The Hodaka Club Forum

I looked through the parts diagrams for a few different models. Most start with fiber. The 03 is the only one I found where it shows 2 steel plates then fiber, steel, fiber, steel, fiber, steel, fiber. Is there a particular reason for this arrangement?

I ordered a Kolene clutch kit for my 03 and didn't end up getting it installed. I have another 03 clutch and thought I might use it on my 97. 03 uses 4 fiber and 5 steel, 97 uses 5 fiber and 4 steel. Clutch cage is the same pn for both. Clutch hubs have same dimensions bit 03 has more holes for oil flow I think. 97 has dual springs, 03 has single. But my 03 has dual springs. Hmmm. Maybe I should just order another fiber disc.
I don't understand why there would be 2 steel plates together on the 03. Doesn't seem like it would be an improvement.
97 pic below for comparison.

Just a theory here. Both clutches require the same thickness of the clutch plate stack. The friction is provided by the number of friction plate surfaces. The more friction plates you have, the higher the coefficient of friction in the stack. I suspect that the higher horsepower model 97 needed the added 25% friction surface provided by both sides of the extra plate so it wouldn't slip under hard acceleration. The downside would be that there would be 25% more drag when the clutch is disengaged. Possibly in the lower horsepower, street legal model 03, it was deemed more important for less drag when attempting to use the primary kickstart in gear than to have the extra friction surfaces under hard acceleration. You can add any number of steel plates to get the required total thickness of the clutch pack. Again I'm just guessing and will probably be proven wrong by folks that know the real reason.

Sounds perfectly logical to me, Pop.

So by using the 5 plate clutch, could you uprate the assembly?

It would be interesting to measure and compare the coefficient of friction of friction-to-friction vs. friction to steel. Assuming there is a measurable difference and the thicknesses of both plates are nearly the same, you could "fine tune" your clutch to whatever type of work you'll be doing. Interesting.

Pop, great explanation, thank you!
Matt, I'm fat, I need all the grip I can get
I will see if I can get another fiber disc.