Magna Owners Of Texas

I need a new clutch on my Red Magna... I'm a cheap Bleep, But not so much so..
What I mean is I want a Kevlar clutch, but I'm not willing to pay TOO much...
SO I'm willing to pay for the EBC kit, but not the Barnett's price..

So with that said... here is what I discovered
There are three kits on sale
SRC - comes with Friction discs and new Springs
Then there are 2 SRK kits (with Metal discs also).. The SRK2 and SRK3...
I posed a question to the company on Amazon and got an e-mail response something about they had contacted EBC, but not heard back yet...
So, since EBC is on the west coast, I called when I got home.. Here is the gist of the GREAT (NOT) customer service..


(Please jump down to the bottom for the answer, the middle is just a RANT!!!)

I gave my bikes model number and asked what is the difference between the SRK2 & SRK3 kits.

Here is what they told me.. The SRK2 and SRK3 kits are different... (no duh...),
I asked How are they different.. Well they have different friction discs and springs... but both kits will work with your bike.
I asked What is the difference though.. They put me on hold and transferred me to someone else, without letting me know..
I reiterated the question, He responded with lots of: well the SRK 2 friction material is made out of this type of material (techno speak) and the SRK3 is made out of this type of material, and the springs are different...
So I asked... OK, So in layman's terms what's the difference, He stated that the SRK3 is made for my Magna..
I responded, but both the SRK2 and SRK3 are made for my Magna.. Response, Yes, but we recommend the SRK3...
I asked if one kit is more for racing, or better for warmer temperatures (trying to give this guy guidance)
The response, We recommend the SRK3 for your bike.
SO... I was done running around in circles....
I still have no intelligent answer to my question...

SO... I called back and spoke to someone intelligent...
His response was
ANSWER HERE ----> The SRK2 will NOT work with a 94-05 Magna.. It comes with a diaphragm and NOT coil springs... SO.. IF you have a Magna order the SRK3!!!

So after having two people tell me that both will work with my bike, the answer is only one will work...
Was that so hard??? I could understand the seller having issues explaining, but this is the manufacturer...
Maybe they SHOULD outsource their customer service to India, it couldn't be much worse..

Hoot. let me tell you what you already know.

Good sales people are few and far between and knowledgeable ones even less. The vast majority of the people who work for product suppliers are "order takers" and that's it. They don't know jack about what the company sells and they really don't care either.

Just go to Best Buy and probe them heavily about something you already know. This is just one example.

I research items to the "n th" degree on the forums and the Web before I order anything anymore. I still get burned once in a while, but it always pays to do the homework and get advice from others who have been there.

Quote from: Smoked U on July 24, 2013, 07:12:01 PM
Hoot. let me tell you what you already know.

get advice from others who have been there.

So does anyone have any "advice" about EBC Kevlar clutch products???
I think I put a EBC NON-Kevlar clutch in the Yellow Magna and I've been pretty happy with it..

No input on the EBC kit as I didn't even know they made one.  I have the Barnett kit in mine and have been happy with it.

Since you mentioned being "thrifty", are you sure you need the steels?  Downside to verifying is that you need to disassemble the clutch to check (lay the steels on a piece of glass to check for straightness, then look for visual anomolies), but you might not actually need the steels.

Personally mine did not need them (checked after the fact), but I decided I didn't want to disassemble to find out, just bought it all up front and replaced 'em all.

I probably don't need them, but the cost difference is minimal...

I think Kevlar is just the name of their products. The clutch plates are not made of kevlar.
Last year, I bought some aftermarket clutch plates (I don't remembered if it was kevlar or just for racing) but was very unhappy when I received it. The friction plate did not look as good as the orginal plates. There was few plates in the kit then what I have in the Magna. The metal plates were not perferated like the OEM plates. Luckly, I bought it from a Honda dealer and they allowed me to exhanged the it. So, I traded in for the OEM friction plates and aftermarket springs. I went with aftermarket spring because it supposed to be a heavier spring. I reused the original metal plates. Price wise is the same as new aftermarket kit around $160.
I measured the new OEM plate and it is .001" thicker than the original friction plate. After soaking the new OEM plates in oil, by looking at it and the original plates, I can not tell the different. The original plates had 65,000 miles on it. If I had to do it again and want to be "thrity", I would just inspect the friction & metal plates and replace the springs with heavier aftermarket springs.

Customer service is somewhat poor at many places and from what we hear from customers and it will continue to get worse as competition comes in, prices get beat down and you can't afford the extra help. Enough people are not willing to pay the money for good service.

back to your clutch.

I think the majority of metric bikes come with friction plates made of cork based materials and are more prone to slipping, kevlar based clutches are less prone to slipping. Going back to stock you would choose the cork based, a step up, take it to kevlar.   

I have not used EBC clutches, only their brake pads, in mine I have the Barnett clutch kit and as mentioned above, I replaced everything. No need to go back and do it again and risk an oil leak because I didn't buy another side cover gasket, I dislike do overs. 

Terry, Do you sell these???

These as in Barnett or these as in EBC? If you are talking about the (SRK3 CLUTCH KIT EBC), yes I can get those.

New clutch installed on red Magna...

Quote from: hootmon on August 25, 2013, 01:57:28 PM
New clutch installed on red Magna...

Egad, Hoot, is that all??  Details, please.  How well does it work?  And (if I may be so bold!) how much did it cost -- in money and in your time?

Quote from: lragan on August 25, 2013, 04:12:39 PM

Quote from: hootmon on August 25, 2013, 01:57:28 PM
New clutch installed on red Magna...

Egad, Hoot, is that all??  Details, please.  How well does it work?  And (if I may be so bold!) how much did it cost -- in money and in your time?

It was about $125,
A couple hours of work, it takes longer because you have to let the disks soak in oil a couple of hours.
I also ripped the gasket when I removed the cover (didn't happen when I replaced the one on the yellow bike). Even though I had a gasket on hand, I chose not to go thru the extra effort to remove the old gasket, so I had to wait till the auto store opened this morning to get some RTV gasket maker... If the gasket had stuck to the cover, I would have removed it, but since it mostly stuck to the case I didn't want to get gasket removing chemicals in the crankcase...
The springs are noticeably stiffer, too soon to tell anything else as I only test rode the bike 2 miles...
When I first started the bike, the clutch would not fully disengage, but a few strokes of the clutch to wear in the plates, and the friction zone range was normal...
Is that sufficient Lawrence?

Yes, sir, that is enough.  Thanks for the detailed report.  These threads stay on the site for a long time, and I can refer to this one when it is time to repair my clutch(es).

I make plenty of mistakes myself.  If I can avoid a few by piggybacking on the experiences of others, then I am happy! :smile: :smile:

Quote from: lragan on August 25, 2013, 09:16:43 PM
Yes, sir, that is enough.  Thanks for the detailed report.  These threads stay on the site for a long time, and I can refer to this one when it is time to repair my clutch(es).

I make plenty of mistakes myself.  If I can avoid a few by piggybacking on the experiences of others, then I am happy! :smile: :smile:

I've called you a time or two, feel free to do the same if needed!