Stupid clutch cable

[imdying]

Use a wee butane or lpg torch... a biggish soldering iron will work with patience though

[ZeroIndex]

since i don't have butane or lpg torch, i will have a go at the soldering iron..

[T.W.R]

Cables are generally soldered when repaired, not crimped. .

??? broken cables when repaired are crimped, or to be exact star crimped when their fed through the new nipple.
the cable is fed through the new nipple, its slid down the cable slightly then the cable end is star crimped then pulled into the cavity in the nipple then it's soldered into place.

if the cable isn't star crimped it'll pull through the nipple in next to no time.

Seen it done & had the whole process explained

[ZeroIndex]

??? broken cables when repaired are crimped, or to be exact star crimped when their fed through the new nipple.
the cable is fed through the new nipple, its slid down the cable slightly then the cable end is star crimped then pulled into the cavity in the nipple then it's soldered into place.

if the cable isn't star crimped it'll pull through the nipple in next to no time.

Seen it done & had the whole process explained

finally.. some real help.. thanks.. will take it to the bike shop and tell them FIX THE DAMN THING PROPERLY.. or something like that..

[Ixion]

I made my own cables for years, then decided they were cheap and I had better uses for my time. Then Ratty broke a throttle cable, and I was quoted $80 odd for a new one. Once I picked myself up and confirmed I was hearing correctly I decided to go back to making my own!

An ordinary soldering iron of the 25watt electronics type will NOT work.

You need either a big 100W plumbers iron, a soldering gun (at least 100W) or a torch.

*DON'T* use electrical solder the stuff you need is plumbers or tinmans solder, sold in the form of large sticks from good harware stores and ships chandlers (no I don't know why they sell it, they sell lots of useful stuff, go wander round sometime) . And some plumbers flux, comes in little green bottles, tis a liquid and acidic you *must* remove all traces of it after use.

The nipple should have a little "well " in the end. If it does not , it is one of the cheap and nasty mass production ones used on Asian cables, which will pull off. In that case,you will have to use a drill to make a little well .

Assemble the cable (don't forget the ferrule, I usually do), and tin the end of the inner cable. Push the tinned end throught he hole in the nipple so the end sits about a millimetre above the nipple end. Heat the nipple and inner cable and run some solder into the gap. Make sure it is hot enough, and a good joint. Do NOT fill the little well with solder.

Now heat the very tip of the (tinned) inner cable. When the tinning is soft, push a centre punch or other spikey thing into the inner cable end and splay it out, pushing the splayed out ends into the well. Now heat the nipple and cable and fill the well with solder.

Sweat the joint until you see the solder sweating through to the far side.

Clean all up, and that cable will last for years.

[imdying]

I've repaired, made the odd cable before, never crimped anything on a bike though... only a car clutch or handbrake cable. Never had any pull the ends off either (take a certain amount of pride in that, which'll be my downfall no doubt!) Wouldn't really want to crimp such a tiny piece of brass myself (altough I guess I could).

Ixion is on to it:
- 100w soldering iron FTW
- Ends without the wells are cheap shite, either drill them back, or avoid like the plague. I just send that cheap crap back it the suppliers send them too me. 6mm ones that are slotted are the only ones you want for carbs... to much hassle to slot your own with a hack saw.
- Electrical solder will work at a pinch, make sure you use some flux like Duzall (the green bottle Ixion speaks of) though if you're stuck with it. Something with a high lead content works better.
- Don't normally tin the cable till after splaying myself, but it's worth doing either way

When you add the final amount of solder, it's a good idea to have the cableside up, nipple side down. That way the excess solder doesn't run down the cable, making it hard and unflexible.

I'll post a guide when I get a chance

[Motu]

If you have broken a cable on a new bike,then it's a faulty cable or routeing,most cables last the life of the bike.Ditto the making of cables,my addition is that I sometimes use a flux paste,then you don't get the liquid flux running down inside the cable.

[T.W.R]

Imdying & Ixion your both calling it splaying which is general term, but exactly the same principle as star crimp bar the fact that, the star crimp is a doubled splay which is torsionally far stronger than just spreading the cable end (single splaying).
I was shown by the cable repairer/manufacturer for Safe'R'Brakes that used to be on Fitzgerald ave in ChCh, plus also came across it while doing a motorcycle engineering course.

Having had clutch cables part company on serveral Early 80s/late 70s italian beasts (which have notorious Heavy clutch actions) repairs had to be of the heaviest construction possible.

And at least Zeroindex finally got hear what he wanted to find out

[imdying]

Imdying & Ixion your both calling it splaying which is general term, but exactly the same principle as star crimp bar the fact that, the star crimp is a doubled splay which is torsionally far stronger than just spreading the cable end (single splaying).
I was shown by the cable repairer/manufacturer for Safe'R'Brakes that used to be on Fitzgerald ave in ChCh

They're still there

[ZeroIndex]

YAY!! My bike is now fixed.. I also took of the side stand (I can lean more on left corners now ) only problem is ALWAYS having to use the center stand now.. I'll have to get my friend to make me a new centre stand that doesn't sit lower than the left footpeg..

[onearmedbandit]

I know a guy who rides an SV1000 who worked at Safe'r'brakes, made me a couple of cables for my modified clutches. Never had a problem either. He still works there on weekends, as he is now a computer geek. Shit I think he is a member here too, might've even posted on this thread......

[T.W.R]

I know a guy who rides an SV1000 who worked at Safe'r'brakes, made me a couple of cables for my modified clutches. Never had a problem either. He still works there on weekends, as he is now a computer geek. Shit I think he is a member here too, might've even posted on this thread......

Ha well I'm going back to the late 80s early 90s so the person I dealt with has either found the fountain of youth or had some wicked cosmetic surgery more likely I think is the fact that the bloke that i dealt with was most likely the person who taught the mystery KB member because going on displayed ages the certain someone would have been still at primary school

[onearmedbandit]

Oh I never suggested he was the same person, my bad if that was what you took from it!