does your clutch pull feel "rough"?

[fazer.rider]

so i pull the clutch on my friend's gixxer and also a new fz6r at yhe dealer and the cable action feels bouncy and smooth. the cable action on my fizz feels weird. it's like the cable is rubbing against something, thus not that smooth.

at only 18,000 kms, it's kinda early. i already sprayed lots of lube down the tube. also injected lube down the tube via a syringe, it did not help. is this a sign that the cable is about to go soon? how does your clutch feel?

 

[Botch]

If you've already "lubed the tube", it may be like me, in your hand (arthritis); how old are you?

 

[stryken]

so i pull the clutch on my friend's gixxer and also a new fz6r at yhe dealer and the cable action feels bouncy and smooth. the cable action on my fizz feels weird. it's like the cable is rubbing against something, thus not that smooth.

at only 18,000 kms, it's kinda early. i already sprayed lots of lube down the tube. also injected lube down the tube via a syringe, it did not help. is this a sign that the cable is about to go soon? how does your clutch feel?

I can't say mine feels that bad but I agree compared to my friends GSXR it does feel like poo. Also I don't like the reach on ours, feels like my hand is stretched out more than I like like but I'm not spending that crazy amount of money they want for those Pazzo levers.

 

[fazer.rider]

I can't say mine feels that bad but I agree compared to my friends GSXR it does feel like poo. Also I don't like the reach on ours, feels like my hand is stretched out more than I like like but I'm not spending that crazy amount of money they want for those Pazzo levers.

how much slack did you set it to? i noticed if i set the slack just a little before the friction zone the reach becomes ok.

oh im 25, it's definitely the cable and not my health.

 

[RJ2112]

.rider, you may want to also lube the pivots of the levers at both ends of the cable. I know my shifter gets pretty mungey, and it's the linkages and pivots that mostly bind... but the shaft into the transmission will also get sticky. Hit everything in the path and then see how it feels.....

 

[C-bus Biker]

I have to give mine a little flick to get it back to postion after every shift. I wonder if I over-clutch or if it's just the nature of the beast.

 

[Motogiro]

.rider, you may want to also lube the pivots of the levers at both ends of the cable. I know my shifter gets pretty mungey, and it's the linkages and pivots that mostly bind... but the shaft into the transmission will also get sticky. Hit everything in the path and then see how it feels.....

Let's face it. It seems like some of our clutches have a lot to be desired, mine included. You can change where it is engaging and I personally am getting a set of adjustable ASV's. I've already adjusted where it engages.

I have that lube doohicky that you clamp on the end of the cable and force lube through but it's not the best set up as far as a clutch cable goes. Truthfully...it's poop! I've tried countless clutches on other makes and they're all much better.

You know what? I'm going out to lube it now!

Cliff

 

[RJ2112]

Let's face it. It seems like some of our clutches have a lot to be desired, mine included. You can change where it is engaging and I personally am getting a set of adjustable ASV's. I've already adjusted where it engages.

I have that lube doohicky that you clamp on the end of the cable and force lube through but it's not the best set up as far as a clutch cable goes. Truthfully...it's poop! I've tried countless clutches on other makes and they're all much better.

You know what? I'm going out to lube it now!

Cliff

Cliff,

I've owned a mid 70's Triumph, and ridden a lot of older bikes that had much more beastly clutches than anything on the market today.... my perspective is a bit biased as a result.

The FZ6 doesn't have a 'bad' clutch pull. It may be that there are other bikes that are easier to deal with -- I am not fond of Yamaha's narrow engagement band.... but the actual pull , and clutch action aren't bad at all in my books.

 

[Motogiro]

Cliff,

I've owned a mid 70's Triumph, and ridden a lot of older bikes that had much more beastly clutches than anything on the market today.... my perspective is a bit biased as a result.

The FZ6 doesn't have a 'bad' clutch pull. It may be that there are other bikes that are easier to deal with -- I am not fond of Yamaha's narrow engagement band.... but the actual pull , and clutch action aren't bad at all in my books.

I trust your experience and I've lubed the cable before and it was decent for a short time then back to the same roughness. I'm doing an experiment right now. When I went out to lube the cable today I used silicone lubricant instead of the cable lube I used the last time. I noticed the cable was very very gummy. When I used the silicone it operated very nicely. Tomorrow will be a nice test as I will be doing a lot of shifting up and down Palomar Mountain.

You may be spot on the FZ6 not having bad clutch pull and it could be more specific to my bike. I'll find out tomorrow and if I continue to experience problems I'll change the cable.

Thanks,
Cliff

 

[Jez]

Mine only engages when it's almost completely out. I've tried rotating the screw to take in the slack but that makes it worse. It's very on-off.

 

[fazer.rider]

btw is there an aftermarket clutch cable for the fizz? or can we use a cable from another bike maybe and see if the clutch pull improves?

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

Cliff,

I've owned a mid 70's Triumph, and ridden a lot of older bikes that had much more beastly clutches than anything on the market today.... my perspective is a bit biased as a result.

The FZ6 doesn't have a 'bad' clutch pull. It may be that there are other bikes that are easier to deal with -- I am not fond of Yamaha's narrow engagement band.... but the actual pull , and clutch action aren't bad at all in my books.

________________________________________________________________

I agree 100%. The only thing I would add is use cable lube and make sure you flush all the old crap out when pressurizing the cable... Perhaps leave the cable play a little looser (AND CLOSER) than recommended for more leverage. Obviously, make sure the clutch does indeed disengage.....

Scott

 

[Motogiro]

________________________________________________________________

I agree 100%. The only thing I would add is use cable lube and make sure you flush all the old crap out when pressurizing the cable... Perhaps leave the cable play a little looser (AND CLOSER) than recommended for more leverage. Obviously, make sure the clutch does indeed disengage.....

Scott

Yeah I would use cable lube but obviously it has gummed up making the cable very rough to operate. I lubed it with silicone this time and the cable is smooth as silk. I know that the silicone won't attack and damage any of the components in the cable. The silicone will remain at it's viscus quality under a much wider range of temperatures.
The first turn of the cable is almost 90 degrees. The cable has 2 separate cable sheaths it travels through and if need be I'll replace the cable or pop the tank, separate and clean and lube the two separate sheath sections.
I'll let you guys know how I made out after I test it in the mountains today.:rockon:

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

Wish I had some twisties down here and scrape some pegs, oh well :thumbup:...

I found when presurizing the clutch cable, I would put a paper towel at the lower end (by the engine) and let the towel catch the crap coming out.. I wouldn't bother breaking down the cable in the middle..

I am curious as to how well the silicone holds up compared to regular cable lube....

Scott

 

[RJ2112]

This is another one of those areas, that I believe gets 'over thought'. If you are willing to consider the amount of surface area the clutch cable has that can evaporate stuff from, or collect stuff to intodurce to the interior of the cable sheathing.........

It's waaaayyyy less than 10% of the cable. How is it possible, for grunge to get into the middle? Doesn't it have to 'wick' in from either end? If you keep the ends of the cable properly lubricated and the linkages lubricated this seems like a bulletproof setup.

The cable itself is not being subjected to anywhere near the stress that my Triumph put on the cable, or the H-Ds of the same period..... here my bike is, stored outside under a carport 365 days a year, and all the clutch system has ever seen for service is about a bi-annual shot of white lithium grease into the pivots, and onto the exposed ends of the cable when you extend it through the stroke. whatever can work it's way into the cable from there, does so.

It seems to me, that when you forcibly inject lubricant from an aerosol container into the cable, the same thinners and solvents that keep your new lube liquid enough to spray, are the very ones you are using to dissolve and remove the stuff the cable mfg applied when the cable was intially assembelled.

If there's sticky cr@p in the sheathing, there's no way enough force is being applied by that aerosol can to blow it all out. The cable itself is going to 'mask' a very large percentage of the inner surface of the sheathing.

I am of the opinion that you are more likely to drive more crud into the interior of the sheathing, than you are to reduce the amount already there.

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

From page 3-31 of the Yamaha service manual for my 07:

Recommended lubricant
Engine oil or a suitable cable
lubricant

NOTE:
Hold the cable end upright and pour a few
drops of lubricant into the cable sheath or use
a suitable lubricating device.
_________________________________________________________________

From the label of the "Cablelife" container I currently am using:

"Champions choice' cable life is an excellant cable and general purpose lubricant that cleans, purges and lubricates in seconds. It leaves a non-drying, ultra thin film that penetrates, lubricates, displaces moisture and aids in preventing rust and corrosion. Special anti-wear additives help extend cable life and reduce slop. Cable Life is specially formulated to work in all types of temperature extremes including blistering heat, high humidity, or arctic temperatures down to well below 0' F. Etc, etc...

________________________________________________________________

This particular product doesn't have thinners and is thin enough to be forced into thru the cable. In my experiance, most cables will benefit just from regular maintainance. Should the cable already be rusted badly/solid a lubricant may be too late... My last KLR 250 had 73,000 miles on the original cables being run daily to work in all types of weather... I can tell, by feel, after lubing the cables of my bikes (or my customers) once their done...

The bottom line is, its your choice.

Scott

 

[Jim Karam]

If you want a smoother, easier clutch feel, go over to the sportbikes.net FZ6 site and pay Killernoodle $35 to modify your clutch slave lever. Basically he extends it in an adjustable way. I've been running that mod for several years and highly recommend it.

 

[Motogiro]

I've been to the Mountain!

Okay. The cable is behaving much better than it did the first time I lubricated it. The first time I did it it was back to being almost as rough in a few hours and worse day by day. Today it has remained easy to operate the entire trip with lots and lots of shifting. Something had to gum up in here and now it's staying lubricated. The silicone lubricant seems to have done the trick.
That cable has not been this smooth from the day I bought the bike. Now its as smooth as the other bikes I've tried. I take back my Poop remark about the cable.:spank:

Cliff

 

[RJ2112]

Scott,

I have no doubt SW FL has more aggressive envirionmental issues than I deal with... warm temps, high humidity, and salt in the air are all bad things for linkages, pivots, and sliding elements. Not to mention windborne dust and particulate.

Oregon tends more to 35-70°F, 25-50% humidity -- there's a month or two Aug/Sept that will trend higher, we'll 'kiss' 100 for a few days a year. No road salts used at all. Not unusual to see 30-40 year old beaters being driven around without severe rust.

Your quote from the service manual seems to indicate gravity and a few drops of oil meet all the requirements Yamaha sees as needed.... oil will advance in an incredibly thin film over great distances due to viscosity. A few gravity fed drops will not carry munge and grime along with it into the deepest crevices of the cable..... certainly not as much as being pressure fed in there on a fluid bath....

Again, I'll stand by the concept that the sheathing will not allow lubricants to dry out via evaporation, and ingesting debris is the most likely culprit for getting a sticky cable.

I know some sport bike riders in the Miami area, and they face issues with the shifter linkages on their GSXRs as well as an SV650 previous to that.... they also suffer chain issues that are far in acceleration of what I cope with.

I have not personally had a clutch or cable failure over the 30 +years that I have been riding... I have seen cables fail at the beads; due to the stresses and corrosion from not keeping them preserved. treating the exposed ends of the cables, through the range of motion the cable operates with, and you've done as much as needed 90%+ of the time.

 

[Motogiro]

Wish I had some twisties down here and scrape some pegs, oh well :thumbup:...

I found when presurizing the clutch cable, I would put a paper towel at the lower end (by the engine) and let the towel catch the crap coming out.. I wouldn't bother breaking down the cable in the middle..

I am curious as to how well the silicone holds up compared to regular cable lube....

Scott

Yes we have awesome rides here and you can do them pretty much year round. Clutch operation on some of these rides is intense if you want to keep the motor in it's powerband.
I got rid of my stock pegs because I kept tagging them or my sidestand. I modded the sidestand and replace the pegs with Luckyirishboy custom pegs. They are so much better in every way.

I think I've solved my issue with the cable so thanks to all that have given great info on this. Don't know if the OP has resolved his cable issue but it inspired me to try lubing it again so thanks again you guys!:rockon:

Cliff