• Welcome, Guest! We hope you enjoy the excellent technical knowledge, event information and discussions that the BMW MOA forum provides. Some forum content will be hidden from you if you remain logged out. If you want to view all content, please click the 'Log in' button above and enter your BMW MOA username and password.

    If you are not an MOA member, why not take the time to join the club, so you can enjoy posting on the forum, the BMW Owners News magazine, and all of the discounts and benefits the BMW MOA offers?

k75t clutch cable breaking

acehosedme

New member
I am on my third cable in less than 5000 miles. What could be making these break so fast? They are pulling loose at the lever end on the bars. What do I look for?
nfi?
Bob
 
At the point where the clutch cable fits into the handlebar clutch lever, there's a little barrel of cylindrical shape, perhaps a quarter-inch high and an eighth of an inch in diameter. The end of the clutch cable fits into this barrel. The barrel must be free to rotate within its cylindrical recess in the clutch lever. If the barrel cannot rotate, the change in angle caused by pulling the lever will cause the cable to flex back and forth everytime the clutch lever is pulled, and the cable will soon break.

When you change the cable, remove the barrel. Clean it, and the recess in which it rotates. Then bathe the parts in a suitable lubricant before reassembly. After reassembly, look carefully as you pull the clutch lever; the barrel must rotate as the clutch lever is pulled.
 
Last edited:
Thanks.
This last cable lasted less than 500 miles. The barrel rotates easily once I take off the cable. I did NOT lube it for eiather of the last two cable changes, if I locate a cabe tomorrow I'll be sure to do that this time. There are only 3 wires left from the cable holding the end of the cable, I'll put it back on and see if the barrle moves when the lever is pulled. I don't think it did move before i took it off a little while ago. I hope the repair of this inconvenience is something as simple as normal preventive "clean and lube" maintenance.
Thanks for the reply.
Bob
 
acehosedme said:
The barrel rotates easily once I take off the cable.

Hi Bob,

I don't understand this. If you mean the barrel rotates on the end of the clutch cable (on the little brass ferrule), then sure, it's supposed to be able to do this, although once in place, I don't think there's much movement. If you mean the barrel rotates within the hand lever, then that's OK too...but the important thing is that it rotates when tension is applied to the clutch cable. That you can only see when everything is installed.

Good luck with it.

-David
 
K75 Clutch Cable

In addition to ensuring all pivot points are lubed ( which is critical ). I'd also recommend NOT using the clutch to retract the kick stand for you , or disconnecting the kickstand retracting rod all together. If you've noticed , there is a lot less pressure needed if the side stand is already retracted. PS : In my observation , BMW grossly underengineered the diameter of the clutch cable , it should be twice the diameter that it is. A word to the wise ( buy / carry a spare ) .
 
Re: K75 Clutch Cable

tjtraver said:
In addition to ensuring all pivot points are lubed ( which is critical ). I'd also recommend NOT using the clutch to retract the kick stand for you , or disconnecting the kickstand retracting rod all together. If you've noticed , there is a lot less pressure needed if the side stand is already retracted. PS : In my observation , BMW grossly underengineered the diameter of the clutch cable , it should be twice the diameter that it is. A word to the wise ( buy / carry a spare ) .

Actually - if the sidestand is kept adjusted and lubricated - I've had NO problems (and haven't lost a clutch cable) in about 60,000 K miles (using the self-retracting feature at least half the time).

It won't hurt anything to do the retraction yourself - but the self-retraction is an important safety feature. Even the most experienced long time riders (I know of one who has been around the world twice and did it on the way to my house) has been caught out and crashed because of a sidestand they forgot to retract.

I would suggest lubing the sidestand (there is a small hole in the casting on the stand where it pivots - you need a 'pig-sticker' grease gun fitting {rubber cone}, or in some cases - people have added the lubrication fitting and bolt from a K11 series) and leaving the self-retracting mechanism connected.

The one time you forget to retract the sidestand and the mechanism does it for you - makes it worth the extra effort to keep things lubed correctly.

Oh - and good advice on buying a spare cable - I'd suggest carrying it ON the bike. Coiled up and tie-wrapped to keep it coiled - it fits quite nicely in the rear tail pod, even on ABS equipped bikes.

Best,
 
I bought a new barrel and greased it and a new cable and it seems ot be rotating just fine when the lever is pulled. I removed the side stand and lubed that as well before putting it back. I adjusted the retraction rod so it is as clsoe as it can get and the side stand does NOT retrack when I pull the lever. It moves a little but does not travel far enough to get to where the springs take over and slam it closed. I'd like to have this working correctly.
Is it the springs worn out here? Or not enough lube? The bolt holding the sidestand in place is not very tight, in fact I was wondering what keeps it from coming out while riding. If you tighten it the stand binds and doesn't close easily.
 
acehosedme said:
I bought a new barrel and greased it and a new cable and it seems ot be rotating just fine when the lever is pulled. I removed the side stand and lubed that as well before putting it back. I adjusted the retraction rod so it is as clsoe as it can get and the side stand does NOT retrack when I pull the lever. It moves a little but does not travel far enough to get to where the springs take over and slam it closed. I'd like to have this working correctly.
Is it the springs worn out here? Or not enough lube? The bolt holding the sidestand in place is not very tight, in fact I was wondering what keeps it from coming out while riding. If you tighten it the stand binds and doesn't close easily.

OK - first off - putting your questions into seperate paragraphs will result in better answers. If you make it work to answer you, people are likely to just ignore your questions.

You asked: Is it the springs worn out here?

No. It isn't adjusted correctly.

You asked: Or not enough lube?

Unlikely since you just lubed it. If it moves easily by hand it has enough lube.

More likely it isn't adjusted correctly.

You commented: The bolt holding the sidestand in place is not very tight, in fact I was wondering what keeps it from coming out while riding. If you tighten it the stand binds and doesn't close easily.

It is kind of a mystery why the bolt doesn't fall out. :p

If you take the sidestand off - there may or may not be a bushing inside the bolt hole that is very slightly longer than the thickness of the pivoting end. This allows tigthening the bolt without the sidestand binding. Some had'm - some don't. Some also had an external grease fitting on an aluminum collar, some don't (this can be added - with a new pivot bolt and the collar assembly).

I have used some Loctite[tm] on my sidestand bolt when I reinstall it. That allows snugging it up so it to where it just doesn't bind and then the Loctite keeps it from backing off.

FWIW - I've never heard of anyone loosing the sidestand, it may be that the spring pressure on the sidestand presses against the bolt so it won't loosen. Or maybe not. :dunno

Here is a link to a writeup on how to adjust the mechanism so it will retract:

http://www.ibmwr.org/ktech/sidestand-clutch-adjust.shtml

Best,
 
The clutch levers wear, and allow the cable end to bind a bit. On my FY K replacement of the lever and pivot cured the cable breakage problem.
 
Back
Top