Gear Pedal Malefunction (Ducati 1000ss)

[capo998]

This morning I ride my Duc and I found that when I push the gear pedal down there wasn't any "return" to the center position in order to shift down to a lower gear. I had to put my foot under the pedal and give a small push and then to shift down again. That was happened for all down-shifting. In the up shifting everything was ok.

Does any body have any suggestion?

[legs748]

I think most gear pedals are on a plain bearing, which may have gummed up. Unscrew the screw that holds the pedal on, an give the shoulder bolt and the bearing a good clean and degrease with Wd40 or similar. Lubricate with some light grease and put the lot back together. Also remove the shift rod and do the same clean/lubricate on the rose joints, but just a dab of oil should do for these. This should make your shifting a more pleasant experience. It's worth doing as a maintenance job a couple of times a year to keep everything slick.

Hope it helps.

[Mr.R]

Hi,

Could be a broken gearbox return spring, if the general clean and lube doesn't fix it.
The lever needs to return to the center position after changing gear, when changing up the lever falls back to this position but when changing down the lever stays where it is if the spring is broken.
They still use the same spring that was fitted to the late "70's bevel Dukes, I've had several break over the years,(1st time in "79) you don't notice it until you go to change down for the 2nd time after it breaks, you then have to lift the lever back to the center position, before changing down again and so on........

Steve

[capo998]

Yesterday afternoon I went to my service engineer (previous owner and friend) and he told me that is the return spring. Need to be changed. Also it is near to the next service and we will change the camshaft belts too.