Clutch cable - need 1/4 inch Travel

[Tom A]

Hello,

I have an xs1100E and replaced a broken clutch cable. I think I made a mistake somewhere after I installed the new cable I was short 1/4 " at the lever adjustment. I opened the cover and followed the manual's instructions for the clutch adjustment and still I am short 1/4' throw at the lever it does not reach the slot in the level and I cannot install the cable. I checked both the old and new cables side by side and they are an exact match. At this point I read somewhere that maybe the ball bearings came out of place behind the housing. I only have 17,000 miles and everything was working .....So, I dont know what to do except check the entire clutch?

Thx

[bikerphil]

Maybe take the clutch lever off (one at the hand grip), put the cable in it's slot and reinstall the lever. It is unlikely the ball bearings behind the clutch lever are misaligned, you would have had to remove that center adjustment bolt all the way for that to happen.

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Tom,

Also, there's a slack adjustment at the handlebar, a combination adjuster and lock nut...both are just Round with knurled edges, but have a slot down the middle of each, loosen the larger lock "nut", then turn the slack adjuster clockwise so that it screws INTO the handlebar housing, end up with the slot towards the outside so that when you put the pull knob into the removed handle lever, you can the slide the cable back onto the handle by putting the it thru the slot AFTER you have put the other end into the clutch housing lever end! Then, you can readjust the SLACK at the handlebar to your desired amount/position.

T.C.

[Tom A]

Clutch cable fix

Thanks to everyone for the tips

what I did wrong was I tightened the adjustment screw all the way in. I backed it out until I got the right feel of slight resistance and then backed off 1/4 turn. Next I removed the clutch lever and then obtained the proper slack. Everything is fine now. A good learning experience on getting the correct feel for the tension on the adjuster screw.
The Phillips head was already in bad shape so I used a dremel tool to grind off the end and cut in a slot instead.
I do think I routed the cable incorrectly and have to recheck, the before picture showed a different location but, I swapped a low rise bar for a stock set and routed through the bracket at the top left side of the frame below on the neck of the frame.