About the only complaint I have with the Staton friction drive is the shake, rattle, squeak and noise when the clutch engages and continues until the clutch is fully engaged. I have three Staton MB's, one with a Robin-Subaru EHO35 and two bikes with the Honda GX35. These 4 cycle engines are great. They are very smooth and quiet. Since they are so quiet the clutch engagement noise is very pronounced. I wanted to see if the new Staton friction drive roller would, as advertised, reduce the clutch noise. The new drive roller has slots like a gear profile parallel to the axis of the roller in place of knurled surface. The slots are much deeper and should give better wear and less slipping. It also has a new clutch drum attached to the roller diameter rather than mounted to the threaded end of the roller. This should do a better job to control the drum concentricity and square to the roller shaft. I installed this new setup on my noisiest clutch. The results were amazing. Almost no noise when the clutch engages, just smooth power. I would expect the clutch shoes to last longer since they have full contact with the drum. I examined the old - threaded clutch drum and could see the irregular wear pattern due to misalignment with the motor clutch shoes. I give Staton two thumbs up for the new improved parts. I don't ride my bikes in wet weather so I have no idea if the new drive is better when wet.
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