open dry clutch or covered dry clutch

[Fast Cletus]

what would be the purpose of having a dry clutch with a basket cover as opposed to a complete cover?  I can' t think of any reason as to why this would benefit you. 

[Xian_13]

The Basket looks kewl...
Plus, when you crash... the basket breaks, and send your clutch off in different directions.

Those are the only two reasons I know of, to run an open basket.

XIII

[PJ721]

we ran a Duc PS1000 in Moto-ST

1st race in 2006 in the 8hr @ Daytona...we had stock clutch/and cover - smoked it in the 1st 10 laps.

put in new clutch with basket cover - didn't have a problem all of 2007.

perhaps cooler running?

[GSXR RACER MIKE]

perhaps cooler running?

That's what I was thinking too.

[Woofentino Pugrossi]

On a racebike, I can see using an open one. On a street duc, it just freaking annoying. Cant stand listening to the CLANG CLANG CLANG of one at a stoplight.

[Fast Cletus]

It is a very distinct sound.  I taught my wife to listen for it. 

[Thingy]

Yeah, it is for cooling.  I have noticed on my Ducati that the clutch is 'less grabby' when taking off from a stop in stop and go traffic.

Plus it is fun to have passers by on the street all wonder what that noise is.  It is funny to have people flag you down and say sommething is wrong with the bike. 

[duckracer996]

Plus you getthe harley guy tell you they can fix that clutch for you!....But it is for cooling. My 996 with a slipper smoked the clutch in a track day with a closed cover. Fired up the lathe and made a billet vented cover and ran 3 years on the next clutch with no issues. Plus they sound soo coooooool!

[Greg_Williams]

Vented covers are definitely helpful but make sure that you use something stout or you'll be replacing your clutch hub the first time the bike goes down on the right.  When I started seeing pretty but delicate aftermarket covers a few years back it just confirmed to me that Ducatis had completed their transition to being an Italian Harley. 

Pay attention to how loud your clutch gets.  As they wear the plate tabs gradually beat themselves into the fingers on the basket creating excessive tolerance, and hence, more noise.  We've had several owners comment on how much quieter their clutches are after we replaced the worn parts. 

[tzracer]

When I started racing TZs I asked about whether it would be a good idea to build a clutch protector. I was told that the protector would probably do more damage to te clutch than would happen without the protector. I have seen many crashed TZs, never seen a destroyed clutch. I would opt to run with no cover, or possibly a carbon fiber scoop type cover if there are heat problems. TZ clutches are completely exposed, that is not recessed into the engine cases, so cooling is not a problem.

[crimsoncloak]

Most of the open covers are actually quite a bit stronger than stock.  The oem steel covers are pretty easy to squish even in a small tip over.  I've had great luck with the crash resistance of the Cyclecat and now Speedymoto parts.

[skiandclimb]

I run a vented cover on my 996 (w/ a slipper clutch) and while the noise is extremely loud, I think the cooling pros outweigh the noisy cons.

Besides <here comes the cliche, pro-Duc-quasi Harley statement> "Loud clutches save lives!"

My cover is made from thick gague billet- WAY stronger than stock, and is not some cheesy basket looking thing as found these days on E-Bay and the like.

-Ski