TOPIC:

The EBC are grey in color. My OEM are brown. Mine were fused with the plates for nobody knows how many years. I had to split them with some force. I cleaned them up (and the plates bead blasted). They actually look pretty good. I wasn't sure if sitting dry for so many years had a negative effect on them to the point of not lasting if put back to work. It would had been a good test. But the perspective of having it disintegrate and leaving me stranded on a mountain somewhere, not mention polluting the engine with pieces of friction material, helped me with making me purchase a set of brand new ones. I will post a photo for comparison after I dig them out. I was going to post a photo of both later on when installing them on my bike, but since this subject came up earlier, I will do it earlier!

Thanks stan. I forgot to get a picture of the stained steel plates so if you can, it might add some further relevance.

Kawboy wrote an interesting post regarding the fact that the later 1300's have fewer friction plates, and the possible reasons for this:

www.kz1300.com/index.php/forum/engines/1...-plate-configuration

Unfortunately, I can't find the old photos! I am glad we came to discuss the clutch because now I know I have to look for them. There are over a hundred with step by step of how I was taking things apart and I will definitely would be helpful when putting things back!

So.. all I have is a few new photos taken right now.

First the original friction plates after a few hours of cleaning. Every gap between the individual segments cleaned by hand. I put some oil on them a couple months back and they seem to enjoy it. They are not chipping and look good, and I am sure they are original. If I was going to bet I'd say they would be fine. But for a 100 dollars I decided not to take chance. Ending up with a handful of chips in the oil is not a good idea.



These are the EBC plates from eBay.

Here the steel plates. I bead blasted them. This side looks perfect - it's the side where two steel plates were against each other. All the people I know bead blast the plates. I think if they are old and shiny is not desirable.



Here detail of the above.



Here the other side - the friction plates side. You can see the pitting. After removing the stuck friction plates, I cleaned them and then bead blasted.
I am going to switch them around. The smooth side will have contact with the EBC plates, and these pitted sides will be against each other. I am sure this will not create any problems. These pitting are actually not as bad as they look. It's the shadows that make them more dramatic, but the pitting is superficial and they are solid strong. No warping. These sides is not what makes the clutch work, and there is nothing in the way of these smoothly slide against each other.

There rest - the top pressure plate. Bead blasted and I did a bit of sand paper scratching afterwards.