Thanks for the detailed responses guys,
Alright, so Dave -- yes this is exactly where the most wear is occuring, but this time, unlike last time, the clutch fiber disks are totally glazed and the steel plates are totally black/burnt. The worst of this wear is the fiber disks that mates with that pressure disk. Hopefully the attached pictures will be able to be posted.
Bike is the 2013, milage is presumably around 25,000+ (speedo was removed a long time ago). Bike is used year round, daily. I'm a social worker and do a lot of visits all over the city, usually in stop and go traffic off the highways. My inclination IS to sit at red lights/ stop signs with the clutch pulled in while in gear. For longer lights I'll be in neutral with the clutch out. I do abuse this clutch -- I treat virtually every light like a drag race. But be that as it may -- I think this wear is indicative of something strange going on, just because it's so eaten away. I do let the clutch slip between atop signs, which are never really full stops in Philadelphia. Lots of time in the friction zone.
I'm inclined currently to replace the pressure plate and use this caltric clutch kit from Amazon.
Caltric Clutch Friction Plates Spring Gasket Kit compatible with Suzuki Savage 650 1986 1987 1988 1995-2004
https://a.co/d/133nsolJust for the sake of cost currently. Can't justify another Barnett clutch purchase until I can stop shredding them.
I think you are on to something with the wear.... The hub is totally fine, I would be the first to admit my abuse of the clutch is absolutely contributing here. Just seems odd how bad it gets how quickly.
Paul about the pushrod -- just because I think the thing with these rods is not very well understood, I spent a lot of time grappling with this because the last time I had this issue, I threw the shorter rod in and it solved the slipping issue despite the pressure plate wear, but then I had an issue where the spring bolts were actually hitting the inside of the release arm every time the clutch was engaged, so much so that the bolt heads were warped by interference with the arm. The difference in rod length is very minimal, but the way these clutches are set up they seem extremely sensitive to clearance issues. It sounds and looks counter intuitive that the longer rod would contribute to slippage but the way it sits in there while the clutch is engaged it effects the spring pressure and pushes the clutch ever so slightly more open than the middle or shorter rods.
I've contacted Suzuki directly, in NA and tried to talk to someone in Japan and they weren't able to give me any info on the rods, why the different lengths are even offered, etc.
But the one thing I do know is that the different rod lengths absolutely influence the compression of the plates while the clutch is engaged (not pulled in), and the longer one has them sitting apart further than the shorter.