It was a beautiful spring day here in North Texas yesterday...high of 93 degrees. I took off around 8:30 to head to Steves house to start our ride. He lives just over an hour away so I was nice and warmed up by the time I got there. We hit the back roads riding through towns like Aubry, Krugerville, Pilot Point and Tioga. There were so many bikes out, I swear I rode one handed most of the day waving at the other riders.

About two hours from my house, disaster "almost" struck. My clutch cable started acting real loose. I told Steve I was having an issue so we pulled over. The next pull of the clutch lever snapped the cable in half. Oh no! Where the @#%^ and I gonna get a clutch cable for a 26 year old beemer on a Saturday afternoon in Plano, Tx two hours from the house?!?!

Right out of my saddle bag, Baby! That's right. I've been carrying an extra clutch cable in my saddle bag for two years! I took the old one off and had to route the new one through the frame to the brake pedal side and up over the tank as a quick fix till I could get it home and route it the correct way. We had two guys on bikes stop to see what the trouble was and if we needed a hand but we had it under control. Steve had tools and I had tools and we were wrenching on the side of the road. Ah.....the memories.

What was the first thing I did when I got home?....ordered another clutch cable to keep in my saddle bag! It's a $35.00 investment well made.

Slowride

Lol, nice work Slowride! How is the riding down in Texas in the summertime? I've been looking into possible new jobs down in your area.

OG

Isn't funny what goes through your mind when something like that happens!

Good work slowride...the clutch cable that hangs in my shed will now be put on the bike!

Today I had my first ride of the season. Man it felt so good.
For the last month, I am under a lot of stress at work (Monday we will give lay off notices and I feel really bad about it).
For the first ride, We covered 500kms during the day. Some areas were still cold with snow on the side of the road, but I feel so relaxed. It was desperately needed.
Here is my new ride (That was after removing the training wheels)



Slowride,

If you have a spare clutch cable, take the time to install it under the tank. If something happen on the road, you will just have to switch it. Don't forget to tape the part (Round barrel connection) going into the clutch lever. Quite often you will lose it when the cable brakes.

Just like a scout, slowride. "Be Prepared!"

BTW, just for interest, where did your cable break? Near the clutch lever on the handlebars or at the clutch actuation lever down by the transmission? I've read that most far-end failures are due to lack of regular lubrication in that area.

Robmack,

I hate to tell you that you don't lubricate the cable. It will do more arm than good.

Crazy Frog wrote:Robmack,

I hate to tell you that you don't lubricate the cable. It will do more arm than good.

Sorry, I didn't mean lubricate the cable within the housing. I meant the pivot point where the cable barrel fits onto the clutch actuating arm. That I understood had to be regularly cleaned and greased to ensure a good pivoting action. If it is left dry or allowed to accumulate dirt, the cable breaks at the barrel by being overstressed. Same explanation goes for the pivot at the clutch lever although it remains well protected normally and rarely fails there. I just was interested to find out what was Slowride's cable failure mode.

I keep new spare clutch and throttle cables coiled loosely under the seat cowl. I have never had to use either of them. One day when I take them out and forget to put them back I'll suffer a cable failure. Meantime both ends of the current clutch cable are cleaned and lubed regularly.

It seems most clutch cable fail close to the handle as the barrel 'falls through' the hole it is fitted in and then becomes loaded at only one side. As a solution riders have screwed a little bolt with ring underneath, so the barrel can't drop. If it happens for too long the holes will wear unevenly and it is almost impossible to correct it, ending up having regular failures of the cable, again, because of the uneven loading (the barrel is to be held at the top and bottom. Just have a look under your handle one time and see if the barrel is sticking out/looks 'dropped'.

Mine gave up the ghost right at the handle. Funny thing is once the new one was installed I realized how bad the old one was getting. The new one makes the clutch lever feather light.

yay slowride ...!!!