The adventures of a broken clutch cable

[Kilbane83]

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.

 

[fazer.rider]

how much of a pain is it to change clutch cable? what tools are needed?

 

[OZXJR]

how much of a pain is it to change clutch cable?

It's a major PITA , just ask Stumbles06 !

 

[Cali rider]

I have had my FZ for almost 6 years now, and as I did a control check the other day I noticed my clutch actuation is getting rough. I think I'll take your adventure as a cue to replace it now. I have 2 more long rides this year and don't need the hassle of failure to ruin a trip.

 

[VEGASRIDER]

A bit of advice....if you encounter a broken clutch cable, you should do everything possible NOT to stop, until you get to where you want to go.

Otherwise it will be very difficult to get the bike started again. Push starting the bike is your only option.

So if you're in the bum F middle of nowhere, keep moving!

 

[DefyInertia]

Why would push starting the bike be the only option?

I had the hydraulic clutch go on my dirt bike once when I was out in the woods...that made for an intersting ride home. Kinda hard to ride a small bore 2stroke in the woods w/out a clutch...but I was on a moto, so it was fun.

I recently changed mine out. The old one looked fine at ~20K miles. It's a pain to change the first time but the trick is to give yourself as much slack as possible and remove as much as possible to give yourself some room to work with. Feeding that thing through can be a PITA in itself.

This is the first clutch cable snap I've heard of on the FZ6...FWIW.

rep sent for not dumping it :thumbup:

 

[Stumbles06]

how much of a pain is it to change clutch cable? what tools are needed?

It may look easy enough to change, but to get the old one out and the new one in, you need to dis-assemble most of the bike. Tank, airbox, battery and the screws on the left-side fairing (if ya got a naked, could possibly be easier???)

Then it's a case of threading the 90 degree steel pipe through the tiny hole in the frame... etc.

I did it myself, but took me a while.

Good luck if it breaks on the road. As was just mentioned, if it does break, get to where you are heading without stopping.

:rockon:

 

[fazer.rider]

is it possible to connect one end of the a new clutch cable to the lever end of the old cable, then pull from the other side to "guide" the new cable through the tube? similar to how you would change the chain, connect new chain to old chain then just pull it through.

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

is it possible to connect one end of the a new clutch cable to the lever end of the old cable, then pull from the other side to "guide" the new cable through the tube? similar to how you would change the chain, connect new chain to old chain then just pull it through.

No, its not possible. There's a plastic holder/guide on the inner left side of the frame(adjacent to the air box) that will NOT ALLOW THIS. I've since cut that plastic holder/guide off... The tank needs to come up, once that guide is off you can probably get by without removing the air box for a full cable replacement.... That cable does have an adjustment in the middle of it (right where the holder/guide is). That too is a PIA to get to....

Scott

 

[fazer.rider]

No, its not possible. There's a plastic holder/guide on the inner left side of the frame(adjacent to the air box) that will NOT ALLOW THIS. I've since cut that plastic holder/guide off... The tank needs to come up, once that guide is off you can probably get by without removing the air box for a full cable replacement.... That cable does have an adjustment in the middle of it (right where the holder/guide is). That too is a PIA to get to....

Scott

damn. oh well... thanks for the info :thumbup: so to summaries, to change clutch cable one needs to lift gas tank, remove airbox and battery. then everything would be a piece of cake? i hope so lol

 

[fazer.rider]

damn. oh well... thanks for the info :thumbup: so to summaries, to change clutch cable one needs to lift gas tank, remove airbox and battery. then everything would be a piece of cake? i hope so lol

omg just checked a haydes manual. it's a super PITA lol

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

Its not real bad once you realize the tank needs to be tilted up. I cut that plastic retainer (without removing the air box), considerably easier with that removed.. I haven't had any issues with the cable binding or flopping around, and much easier to replace if necessary...

Scott

 

[Kilbane83]

Well, got it replaced. Only took about 45mins. I was worried after reading some of your posts here, but it really was easy. I was thinking you'd just get the actual cable and thread it through the tube and put the stopper on the end, but you get the whole cable with the tubing and all. First motorcycle part I've bought that actually cost about what it should. So keeping one under the seat may not be such a easy option, but man it'd suck to break it in the middle of nowhere and have no replacement available anytime soon. I took some pics for a how-to and realized someone else had already did one :thumbup:

Anyways, thought I'd share to counter some of these scary posts

 

[Tailgate]

Thanks, Kilbane83. But, are you saying it's too cumbersome to store a spare clutch cable assembly underneath seat or somewhere (in faring?). Until I read this thread, I hadn't considered a spare clutch cable but now I'm thinking about it. I once broke a clutch cable in SF and managed to limp home by clutchless shifting but that was in the middle of the night when there wasn't hardly any traffic.

 

[Kilbane83]

Well, you could store the cable, it's just larger than I thought it would be. Was thinking it would be just the cable itself, but it's the entire metal tube and everything. It would still fit no problem, just not as compact as I thought originally.

 

[segue00]

I had a clutch cable break on me once in the middle of nowhere on a R6. It broke about 4" from the engine end. I just pulled it off entirely through the handle, insert the handle end onto the other end and I pulled on it to disengage the clutch.

Used no clutch to change gears and only needed to use it to go from neutral to first and it got me home, 130 miles.

 

[wrightme43]

I put one on mine the other day. Not that bad just allow 30-60 minutes and go gentle and easy. For me it was easiest to disconnect the bracket on the engine, then the handle bar, then the middle stay under the tank. It goes pretty easy after that.

 

[regder]

So I come on here to look into replacing the clutch cable and this thread is at the top of the board. Last week my clutch lever started getting super super stiff. So I lubricated it with a graphite lube and a cable luber, worked great for one day before starting to get stiff again and this time it's making a squeeking sound if pulled in half way. Lubed it again with Dupont Teflon lube, same thing, great for a day and then squeeking and stiff.

Normally I'd order a cable right up and replace it, but I'm going on a 5k km trip out east starting this Saturday and am worried that if I bugger something up installing it I'm out of a trip, or it could snap while on the trip, also not good. Any suggestions?

Bike only has 33k km on it, surprised it's worn out already

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

Use cable spray with the power cable applicator tool.

Also, lubricate the ACTUAL PIVOT BOLT. My KLR started the same squeaking thing even with a very clean/lubed cable. Took awhilke to find but if the pivot bolt is dry, IT WILL SQUEEK....

Scott

 

[regder]

By pivot bolt, I assume you mean the lever pivot? I don't think that's it because as soon as I lube it with a chain lube tool (similar to this http://www.motionpro.com/images/enlarged/08-0182.jpg) the noise goes away, and then comes back in a day and the cable becomes notchy when feathering. For piece of mind I ordered a new cable which is coming in tomorrow. I already took the old one out three quarters of the way, just left it in place so I know how to route it tomorrow. Only thing that might be a problem is routing the new one through the frame as the old one did not want to come out through there, otherwise should be straight forward (famous last words...)