New bars, now I need help with cable routing

[11Rider]

Hi guys, I'm forging on ahead with my bike and while I'm waiting for the new jets to come in, I put on my new bars.

I got a set of "superbike" bend bars from JC Whitney. I'll tell you, I like dealing with them. I paid 19.99 for the bars and the chrome is very nice. I got free shipping because my order was over a certain amount of money and I still got them in two days. Not bad.

Now I put the bars on and I like the looks and the position (from what I can tell without riding it yet). HOWEVER, the clutch cable is way too long, but worse, the clutch perch is so close in to the bar clamp and top of the fork it looks like there will be an awkward bend to it where it goes into the perch. The brake line is now too long too - I think I need a 13" line now.

My question is has anyone else had this awkward bend at the perch with new bars and is it anything to worry about? Also, what would be the best place to find custom lenght cables and brake lines? It looks like the one end of the stock clutch cable has a special end to it where it goes into the crankcase. Any thoughts??

[Bulldog9]

Try routing the cable through the far side of the ignition switch. In other words, instead of the clutch cable coming up on teh left (same side) of the ignition switch, route it to come up on the right side of the switch (throttle) side and then up and over to clutch, and visa versa for the throttle cable (route through left side and over switch).

It will/could get in the way of easy access to ignition switch and block some of the tach/speedo, but not too bad. All depends what you like. If you need new clutch or throttle cable, your better off just replacing with correct length, but if your cables are good, why throw $ away?

I did this on my XS probably 15 years ago, so far so good! Will try to take pics if you want. **Also, I pulled the excess main wire harness through the bucket and into frame/tank area and kept wires neat and stock looking.

For the brakes, I originally had the stock rubber lines and was creative with its routing to take pressure off joints and to take kinks out, but when I switched to SS lines, I used/ordered a standard master cyl line.

[bikerphil]

If you want the correct length for your new setup, Motion Pro will make you any length clutch cable you want. Here's the link...

http://motionpro.com/motorcycle/custom/

[11Rider]

Thanks Bulldog and BikerPhil. I will go out and see if some creative routing will work as Bulldog suggested, but if I'm not happy with the looks/function I will spring for the right size cables Thank you for the help guys.

[11Rider]

OK guys I found out the problem. Just having an extra bend or two to re-route the cable wouldn't let the throttle return all the way. I ended up running it across the bar mounts and down under the left side of the tank. Works fine now lock to lock with the superbike bars. Thank you for your tips.

[natemoen]

Glad ya found it. Isn't it funny how something so seeming small and insignificant can cause such problems!

[11Rider]

Yeah I hear ya. I kept checking and checking things. It crossed my mind that the new bends coulda been the problem, but I kept coming back to "naw, couldn't be! that!"