Clutch Issue - need opinions

Scenario:
Rode the bike on Saturday to visit a new local Ducati dealer. On the way there, the clutch lever developed a strange feel, and sound. There was a fairly significant "grabbing or grinding" feel, which made the lever difficult to pull in. When off, you can hear a grinding sound on both sides of the motor. It got progressively worse the hotter the bike ran. So, showed it to the service manager and he recommended not riding it for fear of something being broken. Called for a ride and left it there.

Yesterday afternoon he called with the findings. Nothing wrong with the clutch at all, but the rod that runs through the motor that activates the clutch is catching or rubbing on something inside. He has no idea why, but says maybe a tiny piece of debris got in there somehow. He cleaned it all out, but says its still catching on something. He could order a new rod, but feels its impossible the old one failed since it just sits in there and moves back and forth. The problem is most likely in the hole itself. Anyway, the only real fix would be a new motor, which, since it's not a safety issue and cannot mechanically fail, is likely to be denied as a warranty claim. So, as of now I'm just supposed to live with it! But, he says it will probably eventually work itself free so not to worry! So, I've got a $23,000 bike that also serves as a forearm exercise machine. Unbelievable.

That thing was fairly difficult to pull in, and the noise was quite loud when it was hot. I don't think I (or anyone) should have to just live with it. His speculation of it remedying itself could be correct, but its a guess at best.

He has a call into his Ducati rep and should hear from him this morning to see if they have any ideas. He's being very cool about it, so I don't have a complaint with the new dealer. However, if it comes to a head, what do you guys recommend?

insist on getting it fixed

brand new bike? well i would drive it until 1 of 2 events, the first is being the piece works itself free, the second the entire machine fails all within warranty time frame. If its going to fail it will soon according to your story. i the mean time i would keep in touch with that service manager and make sure its warrantied!!

Zaid1199 said:

brand new bike? well i would drive it until 1 of 2 events, the first is being the piece works itself free, the second the entire machine fails all within warranty time frame. If its going to fail it will soon according to your story. i the mean time i would keep in touch with that service manager and make sure its warrantied!!

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That's just it. It WON'T fail so warranty won't cover it...allegedly. It's a 2012 so warranty is good through may 2014, but winter is approaching.

ttkarp said:

That's just it. It WON'T fail so warranty won't cover it...allegedly. It's a 2012 so warranty is good through may 2014, but winter is approaching.

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I believe warranty isn't when the bike was made it starts from when YOU purcheased it. Theorically speaking its still a NEW no miles machine so... maybe you beat them up on that.

Warranty is 2 years from when its purchased.

Have you tried the typical bleeding of the clutch master and slave cylinders? Its very easy, and cures the symptoms you're talking about.

How To: Bleed Clutch Master and Slave Cylinders | The Ducati 1199 Panigale Forum and Knowledge Base

Give that a shot and see what happens. Theres multiple threads on people clutches being hard to pull in and making weird noises, all of which are cured with a bleed.

When my bike was in for some other warranty work, the dealer discovered some abnormal and excessive wear in the clutch. They did not have an explanation for the cause and did not tell me much about it other than it was NOT related to how I was riding the bike; it was a failure caused by something else (part failure?). Anyway, there were somewhat vague about it; but the clutch was sent back to Ducati for investigation.
Of course, it was covered under warranty.

Good news guys. The early production 2012's have a known slave cylinder issue and are covered under warranty. It's not really a recall because it can't be diagnosed until it happens. But for those who have the early ones, its a covered issue if it happens. Thanks for the input.

Zaid1199 said:

I believe warranty isn't when the bike was made it starts from when YOU purcheased it. Theorically speaking its still a NEW no miles machine so... maybe you beat them up on that.

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Evidently my communication skills suck...it has 3300 miles on it and I bought in in May of 2012. The dealership is new, not the bike

All resolved though!

I had the exact same issue on mine, lever was really graunchy with loud noises when actuating the clutch. It's the cheap cast piece of .... they put on as a slave cylinder. If it happens, dealer supposed to pull the slave and take a piece of wire wool/scotch brite to the inside of the slave/end of the pushrod - it fixed it but clutch fluid returned to near black within weeks. An aftermarket billet item (Oberon or cnc) supposed to sort it completely.

ttkarp said:

Good news guys. The early production 2012's have a known slave cylinder issue and are covered under warranty. It's not really a recall because it can't be diagnosed until it happens. But for those who have the early ones, its a covered issue if it happens. Thanks for the input.

Click to expand...

and i thought about taking mine apart and polishing the inside to improve performance and reduce bleeding.

will check with the dealer...

thanks