Clutch bleed

Mine needs doing, plus a fluid change while I am at it on my 600. I have now found that the bleed nipple on the slave cylinder banjo has sheared so I have ordered a couple of these. Has anybody replaced the master cylinder banjo with one incorporating a bleed nipple the same as that on the slave cylinder?

[Stafford]

Not on this model but on my 888 with a double banjo fitting, works a treat.

PS if tight you should just strip out the banjo bolt and heat to release the nipple.

I have ordered what I hope is the correct bolt/nipple combo with a 10mm thread.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1609497123...84.m1439.l2649

The banjo/nipple in the link above is perfect. Basically the only difference to standard is that the banjo takes a 14mm spanner rather that a 12mm which is no bad thing in my book. Bleeding went fine. I didn`t bother using one on the master cylinder banjo as the tip elsewhere on here about tilting the bike to the right worked a treat. Unfortunately the clutch is still not disengaging completely. It is dragging when gear is engaged so I suspect my clutch may need replacing. As a last resort I have left the bike leaning to the right against the garage wall with the clutch lever tied back to the bar. I will go and give everything a tap with a rubber mallet whenever I am passing. I will give it another try tomorrow. I don`t think the adjusting screw on the lever will make any difference as the free play seem correct as it is. Any other suggestions most welcome.
Looking at this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFv6YIK3WyY
it appears that changing the plates is dead easy so that may be my next job. Are pattern plates OK or do you recommend genuine Ducati?
One last thing.......is it necessary to replace the steel spacers as well as the clutch plates? I am looking at this kit http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...d=518071561205

[Mr Gazza]

Unfortunatly worn plates usually tend to cause slip rather than drag.

You could have one or more distorted plates though, which would cause drag.

It could also be notches worn into the basket tending to hang up the plates, not so common on wet clutches as dry though.

Final thought is the oil (assuming you have a wet clutch?).

Super slippy synthetic oils can cause slip if you use the wrong sort and not the specific motorcycle type.
Minging old oil has been known to cause drag though, or too low an oil level....Try an oil change before you buy the plates..Maybe even use some engine flush for the change, pulling the lever in and out whilst the flush is going round.

....After thought.!... I always used to "free" the clutch on my old Triumphs, by holding the lever in and giving it a couple of kicks until the kick start went down with no resitsance.

You could probably do the same, but with the starter?

I changed the oil, oil filter and cleaned the gauze filter last weekend and used Silkolene 10-40 Semi synth. The level is spot on the max mark.

Well, the bike has sat in the garage since Sunday as I have been away on business on my GS. When I got home and took it for a spin the clutch was fine. I had left it with the clutch tied back to the bar. Not sure what was going on but the fluid definitely needed changing so all is well that ends well!

[Darren69]

Here's the tip I was given when I couldn't get mine to bleed up, use the top banjo and bleed that, air in the m/c was the problem and soon sorted by bleeding from the top bolt the rest sorted itself out. Wrap your m/c and bolt up with some cloth cover all paint etc and then loosen the top bolt and press the lever and tighten back again then release the lever. Air gets trapped in the m/c. It should soon bleed up that way