Feather Light clutch cables?

[motoboy66]

Needing to replace my clutch cable and noticed Motorworks here in the UK sell a "Feather Light" clutch cable for about £5 more than the OEM.

Has anyone tried these?

My last two modern bikes have had hydraulic clutches and the R65, though not awful, is leaving me with a bit of an achey hand in traffic. ( I do have awfully small girly hands).  

[Tony Smith]

Needing to replace my clutch cable and noticed Motorworks here in the UK sell a "Feather Light" clutch cable for about £5 more than the OEM.

Has anyone tried these?

They work.
Some years ago I made a similar device for the wife's R65/80 and it was pronounced an improvement.

The cable I made wore out sooner than I would have expected, I suspect that the pulley I used was a little too small as the one fitted to motobin's device is significantly larger. In any event when it broke I put a standard cable on it and after one or two grizzles she forgot about it.

Also the feather light will not help you if you truly have small hands as the travel is much greater, and there is the rub, the one PITA is setting up, our rubber cows are known for having a fairly "sharp' clutch action and your initial thought might be that doubling the amount of level travel for the same amount of clutch arm travel would sort that. It does, sort of, but my memory tells me that it talks significantly more time to set up and the minor changes you expect as the cable stretches and the clutch plate wears in are greatly amplified.

[Julio A.]

I installed a featherlight cable on my R65 three years back. It's still ging strong. People that use my bike are actually quite surprised how light my clutch lever is.

[motoboy66]

Thanks for the input! I will give it a go and report back. The rest of the clutch parts are all basically new, including the release bearing, so in theory should be as light as possible for this model. And Tony - My hands aren't like circus folk sized tiny. Just not super big manly ones. They get me by.

[thrang]

I usually fit featherlight cables on mine and they work well and last if you make sure to grease the cable pivots in the leavers a couple of times a year.

[Barry]

For those with the early model that has an external return spring on the clutch actuating lever try removing it and feel the difference it makes.  In typical German style That spring is stronger than it needs to be and adds unnecessarily to the clutch weight.  You can't leave the spring off but a lighter spring will make a significant difference.

[Barry]

For those with the early model that has an external return spring on the clutch actuating lever try removing it and feel the difference it makes.  In typical German style That spring is stronger than it needs to be and adds unnecessarily to the clutch weight.  You can't leave the spring off but a lighter spring will reduce effort at the handle bar lever as well as reducing load on the cable so it will last longer.

[tunnelrider]

One thing to note - if your clutch cable is broken at the handlebar lever (as mine did a couple of weeks ago) you have probably lost the cable nipple that fits in the handlebar lever.  This does not come with the feather light clutch cable and needs to be ordered additionally. Doh! Wish I took a little more time before I ordered just the cable alone...

[motoboy66]

Tunnelrider -That just caught me out. Unfortunately i had ordered well before reading your post. Oh well, I have a more serious carb issue now before I worry about that!