I was pretty impressed with the quality of the Suzuki pattern plates, the tangs are fatter than on the Ducati oem plates to give a larger contact area. As I said, binding was an issue that I had to cure by putting some of the old plates in at the top of the stack. I always intended to put the replacement plates I took out back in at the bottom of the stack and move the now worn-in plates from the bottom to the top but the clutch works so beautifully that I’ve never bothered.
Yes, I know lots of people do hear the sound of metal bashing metal as music and are willing to keep paying for new baskets and plates in order to hear it. I prefer the sound of induction and exhaust myself. You can get smooth and light with the white lithium grease though, combined with either a reduced stack height, in order to reduce preload or with an Oberon slave. I have the Oberon, reduced stack height, lithium grease and the quiet clutch mod all combined and it works a treat - better than the wet clutch on my daughter’s Honda Hornet
In all honesty my clutch is smooth and easy. I just bought a slipper which will get installed over the winter and may well use your tips if that changes after fitting it.
Don't go changing the order of the plates in a slipper otherwise you will have them jamming up, the first plate can drop of the back of the drum and jam it if its the wrong one. Steve
I haven't looked at the youtube vids re installing the slipper yet. Are the plates are numbered so that the order is clear?
As the hub or drum rises when the slipper comes into action a steel first would drop of the back of the drum so a slipper should always start with a friction plate, a standard clutch normally starts with a steel unless you are doing the quiet mod. Steve
Just wondering what the final outcome of this was? I need a clutch friction plate set for my ST4S engine and seeing the Suzuki plates are now around £45 wondering if the Newfren plates are a better idea (at £55)?
Ok, I can give you some help with that. I was quite impressed with the Suzuki pattern plates. They have nice large contact points with the basket. Both types bound in my basket though and so I had to use some of the old plates at the top of the stack to prevent severe drag. If you put a friction plate in first, you won’t get any chatter as a result of doing that. When it comes to stack height, go for lower rather than higher. Too high and the clutch can jam. Too low and it might slip a little. I’m running a seriously low stack height though and still get zero slip. A real benefit of a low stack height is reduced preload on the clutch springs and that translates to a light lever Gotta love a light lever..
