some aftermarket adjustable short levers for my 2009 696:



The quality and workmanship is actually decent, but my question is related to the clutch lever. I compared the stock Brembo lever action with that of this aftermarket lever. With the stock Brembo, I can squeeze the lever all the way until it hits the turn signal housing and grip. With the aftermarket lever, I hit something well before coming close to the grip on the highest setting (the adjustable part of the lever).

I examined it as closely as I could but could not figure out what is stopping the lever from fully closing. How do I know if this lever is safe to use in terms of not burning out the wet clutch over the long term? I suppose I could just do a simple friction zone test. Any ideas?

For what it is worth:
These levers are wider than the stock Brembos in terms of the finger grip surfaces. These are shorter but I only use 2 fingers normally, however you can still easily use 4 fingers if so desired. On the level "6" setting, the leve reach setting is close to stock. On the level "1" setting, it is too tight for my size Large gloved hands. I prefer a setting of "3" or "4".

[stopintime]

Maybe the plunger rod (coming out of the rubber sleeve) isn't seated in the center of the cup'ed engagement adjuster? Can easily happen.

Adjusting the engagement point is important to get the wet clutch just right.

Much much much more important is to do this correctly on the brake side!!!
scroll down   http://www.ducatisuite.com/leverchange.html

[metroplex]

It looks like you have the same type of levers, except they are the long version. How far can you squeeze your clutch lever? Same amount of travel as the stock lever?

I've adjusted the engagement screw and that isn't causing this behavior. I switched back and forth from the stock clutch lever to the aftermarket, and the stock lever clearly can drop all the way down to the grip/turn signal housing. The aftermarket lever somehow hits something and doesn't go all the way down. If I had to guess, I'd say that the lever itself is collapsing the rubber boot/seal. I backed out the screw quite a bit and it had the same amount of travel.

[stopintime]

..........
How far can you squeeze your clutch lever? Same amount of travel as the stock lever?
.....

Yes, all the way back to the grip.

[stopintime]

It's hard to tell from your picture, but is your clutch master positioned a bit inward on the bar?
If so, maybe it causes the lever to hit the electric control housing...

[metroplex]

The stock lever always got close to the electric control housing but the housing doesn't really seem to stop it because it can collapsed on the grip. It always felt like I could close it even more if the handlebar was bent more inwards.

I had to replace the handlebar with an OEM replacement, and there's no real way to adjust the housing because they are indexed for the bar, but the stock lever did this with the factory original handlebar as well.

The aftermarket lever has about 1/4" to 1/2" to go before hitting the grip on setting "6", but it gets stopped by what I *think* is the actual seal/boot. It gets fully collapsed and the lever bottoms out on the clutch cylinder. It doesn't seem to contact anything else.

[stopintime]

The pivot pin/bolt on your bike looks a little different from mine - can it be that it's smaller than what this lever is made for?

[metroplex]

The new levers fit perfectly, same size hole and pin as the stock levers. My pivot pins came from the factory painted black.

[stopintime]

Are you sure that the clutch switch is in the correct position, not obstructing lever movement?

I'm running out of ideas...

[metroplex]

Yep, first thing I looked at was the switch. The aftermarket lever has a thicker pad for touching the switch, but the switch is far from being fully compressed.

[DarkMonster620]

hey, I'm going to step in, I went thru this process some time ago, no longer coffin master for me, but, was there and what I did was the following:

take the plunger screw all the way out, almost falling off the lever and tested for lever travel if it went ALL the way back to bar, then like that, pressed, I started screwing in the plunger screw until I felt it was "pushing the piston fully" with the help of my rear stand I then started teh bike and press the clutch lever and engaged a gear, any gear and then again I shifted up and down and with some white correction fluid i made a mark of where the screw must betook it out and dab it with some loctite and screw it in back again rechecking for function . ..

[Raux]

are you 100% you put all the parts back on
the small shaft that goes on the plunger, the microscopic pin for the switch, etc.

[metroplex]

I think I found the problem. I may have to use a dremel and notch out the area in the circle. This kept hitting the clutch master cylinder housing but I didn't spot it at first since it was well underneath everything.

[metroplex]

I used my world class engineering equipment (Sears rotary tool) to create two notches for extra clearance. Now they have full travel in setting "6" just like the factory Brembo lever. Granted, my experience was that the clutch feels totally disengaged with just 1/4 travel from fully open (very narrow friction zone), but I want to ensure the aftermarket levers work like the stock levers.

I also adjusted the engagement screws for the plungers following the directions posted on the web (these are not found in my Ducati workshop manual for the 09 696 by the way): turn the screw in while moving the lever slowly, watching the surface of the brake fluid. Stop when there's no movement and turn the screw counterclockwise 1 full turn. The end result was my clutch screw is fairly backed out, while the front brake screw was about where I had it before (adjusted by feel).

[SpikeC]

 Now all that you need is a black majic marker!