B clutch plate question

[fitscott]

I'm in the process of reviving a 75 - The friction discs all mic as serviceable so I'm considering reusing them with new clutch springs - The B plate has rivets on both sides and looks good - I have some extra steel plates. I think I'll get rid of the B plate and use the extra steel plate but was looking for opinions. Then I think - just put in new friction discs while it's apart.

[Rat]

Scroll to the bottom of the page for a couple of days worth of reading ....

Gord

[fitscott]

Thank you sir - I have read most of them - I ordered new EBC friction discs and will replace the B plate -

[Sidecar Bob]

http://ngwclub.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=16877

[cfairweather]

I want to make sure you understand the problem with the 1975 B plate design vs the 1977 and later version. The 1975 version has teeth on only one of the plates. This resulted in a tremendous amount of stress on the rivets because one side was locked on the hub and the other side was not locked in place. The rivets eventually get loose and break. The solution was to use teeth on both plates so they are both locked in place on the hub. I have never seen loose rivets on the redesigned version but I have seen several 1975 B plates that were in bad shape. The Honda engineers knew what they were doing when they installed this double plate in the middle. If you eliminate it, your bike may not shift as good, the clutch won't operate as smooth as before and it won't be as quiet. This is what I experienced when I tried to eliminate the B plate. If you have one of the 1975 plates in your bike, get a new or used B-Plate that has teeth on both plates. These are from the 1977 and later GL1000 models. I have attached two pictures which show the difference.

DSCN3744.JPG

DSCN3745.JPG

[Sidecar Bob]

My original 'Wing was a '77. About a year after I had replaced its clutch plates I replaced the engine with a '79.; I know I had to use the nearly new plates but I'm not sure which engine's damper plate I used but it certainly wasn't from a pre '77 and I don't specifically remember no teeth on one of the plates.
I was on my way home from work a few years later (the engine was in the '83 frame by this time) when the plate failed. I first noticed that the clutch lever had no free play and I needed to pull the lever much closer to the handlebar than normal before disengaging fully. It was bad enough that I stopped to adjust it but a short while later the lever became so loose that I could barely get it to disengage. After it cooled off a bit I opened the clutch and found that most of the rivets had let go and the leaf springs were moving around between the plates, effectively changing its thickness. The rivets had also scraped most of the friction material off of the plates on either side of the damper. All of this happened in less than 8 Km (5 miles) from the first symptoms until I arrived at home.

[cfairweather]

I know the design change occurred in 1977 but there may have been some faulty plates installed on the 1977 model year bikes, I don't know. I have personally examined a lot of these plates and have only seen the problem on the ones with the 1975 design.

[Sidecar Bob]

Let's put it this way: When I replaced the '79 engine with an '82 engine I asked on the forum and was advised it is best to do away with the damper plate in the 1100 engine too.
BTW: The 1100 clutch plates are larger diameter than those in the 1000 so it is impossible that an 1100 would have a pre-77 plate.

[fitscott]

Thank you for taking the time to help me - I was confused and thinking the faulty plates only had rivets on one side - now I understand - the teeth on both sides concept thanks to the great pictures - Mine only has teeth on one plate so I'll have to either find a later plate with teeth on both sides or bypass it - I'm trying to make the Bike as dependable as a 45 year old Bike can be.