trying to buy the right clutch.

Kartchamp2212

New member
i have a 2 disc bully right now and going to have to get it rebuild. i called dover power and asked about there clutchs. the "Goldie Locks" clutch. i will be buying a dover clone motor from them and was wondering what clutch would be better to use.
 
The bully is an excellent clutch, however, if you have to get it rebuilt, you may be better off spending a few extra bucks and getting the goldielocks from dover, they are a very nice clutch and are basically an exact replica of the bully, they look identical to a bully from what i could tell. I had the chance to look at the goldielocks in person this past weekend at the racers swap meet in Liberty ky, and i wish i had the money to buy the goldielocks, if i had the money i would have bought one. From what i have heard, they perform just as good as a bully and for less money spent. I dont follow the crowd when everyone says you have to have a bully if you want to be competitive, i run a Horstman X5 clutch and i was able to make the top 5 in a few classes at the Bluegrass Nationals and Turkey Buzzard races this past month.

I would go with whatever you have the money for, not with what everyone else says you should do. Either way, either of the clutch choices you mentioned are great choices in my opinion, alot of people use both and have great results with them.
 
It's hard to beat a Bully clutch. There are a lot of "copies" out there for a reason. Not knocking the knock-offs one bit -- they serve their purpose in offering a clutch at a cheaper retail price.

Some of the knock-offs use the Horstman MDC or Noram Cheetah guts which are not as tough/thick/rigid as the Bully pressure plate and backing plate. They are also stamped rather than cnc machined like the Bully. Once you've rebuilt a few of the thinner plate clutches, you'll clearly see the advantage a Bully has. The thicker plates distort less under heat and abuse. The thinner these steel plate are, the easier they warp when subjected to high temps. That's why you can make a couple cuts / regrinds on Bullys, but often times you end up replacing these same plates in the knock-off clutches on the rebuild.

In my opinion, you're better off having your Bully professionally rebuilt or purchasing a lightly used Bully on the cheap and having it rebuilt for under $100 and getting a fully blueprinted clutch for your application that's as good or better than new and will last you several years with proper care. Or, pick up one of the cheaper clutches brand new and see how you like them.


I regularly rebuild clutches of all names and brands and still hands down in my opinion, the best quality and best resale is the Bully. FWIW I do take Bully trade-ins too. :)
--
Thanks and God bless,
Brian Carlson
Carlson Racing Engines
Vector Cuts
www.CarlsonMotorsports.com
765-339-4407
bcarlson@CarlsonMotorsports.com
 
Just send the Bully to Martinbuilt, Stiffee, or Jammer for rebuilt it will perform like new less than half the cost of new. All 3 can be found on here If Jerry does rebuilt ( not sure he does ) that work be just fine as well.

Good Luck !!
 
Love my goldielocks so much i ordered another and a floater plate and new disks for the old one. Also bark has full re-build kits for them .....
 
I have been doing clutches for over 30 years My Touch clutch is not even close to the appearance of a bully nor is the goldie locks , or top dawg. Bully is a great choice I have nothing bad to say about them and I specicalize in blueprinting Bully's. There is no other clutch anymore that was copied off a Bully and most all clutches were a copy of Horstman clutches except the SMC Vortex .There are some clutches out that are copies of mine but they sure don't have the workmanshp of my the MartinBuilt Touch clutch
 
I'm not in the market to rebuild clutches. Enough of you guys to do that.. Now we do rebuild ONLY what we sell..
Goldie Locks IS NOT A COPY OF ANYTHING.... It might be its own orignal... It is American Made and has shown virtually zero problems..

Ryan my friend you Missed on your assumption on a few things.. Mfg and price.. :)
I guess I missed something,, you always dwelled on being CHEAPest..
 
The touch does not look anything like the other clutches mentioned. That's like a 'professional' engine builder saying a clone and an animal look the same.
 
However if you "know where they all come from" I guess you're still claiming PMI manufactures the touch???
 
All the disc clutches are copies of the Horstman. The Horstman is a copy of the Crowerglide.
Little differences between the clutches? Of course. Same operating theory.....for sure.
 
What would be neat is to have a heat gun rigged up on a kart so that it could observe the heat coming off a clutch as the kart accelerates from a dead stop. The clutch generating the least amount of heat would be getting the most power to the rear wheels. Why you ask? Because heat is a power loss. And this would prove to all which clutch is the best out of the hole. I’m pretty sure you would find very little difference between all the disk clutches. And I’m pretty sure, on the top, all the clutches would hold about the same.
That leaves only how well the clutch performs over time. One thing I would look for is how well the clutch holds up. Does it slip the same all day, or all month, or how many months??
Now that’s something you should be looking at.
Comments, compliments, criticisms and questions always welcome.
 
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