Interesting ride with no clutch ....

[steve_wicks]

Today I was on the other side of town when my clutch cable went ...TWANG!!

The result was a 30km commute across town and 10km down an extremely congested highway .... all with no clutch. It was a nightmare, but luckily the battery was strong enough to get going on the starter motor!!

The cable broke at the end of the adjuster on the lever, but I did get some warning. The clutch felt like it needed some adjustment yesterday .... must've been the cable fraying itself to death.

Got a clutch cable for a R65? ...... frayed not!!

[Danie]

I also experienced an......well, interesting ride with my R65 during a trip to Johannesburg about 6 years ago.

I visited the Stag Rally at Villiers, and just as I pulled off at the Villiers toll gate the Saturday afternoon, the clutch cable snapped........and I was on my way, very worried.

Fortunately my brother in law lives in Roodepoort, not far from the highway. I passed two green robots at Beyers Naude Drive, but had to stop at one red robot ........eventually I managed to reach my destination.

To cut a long story short .........I bought extra clutch cables for both my motorcycles...........

[Justin B.]

I will admit that a jap bike is easier to shift without a clutch...

[steve_wicks]

Yup, I've also got a Honda XR200 and I hardly ever use the clutch on that.

Anyway, I've got Kyalami today so I'll make a detour past my Bee M boffin (Ray at Cytech) and get a cable, maybe even fit it there before I go to Kyalami.

[Danie]

Steve, you are not perhaps one of the Marshalls at Kyalami - or are you still involved in racing of any kind ?

My daughter and son and law hired a house on an undeveloped land, just south, and not further than 300m from the Kyalami racetrack - untill about 4 years ago. When we visited my daughter, my son in law, and myself always visited the racetrack during weekends - when the racing guys were practising . We could never resist the temptation to visit the racetrack when we heard the noise of the racing bikes, when we were at home.

About four years ago my daughter and husband bought a house in Vorna Valley, not far from Kyalami, but unfortunately we cannot hear the noise of the bikes any longer - and my visits to Kyalami just became a memorable experience......

[Bob_Roller]

I had a similar situation, I performed a major service on the bike about 2 years ago, during my first 'shake down' ride I lost my clutch about 5 miles from home .

When I stopped , I found the clutch adjustment bolt gone, I forgot to tighten up the lock nut on the adjuster .

I'll agree with Justin, that an Asian bike is a lot easier to shift without a clutch .

A little information for US riders, Ace Hardware stores have a good selection of metric hardware in most of their stores, just in case you get out on the road somewhere, and need a threaded fastener .

[Ed Miller]

I love my Ace hardware store.  Stainless stuff, too!

I can't remember if I've ever replaced my clutch cable, need to look that up.

[Bob_Roller]

My original clutch cable broke with only 12,000 miles on it.

The metal part that is crimped on to the cable at the handlebar end, appeared to be installed with too much pressure, all of the strands broke just outside of the crimped on part.

I keep an eye on that area, and check it every so often .

[Altritter]

<< The result was a 30km commute across town and 10km down an extremely congested highway >>

Something like your experience happened to me in 1980 when my Bug broke a cable as I was leaving work in El Paso (for our international members, that's in "Texico," due south of New Mexico—really!   ) to go home to Las Cruces, New Mexico. It was 45 miles (~72 km), mixture of city & superslab Interstate, with hills at both ends. Interesting trip. Like you, I was sweating my battery giving out on one of those starts under full load. (My bug is a '66, and had a 6-volt system until I had it converted to 12 volts in 1982.) Your trip sounds more exciting than mine was.

[montmil]

Me too, me too...

My 1986 VW Cabriolet has a cable operated clutch. Sucker snapped while in second gear entering an expressway. Couldn't shift and doubt if the cabby would start off the starter.

Only had to do slow speed circles through one four-way stop intersection. Drivers recognized my skills; they kept giving me that hand sign... You're number one!

Monte

[MrRiden]

On an outing to a winery a bud had a clutch cable snap on the return. Solution was to pull the sheath up a bit and snip it off, adjust to get all the slack it would give up and use a nut and bolt off the passenger back rest [sissy bar] as an end. Threaded through the lever and nut & bolt attached crudely, it allowed use of the clutch at stops for the next 110 miles. Carry yr tool kit!
rich
 [smiley=happy.gif]

[Ed Miller]

On my Triumph I carry a cable patch/repair/get by kit, like a sleeve with a nut and little bolt.  Push the two ends of the cable together and clamp them together to get you home.  I've thankfully never used it, but I should search through Ace Hardware to see if they have something that would work.

[Rob Valdez 79 R65]

[size=12]Grease.     Once a year.[/size]

[montmil]

Grease. Once a year.

Absolutely correct! The majority of motorcycle control cable breaks occur at the pivot fitting. Crud binds the bearing action and continued use work hardens, then breaks, the cable strands. When bits are out of sight, preventative maintenance can be hit or miss. White lithium grease doesn't attract as much grit as conventional grease.

[steve_wicks]

Turns out my cable was a non-BMW that had been adapted to fit. If it had've been a high revving Jap bike I would have battled, but the torque of the boxer made life bearable.

New one fitted at a cost of about $70.

Danie, I don't marshal, but did race and now just write stories about and photograph motorsport. I will be at Idube (Umlaas rd) for karts in July.