Actually, I only do one thing to my clutch (other than the Fly perch). Immediately after taking delivery of my bike, I swap the aliminum plates out for steel plates. I'll bet lots of folks are going to be surprised that I am still running the stock clutch fiber plates, even after 2 years. In fact, except for the KX125's, I have never had to replace a clutch pack. Now keep in mind, that we usually trade off our bikes every 1 or 2 years. With the current KX125 and KX500 in the stable, I am shooting for a third year. The reasons?
1. The 2002 KX125 has proven to be the most bullet proof 125 I have ever owned.
2. Since the youngest is able to compete (and beat almost everyone) on his 125, we are going to go one more year. I think he will even be able to post his first overall in 2004 aboard a 125. Now wouldn't that be too cool.
3. I want to give the KX250F one year of production to work out any bugs. This way, we can decide if the boy will go to a 4 stoke, or stay on a 2 stroke for 2005.
4. My 2002 KX500 is flat awesome! Since I was able to race to 1st in class at the last race of the year, one of the toughest races I have entered in years, I'm feeling pretty confident with my current scouter. I'll probably go through the bottom end over the winter, just to be safe, and have the spare jug replated and installed.
I have known a lot of folks who have swapped out the clutch basket, but I have never had a problem. The biggest problem with the clutch are those stupid aluminum plates. I was never able to get them to last more than six weeks, so they just get tossed immediately.
One final note, when I sold my last KX500, I took out the steel plates, and swapped in the fresh 2002 aluminum plates so the bike was all stock. I installed the old steel plates into my new bike until I could purchase new ones, and they worked so well, I just left them in place, so the steel plates are now three years old. Quite frankly, I am amazed that my clutch is still in top shape.
Rick
