clutch cable too tight?

[IanDMacDonald]

Just left the house, and ball broke off at the handlebar. Whatcha guys think?

[cajun31]

Hey Ian

Have you lubed the cable lately? That would be my first guess if you haven't. Were there any symptoms prior to the mishap? What I mean did the clutch handle feel any different or was it getting harder to engage with the clutch handle before the ball came off? I would pull the cover off on the right side and inspect the cable and clutch actuator. If you don't see any problems there then I would just presume no lubrication in the cable and just get another one install and move on.

[Arthur_of_Hex]

I've seen this before. In my case the ball built up some sort of corrosion/dirt between the ball and plastic slider that surrounds it, the ball then didn't smoothly rotate in the lever, it followed the lever bending the cable back and forth with every cycling of the lever. After that it's only a matter of time. Grab a new cable, make sure the ball stay in the lever is clean, and the ball swivels properly.
If you look and the ball moved fine, then chalk it up to cable age and wear/tear stress.

[IanDMacDonald]

Hmm. I think I may have knocked those balls loose on the clutch cover. HEARD A WEIRD NOISE UNDERNEATH THE BIKE WHEN I TRIED RIDING THE BIKE IN GEAR TO TEST THE ADJUSTMENT: SOUNDED LIKE A DRAGGING SIDE STAND. DUNNO. WILL PULL COVER AND OIL PAN IN THE MORNING AND CHECK EVERYTHING OVER.

[IanDMacDonald]

Alright- Dropped the oil, pulled the right clutch cover, and readjusted the throw-out rod. I'm not sure if this is a good thing, or a bad sign of poor adjustment, but I noticed the clutch lever is much easier to pull-in? I am also using the original clutch cable prior to changing it out with a shorter one. Bought an extra clutch cable. Going to start carrying an extra throttle/clutch cable in my trunk.

[motoman]

Alright- Dropped the oil, pulled the right clutch cover, and readjusted the throw-out rod. I'm not sure if this is a good thing, or a bad sign of poor adjustment, but I noticed the clutch lever is much easier to pull-in? I am also using the original clutch cable prior to changing it out with a shorter one. Bought an extra clutch cable. Going to start carrying an extra throttle/clutch cable in my trunk.

Hmmmm.......Why would one drain oil/pull clutch cover to make throw-out bearing adjustment.

[IanDMacDonald]

I drained the oil with the intention of pulling the oil pan to make sure all was well in the tranny. Heard a horrible noise and assumed something was not right. However, I ended-up trying with the clutch cover first and hoping the throw-out rod just needed adjustment. I was right. Got the cover back on, filled with fresh oil and started it up. Re-adjusted the throw-out one more time, and seems okay.

[IanDMacDonald]

Hmmmm.......Why would one drain oil/pull clutch cover to make throw-out bearing adjustment.

Also, pulled the cover because the bearings came out of alignment.

[ViperRon]

infeerior cables

There are all sorts of people making cables I for one can tell you getting the pretty shinny new cable is not always a good idea. I purchased a new one and in a short time it stretched past adjustment and pulled out of the handle grip ball. My cousin had a wire feed welder and tacked the wire back in tighter and for a while it worked fine and then on a Rally in West VA cable broke. Get a cable made with genuine Yamaha quality or you to will be doing pit stop repair again.

[IanDMacDonald]

Yeah, it was an MP cable.

[motoman]

There are all sorts of people making cables I for one can tell you getting the pretty shinny new cable is not always a good idea. I purchased a new one and in a short time it stretched past adjustment and pulled out of the handle grip ball. My cousin had a wire feed welder and tacked the wire back in tighter and for a while it worked fine and then on a Rally in West VA cable broke. Get a cable made with genuine Yamaha quality or you to will be doing pit stop repair again.

Gonna be doin' that real soon as I tried two new different MP clutch cables and either the sheathing is 3/8" to long or the cable is 3/8" to short.

[GutSlasher]

Anyone found a solution to a shorter cable?

I switched bars and now have 8-10 inches too much clutch cable. I know I could try playing around with the routing but since my cable is sticky as hell and I know it has not been lubed in over 5 years, I'm in the market for a new one. A parts guy at the Yamaha and my mechanic said avoid the universals, even if I reused the housing, the solder being untrustworthy.
So I'm wondering if there is a cable from another Yamaha that fits the 1981 XS1100 Special but is shorter?

[IanDMacDonald]

Don't quote me on this, but I believe the Virago 750 uses a shorter cable. I have a short one on mine, don't remember what bike it's off of.

[GutSlasher]

Thanks Ian, any idea which model years of the Virago 750 would fit?

[GutSlasher]

Also, what does "MP" stand for?