Tranny Trouble (696)

[gearhead]

 A serious issue has reared its' head with my 696 today. While out enjoying my day I was loafing along in 5th gear as a hill approached I began of coarse losing acceleration. I dialed in more throttle and the motor sounded like it was straining and there was no acceleration. I proceeded to attempt a down shift to 4th yet the shift lever was stuck. So there I remained for the remainder of the day, stuck in 5th and thats how it sits in my garage. The temperature gauge remained at 4 bars, rising to 5 when attempting to climb a hill. Thank god it got me back home, as it happened out on the highway. Also I was able to start off a few times in 5th as the bike pulls so cleanly down low. I regret this as I REALLY love riding the bike soooo much. I'm glad I still kept my VFR though as I would be very bummed not to have a bike in the best part of the summer.

[the ron]

 

the ron

[Duc Stamp]

You don't happen to live in West Hollywood do you?  I've heard they have frequent tranny problems.

[gearhead]

 I see the caliber of help I will find late friday night. A comedian and a lunatic.

[johnster]

Don't worry about Ron. He's a closet 696 lover!!  

A serious issue has reared its' head with my 696 today. While out enjoying my day I was loafing along in 5th gear as a hill approached I began of coarse losing acceleration. I dialed in more throttle and the motor sounded like it was straining and there was no acceleration. I proceeded to attempt a down shift to 4th yet the shift lever was stuck. So there I remained for the remainder of the day, stuck in 5th and thats how it sits in my garage. The temperature gauge remained at 4 bars, rising to 5 when attempting to climb a hill. Thank god it got me back home, as it happened out on the highway. Also I was able to start off a few times in 5th as the bike pulls so cleanly down low. I regret this as I REALLY love riding the bike soooo much. I'm glad I still kept my VFR though as I would be very bummed not to have a bike in the best part of the summer.

Hmmm..  

Was it almost like it didn't return to its "home" position after the last time you upshifted? I wonder if it just got hung up for some reason, or did you try to downshift repeatedly?

All I can think of is that the pushrod which disengages the clutch is not moving properly. Whether it's a failed master cylinder, slave cylinder, you'd likely see fluid leaking from somewhere...  Damn..  

Maybe is this was move to tech it would get more legit responses. I'm willing to gamble on the "improper clutch disengagement" hypothesis.  

[somegirl]

Sorry to hear about your trouble.   Glad you made it home safely.
+1 on trying your question in Tech, you might get better answers there.

the ron

I can't imagine being happy about someone else's bike breaking down, no matter what I thought about their bike.  We riders should all be looking out for each other.

[gearhead]

I can't imagine being happy about someone else's bike breaking down, no matter what I thought about their bike.  We riders should all be looking out for each other.

I believe Radio Head does a song that refers to the Ron called Creep.

[gearhead]

 Oh ya, I forgot to add that I live 400 miles from the nearest dealer....lol. The shifter won't budge. The second I realized what was happening I tried to press down firmly on the lever and I could feel a vibration through it, like the teeth of a gear was just knicking the top of the other gear. I was able then to shift down twice to 3rd, then I tried back up again and it went to 5th and stayed there and it won't budge and no vibration anymore.

[johnster]

No man, all kidding aside that sounds like a problem that could be (but is hopefully not) serious, so let's see what we can figure out, you got me curious as well!! Nick (Speeddog) is Mr. Troubleshoot, so hopefully he'll chime in.

[Howie]

Gearhead, unless you can see something external causing the lever to bind it sounds like your bike will need to go back to the dealer, as the problem is most likely internal.  If you are able to idle in gear the clutch is working well enough to shift.  Hopefully it is just the adjustment under the sidecover and you will be back on the road soon.  

[gearhead]

 It most certainly is something inside and it was not a catastrphic failure as there was no noise, just stopped shifting.

[the ron]

not for nothing, there was a thread on here about a frozen shift fork or something of that nature. it wasnt on a 696 but there was a thread about a monster stuck in a gear. i just don't know if it was on the old dmf or this new forum. and i was smiling because you also have a vfr. one of the greatest sportbikes ever created. even though you have a 696, i don't want anyone to have a bad day of riding, we all ride to have a good time. not have trouble, be it a crash or technical problems. thanks for the lunatic comment. it made me chuckle, good luck.
 
the ron

[Duck-Stew]

Most likely the spring on your internal shift linkage broke (known problem btw) and the shifter pawl lodged itself stuck is all that happened.  Should be a simple fix.

Glad you're ok.
Stu

[JohnnyDucati]

Sorry to hear about your problems.  But hey, I'd be willing to bet it's going to be ok.  The dealer should take care of you.

This sounds very similar to a problem a friend up here in the Pac NW had recently.  I wonder if the 696 trans has commonality with the 848?

We were tearing up the roads around Mt. St. Helens and his 848 encountered the same trans problems as your 696, keeping him stuck in 5th or 6th gear in the middle of nowhere.  He was able to make it back the 50 miles to the dealership, credit to him and the gobs of torque on the Duc.

It turned out to be the internal linkage (or some such similar internal failure) as mentioned by Duck-stew.  Warranty covered the repairs, and he's back on the road with no evidence of the problem.  Like all early production runs, there's bound to be some (hopefully) small percentage of failures.

I guess our Ducati's fail us once in while.  At least we can always depend on erudite and, dare I say, honorable gentlemen like the Ron to be 'consistent'. 

the ron

Good luck with your 696.

Johnny D

[ArguZ]

MMuuhahahaa....very well picked topic name  just dont google it 

Sorry to hear about that transmission thing...what is the best thing to do if you are on the road  ?
Trying to bring the beast back home yourself or bite the bullet and call Desmo Club to pick you up ?