Clucth Plates - which ones?

robwbright

Member
Apr 8, 2005
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Clutch Plates - which ones?

I'm looking to buy clutch plates for the RM.

A couple questions. . .

1: Steel, Fiber, both?

2: Tusk, Moose, or should I just spend the money and go Barnett or EBC? I'd like to go inexpensive, but I don't want to replace them again soon.

I've seen mixed reviews on the tusk stuff. My tusk rotor is doing quite well, but I haven't tried the plates.

I can get a standard EBC kit for $55 +shipping.

The tusk complete kit is about $50+ shipping.

Moose steels are $41+ shipping. I guess you have to buy the fibers as well. . .
 
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chevy383cid

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Aug 26, 2005
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I've been running a tusk(with steel) for 4 months now and I like it,It seams to be holding up good on my 250. But you on the 125(144cc) you might look at the ebc!! Most 125 riders use(and abuse) the clutch a lot. :nod:
 

robwbright

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Apr 8, 2005
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I just wonder if the EBC standard kit is going to be any better than the Tusk - the EBC race kit is $100+/-.

As to Steels and Fibers - I don't understand it at all - do you always run a mix of the 2?
 
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chevy383cid

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Aug 26, 2005
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Unless your REAL HARD on the clutch,I think EBC standard is fine!! I've always used steel only.A little extra wieght and nice clean oil.
 

robwbright

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Apr 8, 2005
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So that's all steels and no fibers . . .

Hmm. So if I ordered the Moose all steel kit, it would apparently include everything I need. . .?

The Tusk stuff is sold out till June 6, so that's not going to do me any good.
 

robwbright

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Apr 8, 2005
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Forgive my ignorance. . . Upon further reading, I guess that's steels with fibers.
 
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chevy383cid

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Aug 26, 2005
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New friction plates and new steel plates,The friction plates are the ones that wear out ,and most of the time (by then) the steel or aluminim plates(bands) have seen better days!! Soak them over night at least. Where are you thinking of buying them at?? Dennis Kirk,Rocky Mountain
 
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Chili

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Apr 9, 2002
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After having clutch issues on my son's 03 RM125 I will always stick to OEM fiber plates. We had very poor luck with kit's from Barnett's and DP, never tried EBC or Tusk though.
 
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Chili

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Apr 9, 2002
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robwbright said:
As to Steels and Fibers - I don't understand it at all - do you always run a mix of the 2?
Click to expand...

Rob if you take the clutch apart you'll understand it pretty quick. Your 02 If I recall is the same clutch as the 03 we had which would give it 8 fiber plates and 7 steel plates. Here's a link to a clutch schematic 02 RM125 CLUTCH LINK
 

robwbright

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Apr 8, 2005
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Chili said:
Rob if you take the clutch apart you'll understand it pretty quick. Your 02 If I recall is the same clutch as the 03 we had which would give it 8 fiber plates and 7 steel plates.
Click to expand...

I knew the stock stuff is half fiber, half steel, but I read of people talking about running steels and they hadn't mentioned fiber in the same discussion, so I wasn't sure. Of course, one would need the fibers for it to work at all, wouldn't you. . . Like I said, forgive my ignorance. :coocoo:

I'm taking it out tonight. It has started slipping REALLY bad. I'm planning to measure the plates and springs - Eric Gorr's book says that the springs can, in many cases, cause the problem I've been having.

BTW, I suppose it will be pretty obvious whether the metals are steel or aluminum. . .? Clearly the steels would weigh more, but are they typically marked steel or aluminum?

I'd guess it has steels already since the guy who had it before me was a racer and he put in the Hinson basket, etc . . . I guess I'll find out tonight.
 
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Chili

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As far as the plates being marked steel or aluminum I don't think I've ever seen any marked. If you look at the parts schematic I linked to, the #8 plate is the steel or aluminum plate in the clutch, they are simply a flat plate with nothing on them. The other 8 plates are fiber plates, they are still made of aluminum but have a fiber layer on the outside. Sacked springs can definitely cause you problems.
 

robwbright

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Apr 8, 2005
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Yea - I just supposed that if they were aluminum, it would probably be more likely that they needed replaced than if they were steels. . .

Thanks everyone.
 

Vic

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Rob-

If a magnet will stick to them, they are steel.
 

Lorin

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I rarely find the need to replace a steel plate. Springs are usually a relatively cheap insurance to change along with the fibers. I think my last set of springs from the dealer were $13.
 

robwbright

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Apr 8, 2005
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I took the entire clutch apart this evening. The buy who had it before me had replaced everything with:

Hinson Inner Hub

Hinson Pressure Plate

I was disappointed to find a Moose Clutch Basket rather than Hinson - but I guess you can't have it all.

Anyway, apparently when I had visually inspected the clutch basket (without taking the clutch apart) I didn't notice that the basket was notched. I must have looked at the ones that weren't as bad or at the non-wear side of the fingers.

Anyway, some of the fingers were notched pretty good. i flat filed them down smooth and went to re-assemble.

All plates were well within spec and the springs were well within spec.

Here's the weird part - I'm supposed to have 8 fibers and 7 steels.

I've only got 7 fibers and 7 steels - yet everything seems a tight fit. I'm guessing that the prior owner bought aftermarket fibers that were too thick (as I've seen mentioned in Eric's book and on posts here) and decided to just drop one of the fibers.

I hadn't really looked at the schematic for the plates when I took it apart - but I'm sure that he had fibers on the inside and outside and two metals together in the middle - so that's how I put it back together.

I suppose that filing the fingers will help considerably, but what effect does having the two metals together have?

Thanks
 
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Chili

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I can't comment on the two metal plates since I don't really know. As far as filing the basket, it's a common thing but should be viewed as a very temporary fix at best. A former Suzuki factory mechanic explained to me while he was fixing my son's 03 after it broke a clutch plate at DW04 and locked up the tranny, that all you do by filing is increase the tolerances between the plates and basket and cause them to slam the basket harder causing more wear to the basket and clutch plate tabs
 
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hndarida4life

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Jan 26, 2006
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barnett, tusk wear out in like 4 rides if u ride hard and use the clutch through every turn.barnett is expensive but they last
 
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chevy383cid

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Aug 26, 2005
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After the basket and inner hub is installed, you need a fiber plate first and then steel,fiber,steel until you run out of plates,making the last plate installed fiber, to ride against the outer pressure plate that the springs go in ! Two steels together won't do anything but slip!!
 

robwbright

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Apr 8, 2005
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That's what I figured - considering that, I'm amazed that it has worked at all - and it has for 13 months.

But, I have had some clutch issues ever since I got the bike - lurching when put in 1st gear, etc . . .

However, in the last couple weeks the slipping has gotten ridiculous.

My local shop has a single fiber plate which I'm going to buy since everything measured well within spec.

As far as slippage issues go, does a heavier weight oil assist in preventing/minimizing the slipping? I noticed that when I recently tried ATF, Type F, the slipping got much worse.

I'm planning on going back to the 15w50 I was using initially.
 
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