[pfoley]

I just purchased an 06 ST3s and rode about 3K miles west to east. On the sixth day of riding, a noise started emanating from the clutch assembly. A bit like a gravel mixer, or scraping sound. Intermittent, and not severe, and I rode about 200 miles with this noise.

I took it to a dealer who advised me that it is likely a broken valve spring where part has fallen into the clutch assembly.

I read a few threads on this forum about 05 broken valve springs, and was wondering if others have had similar experiences with 06 ST3's, and if any have had this clutch noise issues.

I'm still in discussions with the original dealer and no work has been done on the bike. Also, learned from this experience that some parts must be shipped from Italy, and can take a week.

Still, a great long ride from the west coast.

 

[cb4265]

Hi there,

Have you taken the clutch cover off to have a look?
Yours is a dry clutch isn't it? or is it a wet clutch?

If you take the cover off you should be able to work out quickly whats up & then decide on a repair.

Good luck

Craig

 

[Bill_Anderson]

Hi there,

Have you taken the clutch cover off to have a look?
Yours is a dry clutch isn't it? or is it a wet clutch?

If you take the cover off you should be able to work out quickly whats up & then decide on a repair.

Good luck

Craig

The MY 06 has a wet clutch, so he cannot take off the clutch cover.

 

[cb4265]

Thanks Bill, I thought it might be borderline.

Good to see you mending well.

Craig

 

[RedST]

Pulling off the valve cover inspection plates should give you a way to visually inspect the closing rocker springs.

If one is broken, then I would think that the engine would need to have the side cover pulled and cleaned out. Obviously, the spring would need to be replaced too.

I'd do it sooner rather than later too.

 

[pfoley]

The dealer in State College, PA misdiagnosed the problem. The ordered springs arrived, they checked the valves, and then identified that this wasn't the problem. Spent about 3 hours checking, but guessed that there was some internal issue with a gasket. I now have a set of very expensive valve springs.

I decided to retrieve my bike and have the service done near my home in Toronto.

The local dealer did the 10K km service and investigated the noise problem, but could not identify the source. He suspected it was a bearing and suggested continue riding and get the service done later if it were to get louder. No oil in the coolant, and no issue with gaskets.

Picked up the bike on Saturday and by the time I got home I could barely change gears. On center stand and lever fully squeezed in gear, rear wheel would roll on. Seemed to get much worse as the engine got hot.

Back to the shop, opened up the clutch assembly, and discovered a washer (about 3" diameter 1/2" hole) was fitted tightly and mechanic noted that this was unusual. Unfortunatley a spair was not in stock, so he work the inside with some emory so it could fit on and freely spin. This fixed the sticky clutch issue completely.

Still have the noise issue. Will post a sound file later.

 

[Bill_Anderson]

The local dealer did the 10K km service and investigated the noise problem, but could not identify the source. He suspected it was a bearing and suggested continue riding and get the service done later if it were to get louder. .....................
..... Still have the noise issue. Will post a sound file later.

Is it wise to continue riding if you suspect a bearing problem? There is another thread here on bearing failure and the concensus is to cease riding immediately.
http://www.ducati.ms/forums/showthread.php?t=68803

 

[ST3S]

Thank you for the update. Please keep us posted.

L.

 

[JackFlash]

If you suspect an internal bearing, I would stop riding. When a bearing goes south it generally doesn't make the trip alone. Some of those parts it takes along for the ride can be extremely expensive.

 

[Gearbox]

The dealer in State College, PA misdiagnosed the problem. The ordered springs arrived, they checked the valves, and then identified that this wasn't the problem. Spent about 3 hours checking, but guessed that there was some internal issue with a gasket. I now have a set of very expensive valve springs.

I decided to retrieve my bike and have the service done near my home in Toronto.

The local dealer did the 10K km service and investigated the noise problem, but could not identify the source. He suspected it was a bearing and suggested continue riding and get the service done later if it were to get louder. No oil in the coolant, and no issue with gaskets.

Picked up the bike on Saturday and by the time I got home I could barely change gears. On center stand and lever fully squeezed in gear, rear wheel would roll on. Seemed to get much worse as the engine got hot.

Back to the shop, opened up the clutch assembly, and discovered a washer (about 3" diameter 1/2" hole) was fitted tightly and mechanic noted that this was unusual. Unfortunatley a spair was not in stock, so he work the inside with some emory so it could fit on and freely spin. This fixed the sticky clutch issue completely.

Still have the noise issue. Will post a sound file later.

Yet another case of a dealer ripping a customer off , surely they should have given you a refund and returned the springs as it was there diagnosis (which frankly never sounded likely in the first place).
The older I get the more cynical and disillusioned I become about dealers (supposed experts......LOL) I am sure that the occasional error on my part when carrying out DIY work has far outweighed the cost in 30 years of being ripped off by these guys .........(

Hope you have luck in getting your problem solved , I would concentrate on the clutch as this has already been established as having problems.

 

[cb4265]

This is why we call Dealerships, 'STealerships' !

 

[stryder]

The MY 06 has a wet clutch, so he cannot take off the clutch cover.

With the bike on the side stand, the clutch cover can be removed to service the clutch. No need to drain the oil. No gasket to worry about either.

 

[stryder]

I took it to a dealer who advised me that it is likely a broken valve spring where part has fallen into the clutch assembly.

How would that even be possible, a piece of a closer rocker spring making it down to the clutch assembly? That's *impossible* as there's no "exit" from the cylinder head afaik and even if there was, chances of it ending up in the clutch assembly are astronomical at best. Maybe I don't know the engine layout as well as others, but that dealer is whacked IMO.

Still, a great long ride from the west coast.

Nice.

 

[Alce]

Rear wheel bearings

I just purchased an 06 ST3s and rode about 3K miles west to east. On the sixth day of riding, a noise started emanating from the clutch assembly. A bit like a gravel mixer, or scraping sound. Intermittent, and not severe, and I rode about 200 miles with this noise.

I took it to a dealer who advised me that it is likely a broken valve spring where part has fallen into the clutch assembly.

I read a few threads on this forum about 05 broken valve springs, and was wondering if others have had similar experiences with 06 ST3's, and if any have had this clutch noise issues.

I'm still in discussions with the original dealer and no work has been done on the bike. Also, learned from this experience that some parts must be shipped from Italy, and can take a week.

Still, a great long ride from the west coast.

Check the rear wheel bearing on the right side. The noise of a trashed wheel bearing will travel up the swing arm and sound like its a clutch problem.

 

[pfoley]

Here is a video/sound clip of the engine noise. Some comments would be appreciated.

Don't mind the initial overhead planes (thats normal unfortunatley). Then when the bike is started, for a few seconds there is an air intake whistle. I've been advised that this is not unusual and occurs often under load, or initial start. Does anyone experience this noise?

Then you can start to hear the "noise" from the bearing or something else. I liken it a gravel mixer, and its fairly continuous for the latter part of the video.

http://vimeo.com/5701211

Sorry the sound quality isn't that great, but hopefully those experienced with ST sounds can diagnose this.

 

[Kramer]

It sounds weird. But much more quiet than mine (for which I ordered and new basket and plates today).

 

[Gearbox]

It sounds weird. But much more quiet than mine (for which I ordered and new basket and plates today).

I thought the MY 03's were a dry clutch ?

 

[Kramer]

I thought the MY 03's were a dry clutch ?

Correct...just wanted to chime in. But that one still sounds weird, especially for a drunken one (wet clutch).

 

[levert]

Clutch release bearing.

 

[pfoley]

Noise source identified and fixed

The scrapping noise that appeared to be coming from the clutch assembly was actually a defective bearing just above the alternator. Thanks to Chris and Paul at REVcycle in Toronto for quickly identifying and fixing this problem. It was a very good experience dealing with REV.

Its now been 2 months since I picked up this ST3 in Idaho, rode back toward Toronto, left the bike at a Ducati dealer in State College, PA, drove a truck to PA to retrieve the bike, had 10K km service done at Ducati dealer east of Toronto, and finally had the noise problem fixed by REV.

Also had baffles put back into the Sil Moto exhausts to keep the peace in the neighbourhood. The rumble of the engine is now as it should be and had a fantastic ride today.

-- defective bearing was item 4 on the pic