Teardown Part I

Today two new tools arrived in the mail just in time for the weekend - a magneto puller and a tool to hold the clutch basket in place for removal. I could have fabricated the clutch tool out of old parts, but I haven't been into Ducatis long enough to have accumulated a collection of old clutch plates and I didn't want to sacrifice the one set I had if I didn't need too. Besides, I love tools, so it was just another reason to add to the collection!





With the new tools the tear down began in earnest. First I removed the clutch and decided to perform a quick inspection to see if I needed new clutch parts. Unlike other bikes I own, unscrewing the clutch springs on a Ducati single doesn't cause anything to go SPROING! Simply loosen all the screws, remove the springs and cups, and then remove the clutch plates.









The clutch plates spec'ed out OK, but the springs need replacing as they came up short on the vernier.

After I had the clutch plates out I decided to open all the engine covers and loosen all five major engine nuts while the clutch was still assembled. This way I could use the new clutch tool to keep everything from rotating while loosening the nuts. Essentially, every nut on the chain side is left hand (except for the sprocket nut), and everything on the primary side is right hand. Everything came loose without problems, so I proceeded to remove everything from the primary side. Here I got confirmation that the entire engine needed a rebuild, as the main crankshaft bearing on the left side is rusted badly.


I continued stripping everything down to the cases, and once again I got confirmation that this engine needed a rebuild in a bad way - I could wobble the connecting rod side to side nearly a quarter inch at the top!?!?! This engine would have self-destructed in short order had I ran it. I'm very surprised I didn't hear a bad knock.

I decided to stop at splitting the cases and leave that for another night. Everything is bagged, tagged, and sorted, and I'll come back to them component by component once I get the bottom end rebuilt and assembled. So far, so good - everything has come apart without problems. I hope the cases come apart just as easy.