SuzukiSavage.com - clutch cable: lucky me :)

JohnBoy

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clutch cable: lucky me :)
01/19/11 at 04:59:45

As I started out for work this morning I lost a clutch! One hundred yards from the house I shifted gears and on letting out the clutch lever I heard a 'tink!' and no more lever tension. At 4:30am in the dark I didn't even try to find the problem. I kicked it into 2nd putted the 100 yards back home and got the truck...and thanked God that it didn't happen 12 miles down the road

In all my years I never had a cable actually fail, so I am expecting to find a missing connector bolt.
For those that have done it, what are the pit falls in our cable set up?
JB

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youzguyz Serious Thumper Offline Posts: 2538 San Antonio, Texas Gender:	Re: clutch cable: lucky me :) Reply #1 - 01/19/11 at 05:50:26 maybe not so lucky you. If the cable is OK, then the funky cam inside the clutch cover is probably busted. If so, do not run the engine anymore until you find all the pieces in the crankcase. Part 23 here: http://www.bikebandit.com/2002-suzuki-ls650pk2-savage/o/m6326#sch247380 Hope it ain't so...
Back to top	2002 - Silver (Thumper) 2000 - Green (Mad Hamish) Most motorcycle problems are caused by the nut between the seat and the handlebars. Make sure yours isn't too tight or too loose. IP Logged

MotoBuddha Serious Thumper Offline Let's roll! Posts: 1416 Charlotte, NC	Re: clutch cable: lucky me :) Reply #2 - 01/19/11 at 06:12:02 Years ago, I had the ball at the end of the clutch cable come off on a Porsche 911, in stop-and-go traffic, going uphill, in a canyon, on a Sunday, 150 miles from home. I also had a clutch cable break in a Ford Fiesta, at a traffic light, in commute traffic. For some reason I prefer hydraulic clutch actuation.
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JohnBoy Serious Thumper Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 825 Gender:	Re: clutch cable: lucky me :) Reply #3 - 01/19/11 at 06:12:30 Thank you for that piece of advice. I'll be looking at it this afternoon. Is this a common problem with the LS650?
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justin_o_guy2 Serious Thumper Offline What happened? Posts: 55279 East Texas, 1/2 dallas/la.	Re: clutch cable: lucky me :) Reply #4 - 01/19/11 at 06:53:39 Common enough, more common than a cable breaking.
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youzguyz

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Re: clutch cable: lucky me :)
Reply #5 - 01/19/11 at 07:00:30

JohnBoy wrote on 01/19/11 at 06:12:30:

Thank you for that piece of advice. I'll be looking at it this afternoon.
Is this a common problem with the LS650?

I have seen a couple mentions of it on this site.
A quick search found these. May be more

http://suzukisavage.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1284603765
http://suzukisavage.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1288641999

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2002 - Silver (Thumper)
2000 - Green (Mad Hamish)
Most motorcycle problems are caused by the nut between the seat and the handlebars. Make sure yours isn't too tight or too loose.

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verslagen1

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Re: clutch cable: lucky me :)
Reply #6 - 01/19/11 at 08:23:09

I'd say 6 to 1, cam vs. cable failures.

I'm one of them. Thinking is that it's caused by not keeping the clutch arm between the marks. But I don't know, the cam doesn't hit any stops the way mine is set up. The leg of the cotter pin keeps it from bottoming out against the case and unless it hits on the other end of travel, which is a long way... the only thing that concerned me was the radius'd end of the rod didn't match the radius of the cam. So I put a full radius on it and polished it good.

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Paladin. Serious Thumper Offline Hamster Posts: 4929 Sunny Southern California Gender:	Re: clutch cable: lucky me :) Reply #7 - 01/19/11 at 13:23:45 I am Telecommunication Tech -- I pull cables. A cable is a cable, same-same. Connect a string to the cable, tape for a smooth pull. Pulled the cable from the handbar end to the clutch. Taped the new cable to the string and pulled it back through the bike -- no need to remove the tank. I'm Good!
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JohnBoy

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Re: clutch cable: lucky me :)
Reply #8 - 01/19/11 at 14:35:41

It was the cable! It broke about a foot from the lever inside the cable housing. Zero sign or rust, but his is AZ.
Paladin I wish I had read your post 'before' I pulled the cable core out!

Time to make a fishtape!
Replacement is 25-30 bucks, no one has one in stock (in a market the size of Phoenix?), and no one seems to make cables anymore?
I'm sure that the same cable fits 50 other bikes, but I believe the result would be the same no matter what I ask for.

So much for customer service

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04 Savage Junior Member Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 77	Re: clutch cable: lucky me :) Reply #9 - 01/19/11 at 18:04:29 My clutch cable broke just as Paladin posted in the picture, a week later and was back on the bike.
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babyhog

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Re: clutch cable: lucky me :)
Reply #10 - 01/20/11 at 13:27:48

JohnBoy wrote on 01/19/11 at 14:35:41:

It was the cable! It broke about a foot from the lever inside the cable housing. Zero sign or rust, but his is AZ.
Paladin I wish I had read your post 'before' I pulled the cable core out!

Time to make a fishtape!
Replacement is 25-30 bucks, no one has one in stock (in a market the size of Phoenix?), and no one seems to make cables anymore?
I'm sure that the same cable fits 50 other bikes, but I believe the result would be the same no matter what I ask for.

So much for customer service

So did you find a new one? I might still have one with my parts-bike parts... a new one is probably a better choice, but an old one might do while waiting for new one to come in...

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JohnBoy

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Re: clutch cable: lucky me :)
Reply #11 - 01/20/11 at 17:23:23

[quote author=3536373A38225B0 link=1295441985/0#10 date=1295558868]JohnBoy wrote on 01/19/11 at 14:35:41:

So did you find a new one? I might still have one with my parts-bike parts... a new one is probably a better choice, but an old one might do while waiting for new one to come in...

Yes, I bit the bullet. Thanks for the offer just the same.
By the way, the cable core has a cable stop on both ends so you can't replace just the cable core.

I had so planned to go riding this weekend! Now, I'm waiting for another week.

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