'87 K75C Cable snap?

[soocom1]

So this am I was in a hurry to get out, had alot of things on the plate.

I warmed up the bike, pulled it off the center stand, sat down, plugged in my heated gear and grabbed the clutch to get going when....


SNAP!!!


goes the clutch cable. So i had to unload and take another vehicle to work and around town.

When I got home this pm, I took the cable out of the housing and found this.....




Now I would like someone to tell me how a cable snaps like that all nice and straight with crimped ends.


or am I missing something?

 

[roncooper]

The cable breaking at the top is usually caused by lack of lubrication of the barrel. The barrel must freely rotate in the handle . I clean and lube mine during annual maintenance.

 

[tanker4me]

Was on the R90 and noticed the clutch lever feel changing.
When I pulled into a parking lot to adjust, I could see the fraying of the strands.
Nursed the bike home, and this is what it looked like.

As Ron posted, the barrel in the lever can get gummed up, or even out of round, causing fatigue at the nipple.

This was the second cable in a year so I knew something was amiss.
I had replaced the first one when it snapped clean like yours wondering what the hell?
Bill

 

[soocom1]

given the bike's age, I take it that i should probably replace all the cables?

 

[lee]

given the bike's age, I take it that i should probably replace all the cables?

We had our 91 K75Ss for 12 years and I replaced the cables after the bikes had some age on them.

 

[pglaves]

Both of the breaks shown in the photos above were caused by the cable flexing right at the end. As mentioned, the barrel in the hole in the lever is supposed to rotate slightly every time the clutch is pulled so that the cable can pull straight without flexing. If the barrel is not kept clean and greased it won't turn and the cable flexes with every pull and one by one the strands break.

So if you have a bike with a cable actuated clutch and have not done this maintenance recently do it now. It only takes about 15 minutes to disconnect the lever, remove the barrel, clean and grease the lever and the barrel, and inspect the cable. Add an hour and a new cable if you find broken cable strands.

It is much nicer to do these things at home than it is beside a road someplace.

 

[98lee]

A reminder to those that carry or have a spare clutch cable; the barrel does not come as part of a new clutch cable.

When a cable snaps on the highway, your first reaction is to pull on the lever a couple of times to try to figure out what happened. The barrel can fall out on the road while you are still at speed. A spare clutch cable is useless if this happens UNLESS you also have a spare barrel. (Tape it to the end of the spare cable).

I can confirm that there are 2,345,697 pebbles that look exactly like a K75S clutch barrel in the 1/2 mile section of northbound Hwy 49 just north of Mariposa, CA outside Yosemite. Guess who had a spare cable but no spare barrel? Never again!

32 72 1 233 550 NIPPLE HOLDER - D=10MM $7.17

 

[soocom1]

So as I pulled the cable out today I discovered that it was well lubricated the handle and the clutch.
So thats out.

 

[mlytle]

not necessarily. i could have been lubed AFTER the damage had already been done. cheezy prior owner trying to get a little more out of it instead of replacing...just long enough to get it sold.

or installed incorrectly so that the pivot was not all the way in the lever, preventing its rotation.

 

[soocom1]

Well i ordered a featherlight cable.
BMW cables are to be had but two weeks shipping.

 

[075038]

Extra part to put on clutch cable near lever.

Hey, I had a newish clutch cable "fall down/pop off" from clutch lever on a 1000 mile tour, near MAX BMW (I think) in the top of NH. The old K bike parts guy showed me a FELT BMW part that goes up in there and is oiled. It has a slit and slides in the lever housing. It helps but often lost before or during clutch replacement


85K100RS 198,000 miles,
90 K75S 55,000 miles

near Phila

 

[98lee]

Hey, I had a newish clutch cable "fall down/pop off" from clutch lever on a 1000 mile tour, near MAX BMW (I think) in the top of NH. The old K bike parts guy showed me a FELT BMW part that goes up in there and is oiled. It has a slit and slides in the lever housing. It helps but often lost before or during clutch replacement


85K100RS 198,000 miles,
90 K75S 55,000 miles

near Phila

32 72 1 231 610 FELTRING $5.26

It acts as a wiper to keep grit from getting into the cable sheath (the bottom end has the rubber accordion boot). The cable itself doesn't need lubricating since the cable sheath is teflon lined.

 

[soocom1]

So...

I replaced the cable and the feel of the bike is now entirely different.

There is no more of the poping snap situation changing gears and the overall feel of the bike is different.

I have to let out more to engage 1st gear and the bike actually sounds a bit different.

Installing the cable was somewhat easy with a bit of fussing to get the cable out long enough to but the handle fitting back on.

Overall I think its a good move.

The more I ride and fix this bike, the more I like it over the old Harley.

 

[98lee]

Soocom,

Did you do the factory adjustment procedure so that the sidestand retracts when you pull in the clutch? And do you have adequate freeplay on the cable?

 

[soocom1]

Soocom,

Did you do the factory adjustment procedure so that the sidestand retracts when you pull in the clutch? And do you have adequate freeplay on the cable?

So to answer that..

No.

I had literally just enough cable to attach to handle and clutch fork. Once on. the cable itself operates to just the specifications noted. The side stand pulls up no issue.
The clutch end has almost exactly the specified play and the adjuster is all the way in on the handle side.


I went over this several times to make sure the play was correct, and its tickling the inner tolerance.


I am wondering if there will be a fair amount of stretch over the next few weeks, and what I should be looking for.

 

[pglaves]

I am wondering if there will be a fair amount of stretch over the next few weeks, and what I should be looking for.

There should not be noticeable stretch any time soon.

 

[98lee]

You would be well served to get a Clymer's manual for your bike.

Here's a link to a description of the clutch adjustment procedure from IBMWR:

https://ibmwr.org/index.php/1998/04/01/sidestand-and-clutch-adjustment/

After setting the proper stick out of the cable with the adjuster at the lever, freeplay is adjusted underneath at the transmission. Then the retract mechanism is adjusted by the chrome rod near the side stand.

One noted difference; if you have a factory style cable that has a nylon/teflon inner liner, do not lube the cable. It will soften the liner and attract grit. Only lube the barrels.

 

[soocom1]

Well once I lubricated the side stand it actually retracted.

The clutch is pritty much where it needs to be. I nust need to test ride it.

 

[dieselyoda]

On my last K75, I could reduce cable life exponentially because it was part of the side-stand retract mechanism.

 

[drneo66]

On my last K75, I could reduce cable life exponentially because it was part of the side-stand retract mechanism.

Yep - my dad uses his clutch handle to retract the side stand, while I generally use my foot - guess who's gone through a lot more clutch cables?