Clutch Cable

[DarkNinja]

Well my bike hasnt been having the best of months, after failing its warrant, getting a speeding ticket, and sitting in my gargre all alone for a couple of weeks waiting for the shock to be rebuilt, another blow has come to her.
Was riding it back from TSS (great guys there, cheers) and coming over a crest in busy traffic so i was going slowly. Anyways i hear this snap and lose all feeling in the clutch, bugger it my cables gone.
Got real angy at first but y'no, it could be 16 years old that cable, so i dry clutch it home and it sits in the gargre.
SO now comes the question, are clutch cables standard or specific and if so, how much do i expect to pay for one on average.
I miss being out on the road :(....... :rockon: guys hope i see you soon
DN

[crashe]

My new Clutch cable cost me $64.15 back in March 2002 for my Virago. :cool2:

[DarkNinja]

F*&k ME! i thought it would be a $30 job

[inlinefour]

Well my bike hasnt been having the best of months, after failing its warrant, getting a speeding ticket, and sitting in my gargre all alone for a couple of weeks waiting for the shock to be rebuilt, another blow has come to her.
Was riding it back from TSS (great guys there, cheers) and coming over a crest in busy traffic so i was going slowly. Anyways i hear this snap and lose all feeling in the clutch, bugger it my cables gone.
Got real angy at first but y'no, it could be 16 years old that cable, so i dry clutch it home and it sits in the gargre.
SO now comes the question, are clutch cables standard or specific and if so, how much do i expect to pay for one on average.
I miss being out on the road :(....... :rockon: guys hope i see you soon
DN

There are places that can make up a new cable inner if you take the old one in. Dont know about your town but Wanganui has one. Hope that helps. Oh and if you regularly oil the top end of a cable it actually never b reaks (touch wood) :rockon:

[ajturbo]

There are places that can make up a new cable inner if you take the old one in. Dont know about your town but Wanganui has one. Hope that helps. Oh and if you regularly oil the top end of a cable it actually never b reaks (touch wood) :rockon:

the turbo's clutch is getting so heavy that i need a bigger left hand glove... so i'm suppose to oil it? so what oil do you reconmend?

i'm not used to replacing anything like that as in the "olden days" i used to by new bikes....

[カワサキキド]

I'll see what I can do.

[aff-man]

yeh most bike shops can just make you a new inner for around the $30 mark or so

[MOTOXXX]

yep i think there about that to remake. Not hard to fit a new one either and just keep it well lubed and ull b sweet. :)

[Paul in NZ]

Just be a little careful...

SOME modern cables have a teflon inner sleeve and you should not lube these cables. You must grease the pivots (at the lever and the clutch actuating arm) semi regularly....

If your cable is NOT teflon lined get one of those little aerosol spray can adaptors and lube it with lanisol or something (can't quite remember but cheap at super cheap ) NOT CRC....

If the outer sheath of the cable gets cracked and damaged then start saving for a new one.

If the cable frays at either nipple it's rooted. Replace it.

When you replace the cable, try to aim for a nice smooth arc and if possible follow the way the factory did it (unless they screwed up).

I know money is tight but I'd buy a new one, fix the old one and chuck it under the seat as a spare.

Cables are a moving part. Moving parts wear out, they do not last forever and neither do things like clutch levers etc etc....

Paul N

[Sniper]

I agree with Paul there. If in doubt chuck it out. Also be bloody careful of those teflon coated cabels as oiling them generally does alot more harm than good.

Hehe, Paul said Nipples, um???

[vifferman]

What's a clutch cable? :spudwhat:

Haven't seen one of those since.... hmmm.... 1993 (!) on the XBR500RS Mutant.

[Paul in NZ]

What's a clutch cable? :spudwhat:

Haven't seen one of those since.... hmmm.... 1993 (!) on the XBR500RS Mutant.

Just wait until your ghey hydraulic clutch needs fixing ya smug bugger... :gob: You will be all "Oh waillie waillie why isn't this affordable like a good clutch cable"

heh heh...

Paul N

Left hand pumped and oversized from a good clutch work out like a REAL biker should be...

[DarkNinja]

I've just left a message with TSS today so ill wait for their call on it. i like your idea paul, i might just fix one aswell, better start stockpiling stuff up in the gargre for repair jobs eh lol.
Like i said it could be 16 years old max so its had a good life, i dont mind paying up a little at a time but when it all comes at once, ARG!
Cheers, DN

[Paul in NZ]

I've just left a message with TSS today so ill wait for their call on it. i like your idea paul, i might just fix one aswell, better start stockpiling stuff up in the gargre for repair jobs eh lol.
Like i said it could be 16 years old max so its had a good life, i dont mind paying up a little at a time but when it all comes at once, ARG!
Cheers, DN

Sadly the great seagull of motorcycling despair does not like a moving target... It waits until you splutter to the edge of the motorway with disconnected coil wire before shoving a broken bottle under your tyres..

Personally, I think the seagull of motorcycling despair spent far to much time with his cousin 'Misery' (who likes company) when they were at the "Lesser Horse People of Not Quite the Appocalypse but Worse than a Capet Burn Academy".

Best bet is to try and stay on top of the consumables.

I know I ride old bikes but if I'm going on a trip I just assume I will break a clutch cable or something and try to have a plan to deal with it. All bikes are different, some just eat certain parts regularly and so it's wise to carry a spare..

On my Guzzi i carry a spare cable, spare bulb, the original set of points incase the eletronic ignition shits itself, plugs, HT lead (easy to damage on a guzzi), insulation tape and cable ties.

Paul N

ps In the old old days I made my own cables because you could buy the bit at any bike shop. I used to make a spare and tape it to the one being used so you could swap em over in a couple of minutes... Tells you how good my cables wern't. Funnily enough, I never broke a cable with the spare ready to go...

[inlinefour]

the turbo's clutch is getting so heavy that i need a bigger left hand glove... so i'm suppose to oil it? so what oil do you reconmend?

i'm not used to replacing anything like that as in the "olden days" i used to by new bikes....

In one of those squirt cans with the finger pump that is also goos for chains. I have always used my one on all my bikes and as of yet not a broken cable. They start to go when moisture gets into the top end and gravity does its addition and after quite a while the strands start to break, hence a difficult cable to use before it breaks completely. CRC and simular are too light and oil :apint:

[inlinefour]

Just be a little careful...

SOME modern cables have a teflon inner sleeve and you should not lube these cables. You must grease the pivots (at the lever and the clutch actuating arm) semi regularly....

If your cable is NOT teflon lined get one of those little aerosol spray can adaptors and lube it with lanisol or something (can't quite remember but cheap at super cheap ) NOT CRC....

If the outer sheath of the cable gets cracked and damaged then start saving for a new one.

If the cable frays at either nipple it's rooted. Replace it.

When you replace the cable, try to aim for a nice smooth arc and if possible follow the way the factory did it (unless they screwed up).

I know money is tight but I'd buy a new one, fix the old one and chuck it under the seat as a spare.

Cables are a moving part. Moving parts wear out, they do not last forever and neither do things like clutch levers etc etc....

Paul N

I did not know that, its a good day when you learn something new. :msn-wink:

[vifferman]

Just wait until your ghey hydraulic clutch needs fixing ya smug bugger... :gob: You will be all "Oh waillie waillie why isn't this affordable like a good clutch cable"

heh heh...I wasn't being smug. And while being largely maintenance-free, they do cause some consternation. On the FahrtingSturm, any removal of the countershaft cover meant feckking about with bleeding, repeated removal and replacement, bleeding, etc etc....
And there's no adjustment, apart from span of the lever.



Left hand pumped and oversized from a good clutch work out like a REAL biker should be...You obviously haven't used many hydraulic clutches then, Paul.
Light action? Puhleeease....
Of the four I've had, the VifFerrari's is the lightest. It's a wonder the others haven't given me a forearm like a Popeye on a Spinach high...:wacko:

[vifferman]

Funnily enough, I never broke a cable with the spare ready to go...Of course not.
The EvilAndPerniciousBikerGodz and Murphy's Law would co-operate to ensure that never happened.:blank:

Then there's statistics. :sly:
Statistics would have it that 95% of what people worry about never actually eventuates. But, somehow, this combines with The EvilAndPerniciousBikerGodz and Murphy's Law and Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle to mean that if you worry about something happening, and plan for its occurrence, it will never happen.

At least until you've gone through the Feeling Smug stage, the Relief That It Didn't Actually Happen stage, and moved into the Oh! So I Didn't Need a Spare After All phase, forgotten all about it, then BAM!! (Or Wham!!, depending on your persuasion), Shit Happens. :wacko: