is it anything to do with the rod or ball bearing??did you take apart any of the mechanisim,??..its hard to diagnose without seeing it!!..take a good breather and take your time!!(easy for me to say ,i know!!)like you say its not rocket science!!its something stupid for sure!!...or its a bunk clutch you got

I'm having the same issue with my 1098s right now. I bought a new slipper clutch from Ducabike along with the plate kit. Now the clutch doesn't grab at all and I can put the bike in gear and turn the rear wheel by hand. I'm trying to get my hands on a couple more steel plates to thicken the clutch pack.

1098s Very cool bike... Got a 996 SPS myself!

Not to hijack, but....
It was a stack thickness issue. I added another 1.5mm steel plate to the middle of the stack, and now my clutch is perfect.