305 Clutch Rebuild and History

[rzgkane]

So after some research and discussion, I have decided to add this clutch rebuild and hope it grows into a great discussion of facts culminating in some great hard evidence and a useful tutorial on what to look for and what to use in your 305 clutches.

Great write-up. I have found that Honda appears to again be selling the 020 discs so I ordered 5 of them for my application. I also ordered from Honda what they are calling a "B" plate (in the new parts diagram there is no A plate for some reason), but it is the most inner plate and a different number than all the other steel plates they also call B plates. I hope the new discs, along with the thicker A plate, will be an upgrade to the present system I have. Looks pretty simple to do.


Pics of the setup from my garage motor are below. Ed Moore says these are a cush drive setup so that's the good news. If the clutch on my bike right now is not a cush drive I can upgrade using these parts. Bad news is that the 020 discs I'll probably get from Honda will be wrong and not the true 020 discs. Just more money, right?


IMG_0658 by rzgkane, on Flickr


IMG_0657 by rzgkane, on Flickr


IMG_0656 by rzgkane, on Flickr


IMG_0654 by rzgkane, on Flickr


IMG_0652 by rzgkane, on Flickr

[NBD925]

Thanks for the info on the 020 Plates.

I did a search and they are indeed available. Interesting because I thought they had become scarce. I hope they are the same plate. Keep us up to date on what your findings are.

The 6 plate setup I used and detailed in the original write-up is working great in my Dreams. They have sat in the garage for awhile and I have not had any release issues with the clutch. The setup takes power well too. Still some testing to do but so far I like what I see. I think, I might try an 020 setup in one of them to compare. Not sure if I'll see anything different but it will be interesting to check it out.

Hey rzgkane: in your pictures there it looks like your missing a steel plate. It looks like your stack goes (friction, Friction, Steel, Friction . . . . ) from the inner most to the outer most, seen in pictures 4 and 5.

What year and type is your bike? I think regardless, this new setup will be a nice improvement.

[rzgkane]

Thanks for the info on the 020 Plates.

I did a search and they are indeed available. Interesting because I thought they had become scarce. I hope they are the same plate. Keep us up to date on what your findings are.

The 6 plate setup I used and detailed in the original write-up is working great in my Dreams. They have sat in the garage for awhile and I have not had any release issues with the clutch. The setup takes power well too. Still some testing to do but so far I like what I see. I think, I might try an 020 setup in one of them to compare. Not sure if I'll see anything different but it will be interesting to check it out.

Hey rzgkane: in your pictures there it looks like your missing a steel plate. It looks like your stack goes (friction, Friction, Steel, Friction . . . . ) from the inner most to the outer most, seen in pictures 4 and 5.

What year and type is your bike? I think regardless, this new setup will be a nice improvement.

First, Ed Moore has indicated that although Honda does sell what they call 020 plates, they will nevertheless send me discs with very minimal surface area that are not the same as the old 020 discs. We'll see on Monday but I'd bet dollars to donuts he's right.

And yeah, I forgot to mention in my post that there's a steel plate missing and a thin one is where the thick A plate should be. The motor these came from was a spare motor I purchased a couple weeks back when I needed a stator and rotor and I think someone absconded with its A plate. Ed tells me doubling up with two B plates is not a problem.

[NBD925]

Yes . . . I wrote about doubling up the A plates to make a B plate in the original article that would work but I prefer the correct thick B plate. That’s just me but It will work as described.

Let us know how it all works out.

This is great information to anyone that may be thinking about getting the new 020 plates. The plates might be imposters. Incorrect size and friction area compared to the original 020 plates even though the part number is the same.

[rzgkane]

Yes . . . I wrote about doubling up the A plates to make a B plate in the original article that would work but I prefer the correct thick B plate. That’s just me but It will work as described.

Let us know how it all works out.

This is great information to anyone that may be thinking about getting the new 020 plates. The plates might be imposters. Incorrect size and friction area compared to the original 020 plates even though the part number is the same.

I viewed the video you embedded in your post and it caused me to go buy some Castrol Trizone motor oil for introduction when I replace my clutch. I also remember back in the day when full synthetic motor oil was being accused of causing leakage past oil seals when used in a motor with significant mileage on it. Are any of you experienced guys against the use of synthetic oils in these vintage bikes? If so, why?

The replacement of the starter sprocket seal has me (knock wood) currently leak-free and I'd hate to cause myself problems.

[NBD925]

Oil is a hot topic here and many opinions have been stated as to the best type. I can see both sides of the oil issue. You cannot go wrong with the oil that Honda intended to run in these engines. I think that is straight 30w. New oils have been produced since the 1960's, with enhanced technology that may be as good or better but questions about the suspension of particulate and its reaction in the centrifugal oil filter have come up. Also questions on how the synthetic oils work in these clutches (might be too much slip). I would hope someone else can help you on this issue. I lack in my oil knowledge.

Here is what I have been using: Castrol Motorcycle Oil: 20w 50 summer and 10w 40 winter.

That’s all I know.

[rzgkane]

Oil is a hot topic here and many opinions have been stated as to the best type. I can see both sides of the oil issue. You cannot go wrong with the oil that Honda intended to run in these engines. I think that is straight 30w. New oils have been produced since the 1960's, with enhanced technology that may be as good or better but questions about the suspension of particulate and its reaction in the centrifugal oil filter have come up. Also questions on how the synthetic oils work in these clutches (might be too much slip). I would hope someone else can help you on this issue. I lack in my oil knowledge.

Here is what I have been using: Castrol Motorcycle Oil: 20w 50 summer and 10w 40 winter.

That’s all I know.

Thanks. I may just go with a new clutch and 10-40 and see what I get. Forget the synthetic unless I get slip that might be helped by an oil without the friction modifiers, as the video talks about.

On a side note, the 020 friction discs are supposed to be in tomorrow and the dealer told me he had the A plate (straight out of the 1965 parts manual) in stock! Keeping my fingers crossed.