My '93's clutch was driving me crazy with its poor release. It would routinely grab, slip, groan, slip, grab. It got to the point i quit riding it. Routine cleanings did little to help. Yesterday I was going through the clutch once again and I noticed that the teeth on the inner (driven) drum were somewhat notched. I could see how the driven plates could hang up causing the erratic release. Having nothing to lose I applied a very thin film of Honda Moly 60 to the tooth faces and reassembled the clutch. What a difference! The clutch never felt better! I'm not concerned about the grease finding its way to the friction surfaces as very little was applied, plus the Moly 60 stays put rather well. Wish I had thought of it sooner.

Paso750,
I'm not so sure about the clutch drum being the same on the 907 and those other bikes.

I replaced my clutch "drum" or "basket" or whatever people like to call it with the Ducati OEM part. The part number had been updated and changed. When I got the new updated part number basket I noticed a little difference. It has caused me to use a rubber gasket on the cover plate that some Ducati models use. I use this rubber gasket to move the clutch cover out so slightly to give me clearance from the the clutch spring retainers. You see, after I replace the the clutch basket my clutch spring retianers started rubbing the inside of the clutch cover just slightly, enough to leave swirlling marks on the inside of the cover.
After some investigation and comparing, I noticed the original basket on my bike was shaped so that it was more square shape at the bottom. The newer basket was rounder in it's profile. That put the first clutch plate further out slightly, thus moving all the plates out away from the output shaft or the centerline of the the engine making the clutch spring retainers rub the inside of the clutch cover.
I hope I was able to explain this condition. Haven't heard anyone else talk about it.

du907

Not sure weather your talking about the basket or the hub ( drum ) but either way shouldn't make a difference as its the spring retaining bolts that hit the inside of the cover, and this has nothing to do with how far out your plates are ( " far out man " ), and sfar as I know all models should have that rubber gasket , and there are plenty of these things ( hubs ) on flea bay at the moment ...... at a variety of prices , and there are all the same , some deals come with springs and retainers for only a few bucks more .
I would advise that for road use to use the fully enclosing steel cover , when I crashed into a car my foot got mashed between the car and the clutch cover , it punched the cover in far enough to bust off all those spring retaining bolts and score marks inside the steel cover ( almost right thru ) , my foots pretty fucked but Id hate to think how much worse it would have been if there was no cover or even one of those flimsy ally ones........ I don't think it would take long for those bolts to rip a boot open
Hamish

giarcg you`re of course right, I will correct that to 4500

du907 as you can see in that link it`s about the clutch drum/center not the basket.

Hamish, now imagine you would have had a carbon cover.

G.

paso750,

I didn't see the link. yeah, that's the "drum". My post is about the "basket". Anyone notice this difference?

My bike did not come with the rubber gasket at the clutch cover, actually, no gasket at all.
I think the rubber gasket was on later models, not the 907.

If I remember well only the steel clutch covers came with the rubber gasket while the aluminium ones had none (or was it vice versa ).

G.

Just ran across this today... Not exactly what I did but close.

http://www.ducati.ms/forums/40-sport-to ... tment.html

Moly should stay put in small amounts

The notching on the clutch basket will certainly create problems over time. While the basic design of the clutch on the 907 is the same as almost all past that, there have been many different clutch baskets, and they all bolt onto the flange the same, and use the same clutch plates.

For lightness, the best is some of the after market or stock aluminum baskets, but they do wear as yours does.
Always use aluminum plates with an aluminum basket. The steel ones will imbed rather quickly.

For longevity, get a steel basket and use the aluminum plates. The basket will last a life time, and only the tangs on the clutch plates will get deformed.

Beware of buying used baskets, as many are knackered like yours is already. I have bought used baskets, but only if i can see them in my hand and determine that the grooves in the slots are not too deep. I have seem some clutches work fine with what looked like 3mm grooves in them. Of course the clutch rattled like hell.

If you take your clutch apart from time to time, swap out some of the plates to change where the clutch plates rest in the slots of the clutch basket so the tabs don't sit on the same spots on the basket slots. There are thicker and thinner steel plates that you can play with, and also the stack at the bottom of the basket can be played with also. If I remember right, the final stack height is 38.5mm.

Cheers, Phil

Thats true about different shaped slots in different baskets.

The rubber gasket had metal spacers in the bolt holes. It did come with steel cover in '96/97 (cant remember)and gave more clearance. The alloy cover is thicker where the bolts seat in the holes.

Alloy baskets and plates are quiet, for awhile..

I run a Vee Two alloy drum, alloy basket, Ti bolts and TPO springs, TPO alloy spring retainers and Barnett plates. That drops nearly 2 kilos!
With a kilo off the flywheel it spins up nice!