This is a great thread. Many thanks to the OP, and all the subsequent posts. Here’s what I discovered when I replaced my clutch cable last week:
1. I knew the “inner teflon sleeve” of my used, recently acquired 2007 FZ6 S2 was probably never lubed (may also have been stored outside under a cover, with condensation, etc.) and that the clutch cable had gotten “stuck” to the inner teflon liner. I first lubed the heck out of it, repeatedly, over a period of several days, with a blunt hypodermic needle, and with a regular cable lube clamp. I shot as much as possible of the cable lube into the small gap between the clutch cable and the inner teflon liner. After a week or two of use, the cable ultimately separated from the teflon liner and started working correctly. But I replaced it anyway, as soon as I got some free time.
2. I like short cuts. I hoped to replace the clutch cable without removing the airbox or the battery and battery case. So first I had to deal with the elusive plastic clutch cable retainer “clamp thingy”. I didn’t intend to replace it, based on the comments of others. And its really hard to get to. So I simply took a piece of bare #14 solid electrical wire about two feet long, stuck it under the top edge of the “clamp thingy”, between the clutch cable and the top edge of the clamp, then pulled the tip of that wire up above the edge of the frame. Now I had both ends of the wire to work with, and the center of the wire was positioned underneath the top of the “clamp thingy”. I wrapped each end of the wire around the end of a different needlenose pliers (basically making a garrotte with pliers for the handles), and then yanked up hard on the wire garrotte. Here’s what popped out:
Note that for the picture I used the tip of an eraser to spread apart the end of the “clamp thingy”, so you could see the interlocking bits which hold it in place in the hole in the supporting bracket. Also, there may have been two other real small curved pieces of plastic which popped out (probably attached in the area of the tip of the eraser), but I pulled so hard I only found one of them and I have no idea if/how they might’ve been part of the overall “clamp thingy”.
3. Then I cut off the “preformed metal ell” at the handlebar end of the cable with a hack saw, and pulled the old cable out of the bike at the free/open space on the side of the bike, basically above the shift lever (I grabbed it right at the other “preformed metal ell”, where the cable turns below the airbox, to run over to the clutch actuation lever). At this point I still thought I could replace the cable fairly easily, without removing the airbox or the battery and battery case.
4. Color me wrong. After the old clutch cable was removed, I spent a good part of an afternoon trying to fish the new clutch cable into place. I first took a piece of #14 solid wire and fished it into the proper path. Then I used that piece of wire to pull a length of 3/8" clear plastic tubing into place. I hoped I then could pull the end of the plastic tubing over the ball end on the tip of the new clutch cable, and use the plastic tubing to pull the new clutch cable into its proper path through the frame. Much effort, to no avail. Simply didn’t work, primarily due to the “preformed metal ell” at the handlebar end of the new cable. Suggest fuggetaboutit.
5. So then I proceeded to remove the top of the airbox, then the air filter, and then the bottom of the airbox. Like many, I don’t own long metric hex wrenches. However, I quickly found that my longest “interchangeable tip” screwdriver, with an added “extension” (the about 2" adapter used to hold interchangeable tips in an electric drill), and a 5/32" hex bit, would easily turn even the deepest of the 4 hex head bolts securing the airbox to the rubber boots underneath the airbox. I immediately cleaned off the bottom of the airbox (so no dirt would get into the throttle bodies upon reassembly), and stuck paper towels into each of the four open air intake tubes so no dirt would fall into them while I was working.
6. After removing the battery, and taking the bolts out of the battery box, I found I only needed to push aside the battery box to gain the necessary space to work. (Others have pretty much fully described how to install the new clutch cable from here, and it’s awfully straightforward once you get the airbox off and the battery case moved to the side.)
7. I’d also note that the “center adjuster” on the clutch cable is just like the rear axle adjustment to tighten the chain. It has a “jam” nut. Before you install the cable, loosen the “jam” nut at the “center adjuster”. Then simply hold one side of the cable, with the “center adjuster” right in front of you, and twist/rotate the other side of the cable, so the visible threads at the “center adjuster” get longer and the “gap” between the two parts of the clutch cable gets bigger. When you’ve made that gap about twice as wide as the thickness of the business end of your OEM FZ6 10mm wrench (say 3/4" or so), then use the nut in the adjuster to “jam” the end of the “center adjuster” which would otherwise rotate/move. This gives you the maximum possible amount of future adjustment of the clutch cable, at the handlebar adjuster, so as the clutch cable stretches out over time you don’t have to keep redoing the “center adjuster”.
I apologize for epic post. Hope this helps.
- - - Happy fixin’, Jim
