• Hi everyone,

    As you all know, Coffee (Dean) passed away a couple of years ago. I am Dean's ex-wife's husband and happen to have spent my career in tech. Over the years, I occasionally helped Dean with various tech issues.

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Clutch cable rubbing

hasenpfeffer said:
I edited my previous post with new information.
Click to expand...
Thank you. While doing something else on my bike, I just noticed it as well.

A while back my bike developed a 'clunk' while riding offroad going downhill with the engine off (I am cheap, and leave engine off 1/2 the time to save fuel). It was bad enough I took it to my dealer, who also could not figure it out - but while their mechanic rode it over the curb I could hear the clunk 50-75 feet away. My guess would be that was the clutch cable starting to wear from a grove that must have been made to something larger as shown in the picture you posted. Regardless, no one thought it was a front suspension problem, which I wanted confirmed by the dealer.
 
My bike doesn't even have a clamp installed above the radiator, so the sheathing is instead worn off at the bottom of the radiator where it is jammed in there.
 
hasenpfeffer said:
Mine is not quite rubbed to the cable, but definitely "vegetable peeled". My bike is completely stock, only has 550 miles, and never off road. Something seems wierd... Mine also has the straight "guide". I'm wondering if mine was peeled on assembly...

After thinking about it more...I'm pretty confident this was an assembly thing. The cable sheath doesn't move normally, so how would it get scraped that far up?

EDIT:

After reading the next posts, I turned the handle bars right, and low and behold, the top end of the scraped area meets exactly at the top of the guide. The cable and sheath was pushed that far down by the turning action. Definitely a wear problem when turning the handle bars.

I'm currently thinking that maybe clamping the cable tightly at an appropriate place will force the cable to move in a different area where the rubbing won't occur. I'm thinking this could be a better option than trying to limit the rubbing? Maybe not... What do you think?

View attachment 28000

View attachment 28001
Click to expand...

Mine looks just like yours. I notice that the slotted guide in front of the cable is straight, but in ECA's photo at the top of this thread, it's bent to form a shape that actually looks like a guide. Ours isn't. This makes me think its an assembly flaw. In your picture, your handlebars are turned hard to the left, (correct?) and the clutch cable is stretched to its maximum. When you turn the handlebars to the right, the cable is compressed and moves down. As it does so, the cable moves to the left, kind of wedging into the narrow angle close to where the guide is attached. It's acting sort of like a knife sharpener on the clutch cable, peeling away the cover. I'm going to loosen the guide and run it behind the cable. Maybe that'll provide some relief. There's probably a better idea, but I don't have it.
 
hasenpfeffer said:
Mine is not quite rubbed to the cable, but definitely "vegetable peeled". My bike is completely stock, only has 550 miles, and never off road. Something seems wierd... Mine also has the straight "guide". I'm wondering if mine was peeled on assembly...

After thinking about it more...I'm pretty confident this was an assembly thing. The cable sheath doesn't move normally, so how would it get scraped that far up?

EDIT:

After reading the next posts, I turned the handle bars right, and low and behold, the top end of the scraped area meets exactly at the top of the guide. The cable and sheath was pushed that far down by the turning action. Definitely a wear problem when turning the handle bars.

I'm currently thinking that maybe clamping the cable tightly at an appropriate place will force the cable to move in a different area where the rubbing won't occur. I'm thinking this could be a better option than trying to limit the rubbing? Maybe not... What do you think?

View attachment 28000

View attachment 28001
Click to expand...

Mine looks just like this.. I'll try to do something with it tomorrow.
 
That's exactly the pipe clamp I was going to try and find. Does the 3/8" leave room for it to move, or does it stop movement?

I held the cable with my fingers tight at the top of the radiator to see where the cable would be forced to move instead. It looks like it will just bend towards the headlight, and the clutch seemed to work fine. I'm planning on finding a clamp that will prevent movement at the radiator, hopefully solving the wear at the top and bottom of the radiator.
 
I've also ran a piece of extension cord from the battery to my M60 LED lights and the 3/8" clamp (TS17R) is a tight fit.
Mine does not move.


P7010004.jpg
 
nev.. said:
It has identical wear pattern to eca posted but just hasn't cut so deep. The plastic on the guide is broken exposing the metal underneath which is obviously giving the cable a shave.
Click to expand...
I do have the same Problem. Will contact my dealer regarding it.
 
I used an insulated clamp from Home Depot. Found in the small electrical supplies like zip ties and networking stuff. I used the 3/8" which does not let the cable move. Note the size terminology. Mine is an electrical clamp, while the other post was a pipe clamp. I'm guessing the same 3/8" terminology but has different meanings.

IMG_7345.jpgIMG_7344.jpg

And, if you notice in my original post the original guide looked like the rubber coating was okay, so why did it scrape up the cable? After removing, the back side was worn away, revealing the sharp metal beneath.

IMG_7347.jpg
 
so do I need to do anything with mine?

Screen Shot 2013-07-02 at 23.43.56 .png

The end of the clamp thing is blocked from moving and folding around the cable. should I just go get one of the clamps you guys are talking about, or would taking this one off and bending it work OK?
 
With the factory clamp the cable is moving. Some of you have fixed it now.
Are there any problems with steering now? If not why was it moving at all?

regards
 
chronocommando said:
With the factory clamp the cable is moving. Some of you have fixed it now.
Are there any problems with steering now? If not why was it moving at all?

regards
Click to expand...

Based on my experience, you will not have any problems with steering. When you turn right, the cable will want to move downward. When you turn left, the cable will want to move upward. I chose to install a clamp that holds the cable firmly at the top of the radiator to prevent the cable from moving at that point. This also prevents the cable from moving significantly at the bottom of the radiator, another wear point. The cable still has to move somewhere when you turn right and left, however. By clamping it at the radiator, the cable will now bend and move towards the headlight above the radiator. There seems to be plenty of room on my stock bike for this and it does not impede steering. It is your choice whether you put on a tight clamp or loose one, but either would be better than the stock guide, IMO.
 
Another option I was considering, was to slip an electrical wire loom over the cable along the backside of the radiator and then putting a clamp on at the top of the radiator that would hold the wire loom firmly, but not the cable. This could allow the cable to move up and down inside the wire loom, which may cause less wear on the cable than otherwise.
 
hasenpfeffer said:
Another option I was considering, was to slip an electrical wire loom over the cable along the backside of the radiator and then putting a clamp on at the top of the radiator that would hold the wire loom firmly, but not the cable. This could allow the cable to move up and down inside the wire loom, which may cause less wear on the cable than otherwise.
Click to expand...
Mine is OK, but I was thinking of doing this anyway.
 
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