Clutch cable ever broken on a ride?

[ally99]

Hey all. Out of curiosity, has anyone here ever had your clutch cable break while riding? I know how to clutchless upshift (though I do tend to hit more false neutrals this way than upshifting w/ the clutch...I'm not snicking up hard enough I guess), but I don't know how to clutchless downshift. What do you do if the clutch DOES break while you're riding, in say, 5th gear? Thanks a ton! Ally

[kkim]

ridden dirt bikes without operable clutch cables. it is possible to shift up and down w/o the using the clutch. starting off is the bitch.

[bdavison]

Ive had a clutch cable snap during a ride....Just dont stop...if you do you are done. Upshifts are no problem, but downshifts are tricky. Gotta get it way down in the bottom of the gear before you tap it down. Take the backroads so you can california stop the stop signs....traffic lights will shut you down.

And when you get home...you gotta hit the kill switch to shut it off right as you pull into the driveway.

Its not fun, but it can be done.

Unfortunatly my clutch cable was defective, and the end pulled off, so before everyone harasses me for "proper maintenance"....dont.

[Alex]

Originally Posted by bdavison

so before everyone harasses me for "proper maintenance"....dont.

But but but, well, OK.

(I don't think I've ever looked at my clutch cable, probably not a bad idea for me to take a peek at it at some point)

[kkim]

Originally Posted by bdavison

...so before everyone harasses me for "proper maintenance"....dont.

yeah, good luck with that... especially on this forum, though I can't see this going well on any of the 250 forums.

[Alex]

I had the strangest problem on a Suzuki Bandit a number of years ago. Something went haywire in the wiring loom, so anytime I pulled the clutch lever in, the starter motor went on. I had to ride it to the dealership, trying to use the clutch as little as possible, up or down, so I wouldn't burn out the starter motor, or hurt any of that starter mechanism either.

The main harness had somehow found itself in conflict with the steering head and got scrunched together, and two of the wires that controlled those functions (clutch interlock, starter motor), somehow got themselves in electrical contact. The shop thought that there was going to be all kinds of weird problems with the bike based on the symptoms, but once they found where the problem was, turned out to be an easy fix.

[Momaru]

Actually took a good look at the clutch end of my clutch cable two days ago and it's showing some significant wear right where it enters the semi-rigid guide sleeve. Like the cable braid has been worn down such that it looks like a single segmented cylinder instead of the multiple steel braids. That said, I've gotten more than the usual amount of trash down there because my boot disintegrated a long time ago (doesn't seem to be sold individually) and, somewhat shamefully, I haven't cleaned it after every off-road trip but I have kept it lubed more than scheduled. Think I'm gonna go order a new one before it fails on me...

Sounds like one wacky wiring failure Alex. Mildly surprised you didn't blow a fuse or two.

[alex.s]

Originally Posted by ally99

I know how to clutchless upshift, but I don't know how to clutchless downshift.

shifting down is the same, just in reverse. instead of letting off the throttle to release pressure on the gears to let it shift; while slowing down (engine-braking), give it slightly more gas (blip the throttle) while pushing down and it will slide right in... a bit jumpy if you blip too much though.

hope this helps
--alex

[miks]

Has happened twice to me. 1st time I had no clue what to do, but ended up figuring out to start it, take off, and ride it without the clutch. All you have to do is start it up, let it stall, start it up again and at the same time give it some throttle and she'll be right. 2nd time, happened when I filtered in front a MASSSIVE truck at a red light, light turns green, SNAP -- the cable goes. Pushed it to the side, did the same thing, rode it to a mechanic. As for red lights, just stall it, when it turns green start it up with throttle and away you go. Rinse and repeat.

[kkim]

Originally Posted by miks

Has happened twice to me.

hmmm... more importantly, did you ever figure out what's snapping your cables? seems odd on a relatively new bike.

[miks]

Well the first time it snapped, I had no idea what could have happened, I guess it was a defective cable maybe? The second time was because the mechanic I went to said he could fix it without a replacement cable, he soldered the little nipple down the bottom back on. Or it might have even been me, I use to adjust the clutch so that I would barely have to move it at all, it was just within the recommended specs.