Ducati Hypermotard 821 clutch fix - the definitive guide

hyperbruno · Sep 2, 2020

I've been reading this thread for a while and finally I got all parts needed for the fix plus the parts for the hydraulic clutch conversion (thanks Araitim). The clutch is definitive better! I think I just got used to the crappy clutch after all this years. Launching the bike is way better now!
Here are some observations I did during the swap:
* I encourage to loose the 32mm nut. I could put the clutch pack back with the hub fitted in the bike. This is tough. I used 1 meter brake bar to release it.
* Loosing the belt cover helps a lot when trying to fit the clutch cover back on the engine. I recommend loosing the rear brake pedal for the same reason.
* Using a pair of c-clamps for pressing the clutch pack helped a lot. It makes life easier for inserting the m3 nuts that holds the pack together.

Thanks for everybody involved on this thread and providing very good info.

derby · Jun 8, 2021

hoopertard said:
Ok, I've done it now and see why you needed the dental string!

After a lot of struggle and a fear, I've gotten it to this point. See images I'll attach.

I removed the two topmost plates, placed the new two plates (plus anti judder spring and washer), and then really struggled to get the retainer back in between all the plates' teeth.

I THINK I got it in. I'm 90% sure it's installed right. But I'm not sure.

I havent finished torquing the bolts but they're on their way and I'm concerned there's too much free play on the final plate. Does this look right to you? It looks sketchy to me.

Photos and videos:

I had even looser set of plates than hoopard's video after getting the 3mm rods as tight as possible and then pressure place springs and retainer installed with it's little bolts tightened very lightly to 5Nm, after carefully following the page 1 directions best I could understand (THANKS!! bayotte!).

I'd never done a clutch before, so continued to close up hoping the stack would settle itself somehow.

All finished closing up and before putting oil back in I checked and found I had no clutch lever resistance besides the inside clutch cover's cable hook's spring. I already had it in sixth gear to remove the 32mm clutch basket bolt. So took the bike off the kick stand and softly pushed and pulled the bike back and forth a few times, and there was immediately in-gear resistance. So check the clutch lever, and it felt normal, not "bottomless" without clutch spring resistance anymore. Looking inside the oil fill cap I could see the plate stack had settled and pressure plate was within the basket sleeve and clutch plates engaged. Filled with oil. Started and all was good!

Went for a 20 mile local mountain twisty road ride. Stopped a few times to adjust clutch lever play and to check for possible oil leaks. And was very pleased how buttery smooth the clutch releases now compared to before. Up shifting up and down with the clutch also was smoother feeling. I had no problems finding neutral after the new oil was warmed up. Well worth the US $113.74 for the anit-judder kit on eBay (2013-2014 Ducati 821cc 800 Hypermotard clutch anti-judder update kit DU-133/6 ) sold by valtermoto. I see it is not listed now two weeks later than when I found it on eBay

I also followed a possible close copy of bayotte's page 1 post, written and posted recently:
How to Upgrade the Clutch on a Hypermotard/Hyperstrada 821
By Dana Hooshmand May 12, 2020 Last updated on January 1, 2021

How to Fix the Ducati Hypermotard/Hyperstrada Grabby Clutch

How to fix the grabby Ducati Hyperstrada/Hypermotard grabby clutch (stalling/hopping) by either replacing the clutch pack or installing an anti-judder kit.

motofomo.com

Note: I first tried replacing the 2 OE plates with the anti-judder kit without removing the 32mm bolt to remove the full basket. But it seemed impossible to refit the outer basket with re-stacked plates over the inner basket after 5 or 6 metal plates . So I used my cheap Harbor Freight electric impact wrench to easily remove the 32mm bolt, to remove the inner basket for a much easier re-stack of all the plates. BTW, the HF impact wrench makes rear wheel nut or REAR sprocket nut removal easy. Harbor Freight also has an impact wrench torque limit set for reassembly without over-torquing: PITTSBURGH AUTOMOTIVE 1/2 In. Torque Limiting Extension Bar Set, 10 Pc

bayotte · Jul 10, 2021

Wow Derby, you're right, he straight up copied my guide and posted as his own. Funny that he calls himself a writer but apparently struggles to produce original content. Glad you got it done and now have a useable clutch!

nickwst4 · Jul 10, 2021

I've just been reading through all this subject, and noted a comment from me in 2018 saying that I had the valtermota kit in hand, but I never followed up on it.

I ended up getting my mechanic to fit it at the same time as a Rapidbike easy. The fuelling is pretty good now, apart from the occasional surge when decelerating, but the clutch fix was and still is a brilliant improvement on the bike as I got it with 6K miles on the clock. How the original owner (and his pillion!) tolerated the judder, I can't imagine.

Nick, 2013 'Strada

Ratters · Sep 21, 2021

Are these fix kits still available ? The e. Bay link is dead.

Googolplex · Nov 11, 2021

derby said:
I had even looser set of plates than hoopard's video after getting the 3mm rods as tight as possible and then pressure place springs and retainer installed with it's little bolts tightened very lightly to 5Nm, after carefully following the page 1 directions best I could understand (THANKS!! bayotte!).

I'd never done a clutch before, so continued to close up hoping the stack would settle itself somehow.

All finished closing up and before putting oil back in I checked and found I had no clutch lever resistance besides the inside clutch cover's cable hook's spring. I already had it in sixth gear to remove the 32mm clutch basket bolt. So took the bike off the kick stand and softly pushed and pulled the bike back and forth a few times, and there was immediately in-gear resistance. So check the clutch lever, and it felt normal, not "bottomless" without clutch spring resistance anymore. Looking inside the oil fill cap I could see the plate stack had settled and pressure plate was within the basket sleeve and clutch plates engaged. Filled with oil. Started and all was good!

Went for a 20 mile local mountain twisty road ride. Stopped a few times to adjust clutch lever play and to check for possible oil leaks. And was very pleased how buttery smooth the clutch releases now compared to before. Up shifting up and down with the clutch also was smoother feeling. I had no problems finding neutral after the new oil was warmed up. Well worth the US $113.74 for the anit-judder kit on eBay (2013-2014 Ducati 821cc 800 Hypermotard clutch anti-judder update kit DU-133/6 ) sold by valtermoto. I see it is not listed now two weeks later than when I found it on eBay

I also followed a possible close copy of bayotte's page 1 post, written and posted recently:
How to Upgrade the Clutch on a Hypermotard/Hyperstrada 821
By Dana Hooshmand May 12, 2020 Last updated on January 1, 2021

How to Fix the Ducati Hypermotard/Hyperstrada Grabby Clutch

How to fix the grabby Ducati Hyperstrada/Hypermotard grabby clutch (stalling/hopping) by either replacing the clutch pack or installing an anti-judder kit.

motofomo.com

Note: I first tried replacing the 2 OE plates with the anti-judder kit without removing the 32mm bolt to remove the full basket. But it seemed impossible to refit the outer basket with re-stacked plates over the inner basket after 5 or 6 metal plates . So I used my cheap Harbor Freight electric impact wrench to easily remove the 32mm bolt, to remove the inner basket for a much easier re-stack of all the plates. BTW, the HF impact wrench makes rear wheel nut or REAR sprocket nut removal easy. Harbor Freight also has an impact wrench torque limit set for reassembly without over-torquing: PITTSBURGH AUTOMOTIVE 1/2 In. Torque Limiting Extension Bar Set, 10 Pc

Had this exact issue, after torquing down the springs I noticed the very last plate had a little play to it. Hopeful that it would settle, I reassembled it all and clutch lever had no resistance. Moved bike forward and backward a few times and seems the plates settled and now I adjusted the cable and lever has normal resistance and can confirm plate actuation.

Have you noticed any issues long-term? Thanks for posting this!

derby · Nov 27, 2021

Googolplex said:
Had this exact issue, after torquing down the springs I noticed the very last plate had a little play to it. Hopeful that it would settle, I reassembled it all and clutch lever had no resistance. Moved bike forward and backward a few times and seems the plates settled and now I adjusted the cable and lever has normal resistance and can confirm plate actuation.

Have you noticed any issues long-term? Thanks for posting this!

No issues with my clutch since the reassemble with anti-judder clutch kit. The clutch is much smoother actuating. Now when accidentally remaining in second gear at a stop light, letting out the cluch in second gear doesn't kill the motor easily, causing much embarrassment. Shifting gears is easier and never sometimes clunky as it had been before.

appliance821 · May 30, 2022

Had this done a few weeks ago - brilliant- all I can say is I don't think about the clutch anymore because it just works. Nice change after 38,000 miles....

bratling · Jun 29, 2022

just a word of thanks to all the contributors to this thread. i’m doing this on my new-to-me 2013 motard and also got stumped by the clutch not seating properly. i think i am on the path now and look forward to trying some of the troubleshooting notes you’ve all provided here. just a couple more days…

bratling · Aug 25, 2022

so here i am four weeks later, and i’m stuck and giving in and asking for help.

took off the clutch cover, removed clutch, removed a friction plate and steel and replaced with kit parts. i followed the notes provided in the extensive threades here.

but upon reassembly, the clutch doesn’t disengage. the pressure plate doesn’t move and it doesn’t feel like the fork-mechanism in the clutch cover is even grabbing the pin.

here is a short video showing what i’m talking about:

(in the video the clutch cover isn’t bolted down, which is required to pull the pin, but when it is the pressure plate pin still does not move.)

any ideas what i’ve done wrong in reassembly? this has been really kicking my butt. it seems like it ought to be pretty darned simple.

(i did learn that keeping the clutch hubs aligned and not letting any of the steel plates fall off the end is tricky and painstaking. that can prevent the clutch hubs from fully mating. but i don’t think that is related to this problem since i am pretty sure they are correctly mated.)

thanks for any tips or advice!

uncle brad · Aug 26, 2022

PM sent

bratling · Aug 26, 2022

thanks! fwiw it appears the 939 version is nearly the same. clutch plates are in the other order though — spacer and spring ring on the inner hub rather than outer. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

other differences include a three-spring/three-bolt pressure plate and some sound deadening material added inside the clutch cover. but nearly everything else is the same, from total stack height to number of plates.

i just gave another go at disassembling and reassembling things. i’ve now got about a millimeter of clutch stack travel where i had none before, but i’ll be damned if i know why. i have to have missed something.

hyperbruno · Aug 26, 2022

bratling said:
thanks! fwiw it appears the 939 version is nearly the same. clutch plates are in the other order though — spacer and spring ring on the inner hub rather than outer. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

other differences include a three-spring/three-bolt pressure plate and some sound deadening material added inside the clutch cover. but nearly everything else is the same, from total stack height to number of plates.

i just gave another go at disassembling and reassembling things. i’ve now got about a millimeter of clutch stack travel where i had none before, but i’ll be damned if i know why. i have to have missed something.

Do you mean that the 939 clutch assembly fits the 821? If that's the case let us know how it went.

bratling · Aug 26, 2022

hyperbruno said:
Do you mean that the 939 clutch assembly fits the 821? If that's the case let us know how it went.

i was unclear, sorry! i had compared the workshop manuals for the 821 and 939 just to see what there was and if the 939 had any info added since the 821 version.

fwiw it looks like you could swap in the clutch basket, hub, friction & steels, pressure plate, springs and retainer from a 939 into the 821. but i haven’t compared part numbers yet. if they fit it would be useful for 821 owners to expand the potential parts supply.

since posting earlier today i had the clutch apart and back together a couple more times. whatever i am doing wrong, at least i’m learning to do it wrong faster

bratling · Aug 31, 2022

Update: Think I figured out what been doing it wrong. I went back into this thread and re-read every post and examined every picture. Then I checked a photo I took in my last round of assembly.

@Araitim, in a reply to @hoopertard, wrote:

Notice how my putter pressure plate is inside the basket . Your pressure plate is farther out

And darned if my clutch pressure plate doesn’t stand proud of the basket, like Hoopertard’s photo! So I must have messed up getting correct alignment of the clutch hubs, despite trying to take care to line up the arrows and assemble the pack upside down to prevent misalignments of the steel plates.

Crossing fingers that this is it, I’m heading back to the garage soon.

bratling · Sep 1, 2022

Well, that wasn’t it. :-( I made for darned sure the entire stack was aligned on the inner hubs before sliding it back into the clutch basket. The pressure plate still stood just a little proud of the basket tangs. Next I tried removing one steel plate. Plate sat inside the basket tangs – but it made no difference to the clutch, it still would not disengage. Maybe @Araitim’s clutch plates simply have 1-2mm more total wear than mine do and that’s the difference.

The one thing I haven’t tried (just thought of it) was to drop the bike off the rear stand and try rolling it back and forth a little to see if that gets the whole mechanism to settle into place, as @derby described. Easy enough to check and I’ll try it after I wrap i up work for the day.

I’m feeling pretty defeated overall. I’m this close to ordering the hydraulics for an 848 just to get away from dealing with this freaking clutch pin; I’ve located nearly all the parts on ebay for around $250 all in.

Alan Richard · Sep 3, 2022

I can only offer moral support - Hope you get it working mate.
Keep us posted when you get it sorted.
I have the kit to fit to my own yet.
-a

nickwst4 · Sep 3, 2022

Gotta say that I'm very glad my bike guru Carl Harrison did mine for me! I'm hoping he'll fit the Nitron fork cartridges when I've decided which Nitron shock to order, R2 or the R3 with extra adjustment. Any news on which you got, Appliance 821?

Nick

bratling · Sep 3, 2022

SOLVED!

It had nothing to do with my assembly of the clutch at all. It was the clutch cable. It was merely incorrectly adjusted. I spent a while making fine adjustments until the rear wheel only barely starts to spin with the clutch pulled in, instead of spinning nigh uncontrollably.

I’ll take it out on a test ride tomorrow. I’m too tired to be on the road right now. (Old, or just old enough to know my limits? Hmmm…) But I’m optimistic that I’ve got it licked. Hopefully I’ll take it for a test ride, confirm it’s all working like it should, then park it, drain the oil, pop off the clutch cover, hit it with gasket maker and put it back on. Then leave it to cure. Then enjoy riding again!

(I can’t believe how many hours I spent to get to this point… lol)

Thank you all for your support and advice!

nickwst4 · Sep 3, 2022

Glad to hear you found the cause! I understand there are several adjusters on the clutch actuation/cable but have never needed to do more than tweak the cable at the 'bar lever on mine. Anyway, enjoy your tricky little HS again; they are worth the effort!

Ducati Hypermotard 821 clutch fix - the definitive guide

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