Topic: CB500 Clutch Plate Advice: save or new?

[sammermpc]

My clutch has been gradually been getting worse, dragging in 1st, getting stuck shifting when hot, nigh impossible to hit neutral, etc. More problems when hot than cold. I finally tore into it. 

I discovered that my pushrod was snapped in half, so I'm going to find a new one of those, but I wanted some advice about new clutch plates.

I've got a parts bike as well (before you ask, the pushrod is snapped in that one too), but I was checking out the clutch basket in that one, and it has different friction plates than my regular rider -- it's also a '72 CB500.

The photos below are a pair of plates from the parts bike -- these are what I see around on the forums. You can see there are some deposits on the steel plates -- I think from being sandwiched against the friction plates for years, but I don't really know. Not sure if they're salvageable.





The photos below are the plates I've been riding on -- the cork faces are divided into quarters, rather than the spiral or the Barnett squares. Are these stock? What are these? I checked all of the plates on a plate of glass w/ a feeler gauge, and they're not warped. I also checked the wear on the friction plates -- they generally seem 'OK', see below, but two of them are worn beneath 3.0mm. I'm going off the Clymer manual for that measurement, though, so don't know if it holds for these friction plates.







I've read that I should soak these in oil for a day, and throw em' back in. Do these look fine, or should I make an effort to clean-up the spiral plates from the parts bike, or buy some new ones?

[dave500]

I held off,I thought someone would've replied by now?if the steels are flat just scratch the stain and any gloss/sheen off them,sand blasting is good,just run new frictions man,old ones deteriorate in time,those frictions are some unknown aftermarket replacement type?use new genuine springs if you can spring for them,pun intended,new springs are more consistent than 40 year old many heat cycle ones.

[Deltarider]

If you consider buying genuine Honda friction disks and/or springs, bear in mind they've underwent modification. For my 1976 model CB500K2 [ED, F, G] partsnumbers are 22201-323-010 for the friction disks and 22401-323-003 for the springs. Those springs were used on many Honda models, varying from 350 -750. BTW, these were not the only clutch parts that were modified. Consult the Parts Lists.