There goes the Clutch

[Alba]

Joyfully riding through the the summer down poor, dully used the clutch and thought that did not feel right, next gear change bang away she goes.

It was a challenge riding the rest of the way without the cable, I shat myself ever time at junctions

Any tips on changing the cable on a 650, it will be my first one.

Ohhh the joys....

Cheers for any help on this one

[YEN_POWELL]

Joyfully riding through the the summer down poor, dully used the clutch and thought that did not feel right, next gear change bang away she goes.

It was a challenge riding the rest of the way without the cable, I shat myself ever time at junctions

Any tips on changing the cable on a 650, it will be my first one.

Ohhh the joys....

Cheers for any help on this one

Use the old cable as your guide to fitting the new one (a second pair of hands and eyes helps get it round the corners and through the smaller gaps).

Connect it at the engine end first. Take the lever of the handlebar before connecting the cable to it, then refit the lever. Turn the lever adjuster almost all the way in, then adjust the cable adjuster to get the right freeplay as per your handbook.

Fit two cables at once and make the next breakage easy to fix at the roadside by just swapping the ends over..

[StumpyFingers]

Use the old cable as your guide to fitting the new one (a second pair of hands and eyes helps get it round the corners and through the smaller gaps).

Connect it at the engine end first. Take the lever of the handlebar before connecting the cable to it, then refit the lever. Turn the lever adjuster almost all the way in, then adjust the cable adjuster to get the right freeplay as per your handbook.

Fit two cables at once and make the next breakage easy to fix at the roadside by just swapping the ends over..

Beat me to it , but the bit about using two cables is a great Idea.
I might order one and place it along side the existing one .

[Alba]

Use the old cable as your guide to fitting the new one (a second pair of hands and eyes helps get it round the corners and through the smaller gaps).

Connect it at the engine end first. Take the lever of the handlebar before connecting the cable to it, then refit the lever. Turn the lever adjuster almost all the way in, then adjust the cable adjuster to get the right freeplay as per your handbook.

Fit two cables at once and make the next breakage easy to fix at the roadside by just swapping the ends over..

I must admit not quite following this but I hope it will be apparent when I have a closer look at how it is attached to the lever. Luckily I have a couples of days to get it right, pressure on.

Two cables, TOP TIP...

[stephen McG]

another tip is to get comfortable changing gear without the clutch.
Both up (very easy) and down
this will allow you to get home if cable breaks again.
have a route planned that will reduce stops.
if you have to stop, make sure it is slightly down hill, roll bike and straight into 2nd.
when you get used to it, gear changes are as smooth as a babies bum.
Stephen McG

[Dickster]

Yep, very easy to do - I've replaced 2.

I am surprised to hear you guys are running them until they snap though! They should start to feel pretty stiff sometime after 10k miles and that's when to change them (I would actually change at 10k anyway). The clutch will feel much better.

[grazie]

Tape the end of the new cable to the old one and pull it through, this could save some hassle.

[Heather]

They should start to feel pretty stiff sometime after 10k miles and that's when to change them (I would actually change at 10k anyway). The clutch will feel much better.

Thanks Alba for starting this thread and Dickster for this info.
I have a TA 650 which has done 4.5kish and waiting for its 4k service from J2- long wait list so not til 3rd Sept! Yesterday my clutch felt really heavy and tight? Not alot of play in it so it sounds like it's on its way out too???
Not sure I would feel comfortable with gear changes without clutch, wouldn't that be heavy going? (I am a girlie, after all!)
I did throw it down in the back carpark at work yesterday when trying to park it too.... oh.... bother!

[Alba]

Thanks Alba for starting this thread and Dickster for this info.
I have a TA 650 which has done 4.5kish and waiting for its 4k service from J2- long wait list so not til 3rd Sept! Yesterday my clutch felt really heavy and tight? Not alot of play in it so it sounds like it's on its way out too???
Not sure I would feel comfortable with gear changes without clutch, wouldn't that be heavy going? (I am a girlie, after all!)
I did throw it down in the back carpark at work yesterday when trying to park it too.... oh.... bother!

Heather try this link Clutchless gear change previous discussion on clutchless gear changing. luckily I had been trying the method before my cable went. Start off changing up 4th to 5th, once you have the technique / confidence then 3rd to 4th then 2nd to 3rd and bingo you can go 2nd to 5th.

The technique I found works is, apply up-wards pressure to the gear lever (i.e. load the gear), then once you roll off the power the gear will smoothly enage.

To down change, I have found by applying downward pressure to the gear lever and allowing the bike to decelerate once its ready to change it will. I have also found that you will be going, what feels, really slowly so keep the nerve.

Best to practice when you have a clutch, just incase it goes pear shaped.

[StumpyFingers]

The hardest one to do is first to second the rest are easy.