[freewaystar]

Hi guys,
It's freewaystar, the 5'5 120 lb woman ready to leave y'all in the dust with my new RED 07 GT. Just kiddin' though I am pretty fast.

Anyway, I bought those custom Wilbur shocks from Rodger over in Australia and as soon as they get to me, I'll be set up as far as height and a smoother ride goes. Big shout out to Maryanne and Roger for the incredible deal I got on them!

The next modification to tackle is that hard to pull stock clutch. It's fine on longer rides but was killing my wrist around town. I was told at Ducati a few months back that there's a device I can buy and have installed somewhere down on the clutch cable that would make it easier. Anyone know about this?
Will buying expensive CRG levers or the like ease up the clutch? I don't have an issue with the lever being to far out, just too hard.

Would appreciate any suggestions.

Thanks!

 

[SPORT_CLASSIC_SPECIALTIES]

This is a old trick from ST riders and it's free
Remove two of the springs. The bolt/spring pattern will become a rectangle
It still engages well and never slips, becomes a two finger pull. Have had this for over 5K miles and have had no problems.
If it is still a little hard of a pull try a after market slave is the next step and it will cost.

JC

 

[redbcgraygt]

HA HA I think I can take an ass kickin from a chick. I don't think I would cry to much. You have to develop special muscles for the GT, that's what I did. I think some people upgrade the slave cylinder.

 

[freewaystar]

I can develop GT muscles...I just have a bad left wrist from a rock climbing accident. Broke it in 2 places and the bones were set wrong. I was in Greece....at least it was socialized medicine and free.

 

[redbcgraygt]

I can develop GT muscles...I just have a bad left wrist from a rock climbing accident. Broke it in 2 places and the bones were set wrong. I was in Greece....at least it was socialized medicine and free.

Sorry to hear about your wrist. Yea, can't what wait for the great socialized medicine here. I was trying to find the thread on the slave upgrade from awhile back, but couldn't find it. I do remember the guys that did it said it was a big improvement over oem.

 

[LA Sport 1000]

Oberon Slave

Hi guys,
It's freewaystar, the 5'5 120 lb woman ready to leave y'all in the dust with my new RED 07 GT. Just kiddin' though I am pretty fast.

Anyway, I bought those custom Wilbur shocks from Rodger over in Australia and as soon as they get to me, I'll be set up as far as height and a smoother ride goes. Big shout out to Maryanne and Roger for the incredible deal I got on them!

The next modification to tackle is that hard to pull stock clutch. It's fine on longer rides but was killing my wrist around town. I was told at Ducati a few months back that there's a device I can buy and have installed somewhere down on the clutch cable that would make it easier. Anyone know about this?
Will buying expensive CRG levers or the like ease up the clutch? I don't have an issue with the lever being to far out, just too hard.

Would appreciate any suggestions.

Thanks!

Take a look at these.
http://www.motowheels.com/italian/myproducts.cfm?parentcategoryid=442|Ducati&productID=6677&showDetail=1&categoryID=502|Clutch%20Slave%20Cylinders&vendoridtodisplay=0&filterFor=&collection=168|European%20Motorcycle%20Parts

 

[SPORT_CLASSIC_SPECIALTIES]

Just changing the Slave will do some but not much.
I've tried a few after market and they do help but not as much as i would have hoped for. It does look better then stock so the bling factor is more then the light pull you get.
The spring removal is night and day.
Plus it cost nothing and does not hurt the clutch
If you have wrist problems this will be the best way to really reduce the pull tension.
It is very easy to do and anyone with a Allen wrench and a torque wrench can do it.
BTW
Not all will agree but it seems the majority who has done this spring removal technique like it. I was on the fence for a long time about it and after finally trying it I am a believer.

jc

 

[DGJ]

....I was told at Ducati a few months back that there's a device I can buy and have installed somewhere down on the clutch cable that would make it easier. Anyone know about this?...

clutch cable? you sure you have a ducati?

 

[Bishamon]

I'm curious about the spring removal modification. Are there detailed instructions somewhere on this procedure?

 

[DucatiTiger]

+1 on the Oberon 29mm slave. It helps.

 

[MajorSoftie]

I adjusted to the clutch after a couple weeks ("adjusted," as in: built up more hand strength), but I'm much stronger then you to start with, and never had to ride in bad traffic, so you probably do need to do something.

Unfortunately, removing the two springs is not nearly as simple on the GT as on the dry clutch bikes, but it's not a terrible job. Still, I would be a little nervous about you diving into it after your description of a new slave cylinder as "a device I can buy and have installed somewhere down on the clutch cable." That doesn't give me the impression that you are very experienced with such work, or even the current hydraulic system on your bike. You would probably at least want the help of a more experienced mechanic. Having it done professionally will certainly eliminate any cost savings.

If you have pretty good hand strength (as your rock climbing would suggest), then you might be fine with just the replacement slave cylinder. Only you know how much the injury is contributing. The slave cylinder is supposed to reduce effort about 20%, but it costs around $150 and the spring removal will reduce it more for no parts cost. There are two different sizes of aftermarket slaves. The larger one (both are larger than stock) will give even more leverage, but can sometimes make finding neutral a little difficult. An aftermarket lever will help a little more, but they are quite expensive too.

Another solution is radial master clutch cylinder. That is the most elegant solution, but it would be even more expensive.

 

[dave2riff]

I'm curious about the spring removal modification. Are there detailed instructions somewhere on this procedure?

Not really a procedure... you just reduce the number of springs from 6 to 4
by removing the spring, retainer, and allen head screw from two of the springs
directly across from one another. So, geometrically, instead of a 6-point
pattern you now have a 4-point rectangle. This reduces spring force on the
pressure plate by one-third (33%). If that is too much reduction, you can go
up in force somewhat by replacing the remaining four springs with something
like the TPO stainless springs (20% stiffer than stock). Then the net force
reduction is only 20% less than stock. (120% w/6 = 80% w/4 springs)

http://www.tpoparts.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=57

The problem with reducing spring force is that as the clutch wears and the
friction discs thin out, you can develop a slipping clutch sooner with the
lower tension spring pack. Higher torque motors will produce clutch slippage
sooner as well. Normally, a slipping clutch is first felt when accelerating up
hill in a higher gear. The revs will climb unexpectedly-- faster than the bike
is increasing speed.

All that said, I went with the Oberon clutch slave.

 

[SPORT_CLASSIC_SPECIALTIES]

Quite simple
There are many threads on this but I'll post a quickie here.

This is for a dry clutch set up although I do not think it is different for a wet clutch just messier because of the oil.

Remove clutch clover. only a few actually hold on the cover. The deep ones are for the engine case so do not remove them.
Keep the order of which hole the screw came out of.

You want the bolt pattern to be a rectangle
so
Remove two clutch retaining screw and the spring.

Put the cover back on.

Remember to torque the screw on the cover screws.
U do not want to strip these screw holes threads.
It gets expensive

Clutch cover screws M 6x1 9nm min8nm max5 9.5nm

In the event you loosened a Case screw by mistake
Crankcase screws M 6x1 9nm min8.5 max9.5
Note: Loc tite is a option. It is not required by Ducati


If you want to put the spring back in
Clutch spring bolt M 6x1 6nm min.5nm max7nm
GREASEthe threads


easy


If you are mechanically inclined or have some confidence to do more
This is a good time to remove the clutch pack and clean them
and clean inside the basket too.
I have posted this on the halls of wisdom HERE
I clean my clutch pack and basket every oil change.

A clean clutch is a good clutch

JC

I'm curious about the spring removal modification. Are there detailed instructions somewhere on this procedure?

 

[duc995]

I adjusted to the clutch after a couple weeks ("adjusted," as in: built up more hand strength), but I'm much stronger then you to start with, and never had to ride in bad traffic, so you probably do need to do something.

Unfortunately, removing the two springs is not nearly as simple on the GT as on the dry clutch bikes, but it's not a terrible job. Still, I would be a little nervous about you diving into it after your description of a new slave cylinder as "a device I can buy and have installed somewhere down on the clutch cable." That doesn't give me the impression that you are very experienced with such work, or even the current hydraulic system on your bike. You would probably at least want the help of a more experienced mechanic. Having it done professionally will certainly eliminate any cost savings.

If you have pretty good hand strength (as your rock climbing would suggest), then you might be fine with just the replacement slave cylinder. Only you know how much the injury is contributing. The slave cylinder is supposed to reduce effort about 20%, but it costs around $150 and the spring removal will reduce it more for no parts cost. There are two different sizes of aftermarket slaves. The larger one (both are larger than stock) will give even more leverage, but can sometimes make finding neutral a little difficult. An aftermarket lever will help a little more, but they are quite expensive too.

Another solution is radial master clutch cylinder. That is the most elegant solution, but it would be even more expensive.

The clutch radial Mastercylinder (Brembo) doesn't help...it infact makes it even harder! There is a chart somewhere in the "Hall of Wisdom" that lists the improvement with various mods and the Brembo clutch radial MC in both the 16x16 and the 16x18 varieties result in a heavier pull.

 

[duc995]

http://www.ducati.ms/forums/showthread.php?t=28882

This is the reference you want!

 

[freewaystar]

oh believe me...I won't be working on this bike.
though I like to be informed.

I found this on ebay

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/e...&_trkparms=algo=LVI&its=I&otn=2&category=6749

Thanks for the info.

I adjusted to the clutch after a couple weeks ("adjusted," as in: built up more hand strength), but I'm much stronger then you to start with, and never had to ride in bad traffic, so you probably do need to do something.

Unfortunately, removing the two springs is not nearly as simple on the GT as on the dry clutch bikes, but it's not a terrible job. Still, I would be a little nervous about you diving into it after your description of a new slave cylinder as "a device I can buy and have installed somewhere down on the clutch cable." That doesn't give me the impression that you are very experienced with such work, or even the current hydraulic system on your bike. You would probably at least want the help of a more experienced mechanic. Having it done professionally will certainly eliminate any cost savings.

If you have pretty good hand strength (as your rock climbing would suggest), then you might be fine with just the replacement slave cylinder. Only you know how much the injury is contributing. The slave cylinder is supposed to reduce effort about 20%, but it costs around $150 and the spring removal will reduce it more for no parts cost. There are two different sizes of aftermarket slaves. The larger one (both are larger than stock) will give even more leverage, but can sometimes make finding neutral a little difficult. An aftermarket lever will help a little more, but they are quite expensive too.

Another solution is radial master clutch cylinder. That is the most elegant solution, but it would be even more expensive.

 

[todogliu]

I have the Oberon 29. Happy with the bling, but the clutch pull change is barely noticeable. Still get hand cramps in heavy traffic.

 

[tsmgguy]

Everybody notices the hearty clutch lever pull when first exposed to these bikes. You quickly get used to it. The clutch lever on my Triumph seems wimpy in comparison.

Congratulations on the red GT! As we've noted on the boards before, the black and tan GT is the most beautiful, gray is most stealthy, but red is the fastest. I understand that on the red GTs the factory used more aggressive tuning, along with slightly enlarged valves and smoothed ports.

 

[MajorSoftie]

I thought it was the red paint itself that made it faster. Live and learn.

 

[redbcgraygt]

Everybody notices the hearty clutch lever pull when first exposed to these bikes. You quickly get used to it. The clutch lever on my Triumph seems wimpy in comparison.

Congratulations on the red GT! As we've noted on the boards before, the tan and white GT is the most beautiful, gray is most stealthy, but red is the fastest! I understand that on the red GTs the factory used slightly more agressive tuning, along with slightly enlarged valves and smoothed ports.

When did they make a tan and white GT? and what about silver, and black GT's. geeze j/k. I have a silver one now but I really liked my gray one.