Clutch cable about the snap!

[tedrogers]

Clutch cable about to snap!

Hi all,

I ride my FZ6 daily on my 20 mile commute and for any other travelling I need to do.

Today I was doing a general overhaul of my FZ6, chain clean etc. and when checking the nipple on the clutch cable I noticed that a couple of the wires (no more than 2) had snapped!

How long do I have before the cable goes completely?

Is this normal wear and tear and can the cable to used for a while longer before it needs replacing?

Obviously I don't want to be in a situation where the cable snaps as I am riding, least of all on the motorway or in heavy traffic where I am filtering and slipping the clutch a lot, so I'm thinking of just getting it replaced anyway ASAP, but want to know if I have a while longer before it becomes absolutely critical.

Thanks.

 

[gpostarmy]

Without a pic it is hard to say. If only two little wires are bad then you might have a little bit. My advice is that if you are asking the question, then it is probably time to replace it. I would look at the existing cable closely to see if there is anything that might be causing accelerated wear and tear, identify any problems, then replace it. Peace of mind is worth it. Besides when you are riding you want to focus on riding, not worrying if your cable is going to fail.

 

[aziebell]

I would just replace it. 25 dollars (assuming you can put the new one on yourself) sure beats having the cable snap during a ride. Having to ride an hour home with a broken clutch cable isn't exactly the funnest experience, but we got it home.

 

[Erci]

Any oxidation in the are where the wires are broken? Rust will definitely make it brittle and shorten its life. Lube it after every exposure to water, if you can.

Replace it asap to avoid having to ride without clutch.

 

[tedrogers]

I would just replace it. 25 dollars (assuming you can put the new one on yourself) sure beats having the cable snap during a ride. Having to ride an hour home with a broken clutch cable isn't exactly the funnest experience, but we got it home.

Thanks for the advice guys. 2 replacement clutch cables on the way and will lube them good.

No rust or oxidization in there, but the cable is kinked where it is breaking. Don't know how that has happened.

Bike has done nearly 9000 miles on this cable. Is that normal for clutch cable replacement??

@aziebell: How exactly did you get it home? Clutch-less gear changes? Stay in one gear? Stall at every junction??

 

[aziebell]

Well, I was lucky enough to have a buddy with me at the time. I just had him give me a little push start, dropped it into first, and off we were. Shifted without the clutch until we got it home. Anytime there was an intersection, he rode up ahead of me to make sure it was clear so I could just roll on though without having to kill the bike.

 

[VEGASRIDER]

Let me know how much of a PIA it is to change one out. I never have swapped out the OEM cable yet, it has 58,000 miles.

Do you have to remove the tank or anthing else? There is probably a how to thread here on this forum but while we are currently on this subject at this particular time, why not ask the question.

 

[aziebell]

I think the easiest way would be removing the battery and the airbox to get them out of the way. It can be done without removing them, as per This Thread, but overall, I think it would just be simpler to get them out of the way.

 

[tedrogers]

I will feedback to everyone when I've done it. Can't believe you got 58k from yours and I got 8k!

I'm not a mechanic, but I'm reasonably technically confident. Usually learn through mistakes though!

I'm hoping to do it by removing as little as possible, so we'll see how it goes eh!

Thanks for the tip on how to get home without clutch. Forgot I had a kill switch! Handy in this situation.

 

[tedrogers]

Re: Clutch cable about to snap!

Okay, well I went for it today. I finished the job but it took my nearly 4 hours to achieve it.

I've never removed the tank or battery before, but these were easy enough, albeit still quite fiddly. I didn't remove the air filter as I did not have the proper tools to reach all of the clamps (very long allen wrench required).

It was quite an effort getting the old one off, as something would often catch against something else, a flanged edge here, the side of a bolt there etc. The absolute worst bit of removing the old cable was the stupid horseshoe clip on the left by the air filter. What is the point of this thing? After a good 45 minutes of struggling I chopped through it with a hobby knife. Good riddance!

The absolute worst bit was fitting the new one, through the tiny gap on the left by the battery box, and through the hole in the frame up the front to where it would attach to the clutch lever. This was a nightmare. I hope someone else can benefit from my experience here, because I did actually find quite a good way to do it. But let me tell you how not to do it first:

1. Do not try and slide the metal curved L shaped clutch lever end of the cable up under the side of the battery box where the cable originally goes...it will just foul on everything everywhere and will cause you to swear profusely.

2. Do not try and slide the longer metal curved L shaped clutch mechanism (right side of the bike) end of the cable down from the handlebars, through the hole in the frame and towards the air filter. Although by doing this method you can almost get it through all the way, it will still get jammed in the tight spots near the frame and air filter / battery box area and it will cause you to swear even more because the goal is just within reach (but no cigar).

Neither of these are likely to result in success. I wasted 2 hours trying these methods. I also tried greasing up the cable too, which although it helps it slide past other things, it also makes holding onto it harder. Double-edged sword or what!!??

The final method which worked well was this:

1. In the middle of the cable, undo the adjuster/tensioner completely to reveal the bare clutch cable inside the cable housing. Separate all the parts away to expose as much cable as possible.

2. Take the clutch lever end, and feed it through the gap by the battery box in a down and up fashion, much like hooking a worm onto a fishing hook, so it goes through the gap and up and out again.

3. Feed all of the cable through until the exposed part is clearly through. Feed as much of the cable through as you can so that it can be bent at the exposed part without damaging the cable itself.

4. Now you have most of the cable, say 80% of it through the gap in the box and up near the handlebars, take the clutch lever end and feed it down through the frame and out so it goes up to where it should connect to the lever. Greasing the end up really helps! Be very careful not to kink the expose cable and pull it through so it is straight again.

5. Pull from the clutch mechanism end and carefully get the exposed cable and all the housing back towards the rear of the bike. This is a bit like reversing of step 3. Do not stuff the cable down the side of the air filter yet. First, make sure you connect the adjuster/tensioner section together again so that the cable is back inside the housing completely.

6. Now you can stick it down the side of the air filter box, reattach your battery etc. The rest is easy, as per the guide mentioned above. If you really want you can reattach the clutch cable to the horseshoe clip area with a cable tie, but I just left it. Seems completely pointless to me.

I really hope this saves someone else some hassle, but I'm glad to have conquered it today. Sore fingers now...so time for beers.

Cheers.

 

[DownrangeFuture]

Re: Clutch cable about to snap!

Thanks, but I'm a visual guy. So when you sober back up post some pics of what you're talking about. I think I get it, but I'm not sure, and I know there are lots more like me.

 

[tedrogers]

Re: Clutch cable about to snap!

Thanks, but I'm a visual guy. So when you sober back up post some pics of what you're talking about. I think I get it, but I'm not sure, and I know there are lots more like me.

I suppose I really should have taken photo's as I went along, seems silly now not to have done that. Dismantling the bike to take photo's would be a bit of a bind right now, is there anything you specifically want explaining better?