Hi, I went to ride today, pulled the clutch lever in, Side stand started to retract as always, and I felt a little snap. The clutch lever did not pop back out to usual position, and it now has play in it. I shifted the bike into 1st, and reved it up for take off. It does not feel right, although it did move. Has this same thing happened to anyone? Did I break a clutch cable, or worse something inside the tranny?

Thanks in advance for any troubleshooting you can offer.

Grant in Colorado

Have a squiz at the cable end closest to the lever. Can you see inside the cable's sheath? Is it frayed? Sometimes a failing cable will hold on by a thread or two - and will feel like you've got half a clutch - before giving up the ghost entirely. Do the same at the gearbox end, just above the muffler behind the left hand side footpeg, though breaks tend to come up at the lever and are often, but not always, caused by inattention. Yep, the little barrel that retains the end of the cable must be removed, cleaned and re-greased on occasion. All manner of road detritus gets in there and the barrel can't swivel, each time you pull the lever in, as it should due to the gunk accumulating, which places greater strain on the cable end. This often as not leads to fraying and broken cables. Don't think big bang bust gearbox issues just yet. Sort the basics out first. Let us know how you go.

In my opinion, the sidestand should be retracted using your foot.
The clutch cable would probably last longer that way.

Agreed, Blakey. My old late-86 has a fully manual side stand. I wouldn't have it any other way. I'd piss it off straight away just because...I'd disconnected the so-called safety interlock on the 'stand on my Oilhead too. I can think reasonably independently and don't like a government agency or manufacturers attempting to do it for me.

I'm with TWB, you're losing your cable. That was the cause of the previous owner of my bike selling it so cheap - thought the clutch had gone out. Time to pull out the cable and have a look, but I'd have a new spare on hand for the inevitible replacement.

YUP, I agree the side stand thing is a cable killer. My cable is dead, frayed at the top but rusted pretty good at the bottom. I believe this is the original cable since bike has 34,000 miles on it...SO, how do I get the old cable to release from the bottom bracket housing? I can't pull it down and off obviously, because the cable is designed to hit a stop there. If I try to pull it up, the boot is really tight and does not seem to want to allow that either. Before I grit my teeth together and try to pull it through, please somebody set me straight! Thanks in advance from all you guys out there who have been here too.

Grant

You'll likely be replacing the cable as a unit, and not just the strands inside, unless you've got someone who can fabricate one of decent enough quality for you. I usually turn the 'adjuster' wheel at the hand lever to slack and then press the lower clutch release arm in far enough to slip the barrel end over the arm and then it's free. Removing the fuel tank, etc., will take more than a moment or two. Don't forget to clean and then re-lube the barrels (as they need to be able pivot freely - a leading cause of cable breakage) and the hand lever where the upper barrel fits too, but not the new cable, as most are Teflon-lined these days.

Ok, I may have missed something here, but I can not seem to simply slip the old cable out of it's perch in the frame mounted holder. The cable easily comes off the Clutch arm once I adjusted the hand lever end, and freed it there, creating slack at the clutch arm end....BUT, should I be trying to pull the entire cable downwards out of t he holder towards the ground, or trying to pull the end that secures to the clutch arm UP and through the engine /air box area?

Thanks,

One tip before removing any cable, clutch or throttle, is to run the new one exactly alongside the old one, ducking over, round and under everything the old one does so as to ensure you follow the exact same route. Trying to do it from memory on bikes which have big cable bundles and frame tubes after the old one is out can cause significant problems to get a smooth action in the new cable.
Regards,
K-BIKE

K-BIKE wrote:One tip before removing any cable, clutch or throttle, is to run the new one exactly alongside the old one, ducking over, round and under everything the old one ...
Regards,
K-BIKE

good tip, thank you.

SUCCESS, the new cable is in. I pulled UPWARDS, helping the rubber booted end at the by the clutch arm using a small flat bladed screwdriver. Following Neds advice, I then used DICT tape on the old cable to attach the lever end of the new cable and pulled/snaked it upwards following the exact route of the old cable.
I am drinking beers now to celebrate my victory, tomorrow I will put the fairing back together and adjust the free play, and go riding in the Colorado Rockies.!

sorry, followed Advice from K BIKE, although Ned agreed..should have typed this before the beers I guess.

Before final assembly I recommend you apply several good squirts of heavy chain lube at the pivot points of the clutch arm at the back of the gearbox to try and prevent the bearings seizing and seriously consider buying the mudguard extension as that covers the whole area from the spray of road filth.
Regards,
K-BIKE