Why Most Secondhand Bakelite Damper Knobs Are Broken.....
Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2008 2:25 pm
This is quite probably obvious to most but I only discovered tonight, after careful examination, that the way you remove the top hardware (M26 x 1 chrome nut, spring, captive nut etc) from the damper rod and knob is by removing a devious little circlip!
This circlip hides inside the unthreaded captive hex nut/keeper and locates in a groove in the shaft against the spring pressure. Guess what, you need a valve spring compressor and a 10mm i.d. washer to take it all apart safely. Only Ducati could require a special tool for this design.
I assumed, possibly like many others, that the knob unscrews from the rod. It does not as far as I can see and has a firmly over-moulded hexagon end to the shaft. If you use stilsons/molegrips etc to hold the shaft and try to unscrew the bakelite knob it will shatter.
This circlip hides inside the unthreaded captive hex nut/keeper and locates in a groove in the shaft against the spring pressure. Guess what, you need a valve spring compressor and a 10mm i.d. washer to take it all apart safely. Only Ducati could require a special tool for this design.
I assumed, possibly like many others, that the knob unscrews from the rod. It does not as far as I can see and has a firmly over-moulded hexagon end to the shaft. If you use stilsons/molegrips etc to hold the shaft and try to unscrew the bakelite knob it will shatter.