Sezied clutch cable

[Coopz]

I took delivery of my 81RF sports yesterday. Its in good condition but the clutch is rooted. I have taken the cover off and removed the level, there is zero movement in the cable. It's well greased but it will not budge. the clutch unit and spring are all intact, just the cable.
It seems like a larger cable has been used than standard as it looped over the dials.


Bit disappointed by this, the previous owner told me it was ready to ride (bought from interstate)

Any ideas on a quick fix or should I try and source a replacement?

[b.walker5]

RF ???. Is that a typo ??? Are you sure you dont mean RH ??? Remove the cable completely and check for kinks and free movement etc. Clamp one end of the inner in a vise (without crushing the end) and work the outer up and down with some WD40 or something. Remove the clutch cover on the left side (2 screws) and check that the actuator lever rotates freely and pushes the pushrod through the gearbox shaft to the pressure plate of the right side.

[Geezer]

That bike is a special and normally has pull back ape hanger bars. With those low bars, the cables will be way long.

The cable is pretty much useless and if you're willing to risk ruining it like I was when mine was like that, take the cable off and hang it with a baggie of oil at the top and spin the inner cable with a hand drill. The cable will either spin or break. The last 2 that I did this way, there was a lot of dirty oil that came out the lower end. After this lube the cable a couple times a year. The hanging baggie method is the best because the oil running down the cable will flush out the crap in the cable housing.

I normally use ATF for this. It's cheap and plentiful and good for all sorts of things. I also use it for fork oil and I lube my guns with it...

Geezer

[petejw]

Hi geezer,
coopz is from aus,
the aussie model is a RH,
similar to the special with some differences,
the handle bars are stock for this model.

[CatatonicBug]

If you are correct, and you have the wrong cable in there, and the previous suggestions don't work, I would suggest getting a new cable. They are available, and with the amount of stress that it is required to take, it's worth the money for a new cable.

[fredintoon]

I took delivery of my 81RF sports yesterday. Its in good condition but the clutch is rooted. I have taken the cover off and removed the level, there is zero movement in the cable. It's well greased but it will not budge. the clutch unit and spring are all intact, just the cable.
It seems like a larger cable has been used than standard as it looped over the dials.
Bit disappointed by this, the previous owner told me it was ready to ride (bought from interstate)
Any ideas on a quick fix or should I try and source a replacement?

Hi Coopz,
Perhaps your PO has forearms like Popeye the Sailor and cannot understand that there is a problem?
This link shows what you need to clean & lube the cable:-
http://motorcycle.motorcycle-superst...e%20Lubricator
Every toolbox should have one.
But first, completely remove the cable and see how it moves. Then try lubricating it to see if it moves better.
With the cable held in a straight line it should work with next to no resistance.
Yamaha routed that cable to snake around under the tank through all manner of sharp curves to get to the clutch. This is great for looks but every curve you put in a cable makes it work more stiffly.
Look for an easier cable routing with less bends in it.
I went all the way with this, running mine in one smooth free-air swoop from the lever to the clutch.
OK, it looks ugly but the clutch effort is reduced by 50%.
But after all this, perhaps your cable is "rooted" (FUBAR)?
Perhaps, buy a new one?

[Coopz]

Thanks for the help, sorry for the typo, its a RH. I'll try giving it a thorough fiddling tonight. If it is fubared is ebay still the best places to source the XS cables? Are they the same on all models? (even the Midnight Specials ape hangers?)

[psycoreefer]

I don't know about in AUS, but here you can still get cables, new, from just about any bike shop that sells "after market" parts, I know for a fact that motion pro sells cables for our bikes. They might have to order it, but you'd have to wait for shipping from e-bay anyways, and then you have a new cable. you'll just have to tell them year and model and they should be able to look it (the cable) up for you. I think when I got my clutch cable it was like 15 or 20 bucks, can't remember exactly because I got a throttle cable and some new tires all at the same time.

[Geezer]

Hi geezer,
coopz is from aus,
the aussie model is a RH,
similar to the special with some differences,
the handle bars are stock for this model.

Interesting, I'd love to see more pix of the bike. As I've said before Ausises and Kiwis get all the good bikes and here in the US we get what's left over...

Geezer

[CatatonicBug]

Interesting, I'd love to see more pix of the bike. As I've said before Ausises and Kiwis get all the good bikes and here in the US we get what's left over...

I dunno on this one... It seems the RH is all the leftover parts from the other XS's along with being a test run for some of the XJ parts. It's basically a MNS with funny handlebars and not as many gold parts.