Dragonfly clutch plates

[paul.wirdnam]

I'm going to buck the trend and speak out in favour of bonded plates. On a couple of bikes, one an Ariel 4F and the other a Matchless Silver Hawk, I have lost all clutch lever control due to cork plates getting too hot in heavy town traffic. This happened about 20 years ago --- in fact, the only reason I'm on the front cover of Cheval July 2000 is because I was parked up at the side of the road in Brighton on the Pioneer Run and waiting for my clutch to cool down.

All my Ariels now run on bonded plates and have done so for many years (18). They just work, in all temperatures, and I don't have to worry about loss of lever control. They are a bit snatchy compared to cork plates, but you soon get used to that.

Never had a problem with Drag's bonded plates.

[dave.owen]

Paul, as you say nothing wrong with bonded plates, it's down to personal choice.

Dave

[Vincent.vanGinneke]

The lesson in this :

Use bonded plates and you will never ever recieve endless fame cos you wont get on the front of The Cheval.

(sorry guys & dolls, just a bit obnoxiues today)

[dave.owen]

Cork plates in all of mine , but I do have a set if bonded

[T Batnes]

Wasn't bonded clutch friction discs supposed to be an improvement over the cork discs back in the days? I have bonded discs in all my bikes, and I cannot say that I have troubles with any of them wrt clutch action - they just work. One of my bikes had cork discs almost 30 years ago, when I first tried to ride it - they didn't free up, had to use a carpet knife and a small hammer in the end. Like glued. So I got bonded discs instead, and they have never acted up like that.

[john.whiting]

Of course,the point is 1950s Ariels dont have wet clutches ,wheras most other bikes do .This is an important difference with cork,which lasts indefinitely when run oil wetted ,but not when run dry....Another bike that runs dry is the old Army Beeza,where the clutch has an oil tight hat to keep oil out,and slips if oil gets to the friction surfaces.