if your clutch cable ever snaps...

Dont you just hate it when your clutch cable makes that horrible "snap" noise when your out on a ride?
well, for those who are looking to get some bang for your buck try this.. run a few red lights and get your beast home pick up a soldering iron and some 60:40 tin solder. make sure you have rosin for this job too. If the cable snapped, it probably did it up by the lever, Take the end and twist all of the wires back together with a pliers or vice grips. then take the end of the cable and scoop up a generous amount of rosin. while doing this, let your soldering iron get nice and toasty (i prefer the standard ones that just plug in and heat up) get out your solder and put a nice big slug on the end of the cable. Try your best to keep the slug round and smooth. when you have a good sized slug on there (about the size of the original end that fits in the lever) let it cool down and assemble everything as it was. give the lever a good pull while looking at the cable. make sure that the slug moves so that the metal cabling stays straight and doesn't flex outward. this is why you keep the slug smooth. if the slug doesnt twist in there by itself, pull it back out and file it down until its smooth enough to do so. this is a really solid and cheap way to fix a broken clutch cable. This works with throttle cables as well. Just figured i would post this since it saved my ass last night when mine broke. I Had to go pick up a pretty girl on my bike and i couldnt let that stop me

The last person that suggested that got roasted pretty thoroughly

Anyway, I assume you used rosin flux because that's what you had on hand? Acid flux is what you use for mechanical strength, rosin is for electrical connections.

Personally, I'd do the same, at least until I was able to get a new cable, others feel differently though.

It's funny I just snapped mine yesterday had to drive 15 miles home took the back roads running stop signs. I took the cable to the local shop and he put on a new barrel i had plenty of cable left because it is old and stretched.

I'm all for repairing things but dam....a new cable is $15-20, your trans will thank you later.

$24 and I ordered one It'll just take a few days.

Examples from Z1E --

www.z1enterprises.com/Cable--Clutch--KZ5...1000-KZ1100-271.aspx

www.z1enterprises.com/Cable--Clutch--Z1-KZ900-KZ1000-267.aspx

Good Fortune!

:woohoo: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

You po. You aint poor, you po boy!

Try new, and lots of grease.

When I replace my cables, I lightly solder 3/4 to one inch down the cable from the swagged on barrel. Clutch cables fail here because the barrel isn't lubricated enough within the lever (make sure you use some grease when you reinstall). The soldering adds a little bit of rigidity to the very end of the cable where it's more likely to snap and doesn't bend.

yea, i think a little grease wouldnt hurt. i figured that this was a really good idea though. my dad's throttle cable and clutch cable popped on his bike last year and he used this method to fix them. they're still on his bike right now working like they should. I dont have a job and im sick of borrowing money from my dad for parts. Even little nuts and bolts add up eventually. So i figured i would try it and see what happened. No problems so far

Kitten Tooth wrote: yea, i think a little grease wouldnt hurt. i figured that this was a really good idea though. my dad's throttle cable and clutch cable popped on his bike last year and he used this method to fix them. they're still on his bike right now working like they should. I dont have a job and im sick of borrowing money from my dad for parts. Even little nuts and bolts add up eventually. So i figured i would try it and see what happened. No problems so far

:laugh: I just bug buddy - we all need to improvise sometimes. Good on you, and your idea.

PEACE.

25 years ago, Easyrider magazine had a roadside tip:
carry a small hose, screw clamp. If your cable breaks up top like most do.
losen all your adjusters to get enough frayed cable to clamp that to your clutch lever.
Enough to hold it till you get somewhere safe.
When I rode, I always carried a master link and one of these screw clamps in my tool kit.

Then get home and look in the junk pile.

what sucks even worse is when the throttle cable breaks, that is what happen to be not long ago.

Kitten Tooth wrote: Dont you just hate it when your clutch cable makes that horrible "snap" noise when your out on a ride?
well, for those who are looking to get some bang for your buck try this.. run a few red lights and get your beast home pick up a soldering iron and some 60:40 tin solder. make sure you have rosin for this job too. If the cable snapped, it probably did it up by the lever, Take the end and twist all of the wires back together with a pliers or vice grips. then take the end of the cable and scoop up a generous amount of rosin. while doing this, let your soldering iron get nice and toasty (i prefer the standard ones that just plug in and heat up) get out your solder and put a nice big slug on the end of the cable. Try your best to keep the slug round and smooth. when you have a good sized slug on there (about the size of the original end that fits in the lever) let it cool down and assemble everything as it was. give the lever a good pull while looking at the cable. make sure that the slug moves so that the metal cabling stays straight and doesn't flex outward. this is why you keep the slug smooth. if the slug doesnt twist in there by itself, pull it back out and file it down until its smooth enough to do so. this is a really solid and cheap way to fix a broken clutch cable. This works with throttle cables as well. Just figured i would post this since it saved my ass last night when mine broke. I Had to go pick up a pretty girl on my bike and i couldnt let that stop me