Kilbane83
Member With Members
So I'm cruising down the interstate as usual, take my exit and pull the clutch in to stop at the light, still moving at a pretty good clip about 45mph or so. I pull it in.. and in.. and in.. and then there is a small tug and no more resistance, still moving and that tailgate in front of me is getting closer in a hurry. I jam it down a few gears and brake as the bike starts to hate me and stutter i finally force it into neutral and slam the brakes pretty hard enough to do a front end stoppie. Hit the kill switch and push her about 4 miles into a parking lot that didn't look like I was going to be shot in.
Fiddled with it for awhile to see if I could get a temporary solution. It was a no go, there is no safe way to pull the clutch cable hard enough to disengage the clutch plates while riding. I was running late for class, so I locked her up and hoped it would still be there when I got back and walked another 4 miles to class in 100 degree Texas heat in full gear carrying my helmet and backpack. Got to class about 30mins late drenched in sweat. Great first day impression on the prof. Had my friend come help me, of course he brought his big ass f-350 that sits about 4ft off the ground. I puzzled out how the hell to get the bike in the back. We ended up using a small grass hill, he backed up to it, we took his tailgate off and used it as a ramp. This worked out really well btw.
Anyway, the cable didn't look rusted or damaged, I figure it might be rubbing near where the metal tubing near the lever meets the hard plastic stuff since the FZ1 bars sit lower. I'm goin to drimmel about 1/2inch off the end and see if that makes it a bit of a smoother curve. I keep my clutch very stiff I like to feather it alot so it has always been under alot of pressure. Just under 30kmiles on it.
Moral of the story, if you're up around 25k+ miles I'd suggest buying a premptive clutch cable and putting it under your seat in a nice airtight ziplock with some talc powder in there or something to keep it from rusting. It'd be a easy roadside fix and they only cost ~$25.
Fiddled with it for awhile to see if I could get a temporary solution. It was a no go, there is no safe way to pull the clutch cable hard enough to disengage the clutch plates while riding. I was running late for class, so I locked her up and hoped it would still be there when I got back and walked another 4 miles to class in 100 degree Texas heat in full gear carrying my helmet and backpack. Got to class about 30mins late drenched in sweat. Great first day impression on the prof. Had my friend come help me, of course he brought his big ass f-350 that sits about 4ft off the ground. I puzzled out how the hell to get the bike in the back. We ended up using a small grass hill, he backed up to it, we took his tailgate off and used it as a ramp. This worked out really well btw.
Anyway, the cable didn't look rusted or damaged, I figure it might be rubbing near where the metal tubing near the lever meets the hard plastic stuff since the FZ1 bars sit lower. I'm goin to drimmel about 1/2inch off the end and see if that makes it a bit of a smoother curve. I keep my clutch very stiff I like to feather it alot so it has always been under alot of pressure. Just under 30kmiles on it.
Moral of the story, if you're up around 25k+ miles I'd suggest buying a premptive clutch cable and putting it under your seat in a nice airtight ziplock with some talc powder in there or something to keep it from rusting. It'd be a easy roadside fix and they only cost ~$25.