Still making the Ducatisti's heads spin...

[Sofa King]

I get it, Carbon Fiber is "Ducati Chrome". It's just that I hate paying so much for trick stuff, AKA "purely cosmetic" stuff. However, I do love an open clutch basket on these bikes. It's like a tamborine playing for me at all the stop lights. I just hate paying someone $100 for a CNC bit of aluminum that looks chincy anyway, and a Carbon Fiber bit is like 2 hundo.

Call me cheap, I prefer Thrifty. So I decided I could do it on the cheap. Here's the result:



Here's how I did it, if you care:
Making a trick clutch cover for your Ducati for free - Talking Bikes

[Cryptotech]

Love it. Nothing wrong with cheap. Looks great.

[Punch]

I call it resourceful.

I love making bits/mods that nobody else has (at that moment)

Before splashing out on a very cheap CNC aluminium clutch cover, I had had a few whiskies, so headed to the shed and pulled out the drill.

I marked out radial lines with a marker pen on the clutch cover, then drew concentric circles, then drilled many holes with bits of various sizes to make a nice pattern.

Looked good and sounded great.

My warning, from personal experience, is that open clutch covers let water get onto the friction plates and they get soft and bits of friction material wear off quickly.

I.e. keep the bike out of the weather or cover the open clutch cover with a plastic bag when you are not riding.

Richard

[kwakanut]

Very nice work. btw, CF isn't really "purely cosmetic." It does make the bike lighter, which improves performance, etc. Worth the cost? Prolly not in the real world, but boy is it pretty and fun to fondle.

[Sofa King]

Originally Posted by kwakanut

Very nice work. btw, CF isn't really "purely cosmetic." It does make the bike lighter, which improves performance, etc. Worth the cost? Prolly not in the real world, but boy is it pretty and fun to fondle.

Yeah, true. I suppose I look at it purely as cosmetic because the first place I'd loose some weight is the rider!

[wdietz186]

The downside to all those skeletal and CF covers is if it does down on the right side,even gently, the clutch spring posts shear off the hub and instead of a scratched cover it's a push or a truck ride home.

On my race 900 I welded a 3/16" plate to the outside face of the stock cover for reinforcement and drilled a few holes to vent it. It has survived a 50ish low side and a pretty spectacular 100ish highside without breaking the clutch hub.

[kwakanut]

Originally Posted by Sofa King

Yeah, true. I suppose I look at it purely as cosmetic because the first place I'd loose some weight is the rider!

That's easier said than done!

[tempest411]

Carbon covers do absolutely nothing to protect that side of the engine in the event you go down. The factory cast aluminum ones are so-so at best. But now that you've cut some of it away...

[Punch]

Originally Posted by tempest411

factory cast aluminum ones

I think you will find that whilst they look like Al, they are in fact steel. Mine was until I bought an Al spider type.

Also, IMO, mod away to your heart's content. If it pleases you then do it - that is my mantra.

[curveman99]

Cheers to all us cheap people!! Did mine also..