A Tale of Two Broken Clutch Cables

I have a clutch cable break on my XJ650 about almost a year ago, maybe a bit less.
Had no idea how old it was so I got a new one and replaced it.

Well lo and behold it broke again today. I ride a fair bit but i sort of think a clutch cable should last longer than just under a year. And being that 4-5 months of the year the bike was stored in a garage it wasn't very old.

This time i broke right where the wire connects to the metal cylindrical piece that rests in the handle bar hand lever. I can't recall where it broke the first time. Didn't really look like there was any chaffing, it was really close to the cable end so didn't look like much was there to rub on it.

Is there something causing it? or just a bad cable?

 

Hmmm, my XJ650 clutch cable broke in the same place. However it was 33 years old and the new one is still working.

Always possible that it was a bad cable.

Did you lube the new cable when you installed it?
Was the free play set appropriately?
Are you sure the cable was routed correctly?

 

Lube is the only thing I didn't really do. That could have been my mistake. The unit I bought came as a cable and housing all together already threaded and what not, all I had to do is hook it on. I sort of thought it was good to go out of the package. Was that a mistake?

Free play also not 100% sure on. I had it set so it wasn't holding pressure while the clutch was resting and it wouldn't have any pressure till I engaged it.

Also not 100% on the routing. I assumed the previous cable was routed correctly and I just installed it in the same location I removed it from.

 

Had the same issue until i lube the barrel (the little lead thing) on the end that goes into the clutch handle. If you lube it, it allows the barrel to rotate inside the handle. Otherwise the barrel remains stationary when you pull the clutch in and the cable flexes back and forth eventually snapping,,, always a 100 miles from home to.

 

Lube is always good insurance, and lay off those stress balls...your grip might be getting too strong for the poor clutch!

 

Unless you buy a pre-lubed cable you have to lubricate it. It's a good idea to get two cables and zip-ty the second one next to the working cable as a spare. Seal the ends of the spare with tape o shringwrap, and you can swap it for a broken cable in 5 minutes no matter how far from home you are.

 

Has that happen a few weeks back and it was a bad lever on my bike
Lever had a lot of wear and was pulling at a slight angle and that angle pulled the barrel off the end of cable