Broken Clutch Cable

[MikeH]

I rode quite a few miles yesterday - 60 miles on a Bike Safe course with a police instructor and later on, as it was such a superb sunny evening, I went for a 40 mile ride up into the Pennine Hills - sheer enjoyment.

So when the clutch cable broke a quarter of a mile from home on my way back, I considered that I was pretty lucky. I rode through the village carefully making clutchless changes up and down the box, and just hit the engine kill switch outside my house in order to stop. I was also fortunate that I didn't have to stop anywhere as it would have been impossible to restart. In the long distant past when I lost the clutch on a car, it was a case of cutting the engine when you needed to stop and then restarting in first gear. As we know, this isn't possible on the RS because of the clutch switch. The only possiblity would be a bump start, but I wouldn't fancy the idea of doing that on my own without a gradient downhill.

Has anyone else had a clutch cable break and continue to ride the bike somehow?

I can't get a replacement for a couple of days, which is a real pain :( as i'm off for a couple of days and the weather is superb - clear blue skies and continuous sunshine. When I do the job I'm hoping to just tape the new cable to the old one and pull it through into position. Is this likely to be the case or is it going to be more fiddly than this? :confused:

[markholden]

Hi Mike

You didn't really elaborate on the Bike Safe course. I was thinking of doing one myself and wondered what it was like. Worthwhile?

Sorry to hear about the clutch cable, were there any warning signs?

[markholden]

Sorry Mike, just checked your other post, Duh.

Sounds excellent, I'll have to get it sorted out.

[MikeH]

Hi Mark,

If you read my other thread in General Chat, I described the Bike Safe course in more detail. But I would say that it was well worth doing and tremendous value at £35. That just about pays their costs as it is voluntary work by the police officers themselves. They hold it at Oulton Park race circuit in the Jackie Stewart Conference Centre. A nice venue but unfortunately you don't get out on the track. :(

No there was no warning of the cable going at all. It parted company with the nipple at the lever. I'm going to see if I can get a test ride on something interesting at Blue Bell tomorrow while I'm waiting for the part to arrive. You would have thought that they'd keep a clutch cable in stock.

[BillE]

Mike...

Sorry to hear about the cable breaking. BTW.. that is where they always weaken. Not a bad idea to have a look at that end of it every other service or so for those that have a cable with 36k miles (58km) or more on it. Better yet, just plan on replacing it at that service...better off doing it in the comfort of your home than the side of the road. As MikeH suggested you can just hook the old cable to the new and pull it through. No sweat.. very easy to do. Set the new cable up to the correct specs, 12mm at the knurled adjuster and 7mm at the lever and off you go!

[AntonL]

when I lost the clutch on a car, it was a case of cutting the engine when you needed to stop and then restarting in first gear. As we know, this isn't possible on the RS because of the clutch switch.

Actually the clutch switch enables this. Pull the lever in and the computer will let you start the bike... it won't know the difference. It's when the clutch switch goes bad that you have problems.

Clutch cables should last quite some time. When they fail at the lever, it's usually because the junction of the cable and the lever (the barrel that holds the cable nipple) hasn't been greased properly. THAT is what you need to do regularly... clean and re-grease that.Best way is to remove the lever completely, degrease it along with the barrel and the pivot pin, wipe out the inside of the housing and reassemble with grease where the barrel pivots in the lever. When it stops pivoting it flexes the cable, leading to broken strands.

BTDT... just ruined a cable on my GS in only 25k miles because I let it get too dirty. :(

[Skyenet]

I can't get a replacement for a couple of days, which is a real pain :( as i'm off for a couple of days and the weather is superb - clear blue skies and continuous sunshine.

Mike

I have found Motobins very fast at delivering items, even when I have phoned the order in late in the day, I still have it the next morning. They have a 10% sale on this week as well. The P&P is quite reasonable as well.

Mind you you would have thought the dealer would have had a clutch cable in stock. When my speedo cable went I was able to get one at the dealers straight away, yet a clutch cable is more important.

I adjusted my clutch a couple of days ago and when doing the Poly-V Belt change last night I ran the engine while on the centrestand just to check the belt was running okay and I noticed the rear wheel started rotating despite the bike being in neutral. It only needed slight pressure against it to stop it. Clutch seem to work fine. Is this freewheeling normal? Never happened to run the bike on the centrestand before cluthc adjustment so don't know if it was normal.

Cheers Iain

P.S. Know what you mean about Sunshine and clear blue sky. First time this year I think we have had this and I am stuck in a first aid course all week. Bet it rains on Saturday.

[cagiva50]

Last year when I replaced my cable to the longer GS vers (added BarBax) I stuck the old one in the storage space behind the passenger seat just in case. Old habit from my '72 R75/5 commute days. :D

[MikeH]

Thanks guys, useful feedback as always. It wasn't due to lack of lube, the lever and cable were well greased. I suppose 7 years on the original was pretty good going. I think I'll take Cagiva's advice and carry a spare.

Anyway the sun's still shining and I've fixed up a long test ride on the R1200GS at the dealer. I'll just have to think of a good excuse for arriving by car. :)

[JimVonBaden]

Mike

...

I adjusted my clutch a couple of days ago and when doing the Poly-V Belt change last night I ran the engine while on the centrestand just to check the belt was running okay and I noticed the rear wheel started rotating despite the bike being in neutral. It only needed slight pressure against it to stop it. Clutch seem to work fine. Is this freewheeling normal? Never happened to run the bike on the centrestand before cluthc adjustment so don't know if it was normal.

Cheers Iain

....
The wheel rotation is perfectly normal. It is the gearbox spinning a bit from the viscosity of the gear oil as the gears turn without touching in neutral.

Jim:cool:

[moa_lek]

I had the same thing happen to me a couple of years ago. I was riding home through the mountains near here (on highway 17, if you've ever had the pleasure). I was lucky that traffic that day was minimal, since there was no place to pull over for quite some distance.

After the moment of panic subsided somewhat, I slowly realized that clutchless shifting would get me home, which indeed it did. (Actually I saw Obi-Wan floating in front of me.... "Luuuuuke..... use the forrrrce..... to shift." Or something.) Not a very pleasant trip, though. I was thoroughly exhausted after riding the 20ish miles (mostly highway) to my home, but happy to have arrived safely.

Doug

:eek:

[breyfogle]

Sorry to hear about the clutch cable, were there any warning signs?

I had a clutch cable let go on my K75s once. With 20/20 hindsight, the warning was obvious. I pulled in the lever and felt the lever give just a bit. At the time I remember thinking..., Hmmm thats unusual, never felt that before, but the clutch continued to work. Unfortunately, it continued to work only for two more stops before the cable let go completely. I suspect that some or most of the cable strands broke first and the few remaining strands could not withstand the next pull force.