As far as rapid clutch wear goes, I had the same problem with a king cobra clutch. If you don't adjust your clutch correctly and you have your cable just a bit too tight, it will start to slip at times when you don't really notice it. A clutch doesn't really wear out when it is fully engaged or disengaged. It wears when it's allowed to slip. You really need to get under the car to see if your cable is properly adjusted. When it is, you should have about 1/4" of play in the clutch fork when you move it back and forth. If you don't have that play, your clutch will slip. If you have more than that, you'll probably have shifting problems. Another thing to remember is that as the clutch wears out, you need to loosen the cable to maintain that play.
I have about 50k on my CF dual friction clutch and only needed to adjust it once. It does not slip.
