Per Oldfeller's request, I have documented the fixing of my throttle cable, which broke right where they usually do, at the cable stop by the grip. This thread could just as easily apply to a popped clutch cable. Or as a warning to others not to try it. No way in hell would I do this much work if I could just order up a new cable from Suzuki. But this custom cable for the Mikuni VM carb is kind of a pain to replace. Also, many of you guys are way better with metals than me, and may want to save a few bucks
So after the throttle went slack and I pushed the bike home, this is what I found -- bummer:
To make a new cable stop, I had to take some measurements of the hole it's supposed to go in. Why not just measure the cable stop that popped off? Because it was too small anyway.. loose in the hole. The correct length should be 0.29 inches.
The diameter, thankfully, is a nice quarter inch. So I knew I could just get some round 1/4" brass or aluminum stock and not have to turn it smaller.
Here I've cut a piece of round aluminum stock and ground it to the length I needed. I would have preferred brass but could not find it 1/4" or larger.
I drilled the first hole all the way through the little cylinder. Hole diameter is just big enough for the cable..
Then the second hole is larger, but drilled only halfway through. This hole will accommodate the frayed cable end, encased in solder. It was 5/16"
Yaay, I finally got me a little $0.99 piece of aluminum!
Here's the cable, slipped through the new cable stop and frayed, ready for flux and solder.
My little wuss soldering iron, made for circuit boards, was not going to heat the cable stop enough to melt the solder. So I resorted to a little butane torch. A propane torch would be too much, but the little butane torch did a fine job of heating the aluminum and melting the solder. I didn't get a photo of the actual soldering because I don't have 3 hands.. but you get the idea.
FAIL!
The solder would not wick in to where the flux was, no matter what. When I got sick of re-heating the aluminum and making little blobs of solder, the cable stop would just slide around.. or off the cable.. not good.
This is where verslagen1 and others can get a good laugh.. plan B was to try to weld a little blob on the cable.. with a MIG welder designed for steel as thick as half an inch. So I set it as light as it will go (for 24 guage steel) and gave it a few short zaps.
And damm if I didn't finally GET it, a little blob on my cable.
Of course after all the fraying, cutting, and several pops from the welder, the cable was an inch shorter than before. I figured I could compensate for that by shortening the elbow where the cable passes into the carb.
There it is back in the throttle tube, "fixed!"
BUT.. unfortunately I gained nothing from this little job. All that screwing around with different methods shortened the cable too much, and I can't use it. When I installed the carb end I realized I'd have no idle :'( So my main advice is to either weld a fine bead on there with a TIG welder, or use one of those screw-on cable stops.
If someone knows of a good place to get a cable for a Mikuni VM carb (or better yet, has one to sell) I'd love to hear about it.
I hope some die-hard who knows how to solder will find this useful.