Best clutch cables?

gtsun · Mar 12, 2011

The little end of my clutch cable that pivots in the handle just came off coming up to a red light. Lucky no one was in front of me & I am 1 mile from home. Any way it's been years since I bought a new one. Are there better ones and ones not to buy? Thanks.

Unclviny · Mar 12, 2011

I greatly prefer Venhill cables, Commando Specialties generally has them.

Vince

snare1998 · Mar 12, 2011

I had the exact same thing happen last year. Replaced it with a Barnetts cable and it broke about two months later. Replaced it with a Venhill, been smooth sailing since. The Barnett cable looked to be better made than a stock cable, but the Venhill looked even that much better than the Barnett. They don't come cheap, but seem to be worth the money. After getting stranded twice, I have a spare Venhill in the side cover...

Chris

gtsun · Mar 12, 2011

Ya, Im sitting here waiting for a truck & can't believe that I don't have a spare in my tank bag. What's worse is I don't have one at home!! Guess it's been a long time since I broke one. Last time I was luckily at a friends. We made a mold of wood and poured moltan silver solder in and made a new end.

Madnorton · Mar 13, 2011

I try to use the featherlight Venhill cables for my bikes when possible, if they are pricey in the states, maybe it would be worth clubbing together and getting a job lot sent over, you should be able to negotiate the 20% VAT off the order as well.

Carbonfibre · Mar 13, 2011

Better still why not buy the materials required, and a cheap Chinese solder pot, then make your own cables? I can buy all thats needed to make 5 or 6 clutch or front brake cables for about £25, and this makes a lot of sense both cost wise, and also allows making cables that fit and work perfectly.

ashman · Mar 13, 2011

Before you put the new cable on your lever rub a bit of clean grease on the cable where it slides through the adjuster, have done this for over 30 years now and haven't broken a cable since, just clean it and regrease every service, I also rub a little on the clutch arm...

Ashley

mikegray660 · Mar 13, 2011

ashman said:
Before you put the new cable on your lever rub a bit of clean grease on the cable where it slides through the adjuster, have done this for over 30 years now and haven't broken a cable since, just clean it and regrease every service, I also rub a little on the clutch arm...

Ashley

yes as Ashley say's - do this frequently on all your cables (brake, throttle) and you'll be very unlikely to ever break a cable again

JimC · Mar 13, 2011

Venhill. The best by far! Reduces clutch effort by probably 50%.

Carbonfibre · Mar 13, 2011

Very easy to make cables just as good as those provided by Venhill...........here in the UK it costs about £25 for enough materials to make 5-6 cables. Only other things needed are a cheap Chinese solder pot, solder, flux, wire cutters, small ball pein hammer, and a centre punch.

DogT · Mar 13, 2011

Got a link for the cable kits? It's getting very difficult to find correct cables for the early bikes.

Dave
69S

pelican · Mar 13, 2011

you can chop the outer sheath with a chisel

gtsun · Mar 13, 2011

I told my friend Wilson who owns a Indian restoration shop that the end came off my cable and it turns out he makes his own too so now Im on my way to his shop to go make a new one and repair my old one as a spare. He silver solders the ends on, uses tephlon liners and nice looking outer housings so it should be nice. Oh and yes I have found if you lube everything it can be a very smooth and easy to pull clutch.

Carbonfibre · Mar 13, 2011

Soft solder works just fine for making cables, and once the cable has been cut to length and the ferrules fitted, it takes minutes to fit the nipples if you have a solder pot. I would imagine supplies of the things needed to cable making are easily available in the US, but if not then "Off Road Only" in the UK can supply kits to make either clutch/front brake, or throttle cables.

gtsun · Mar 13, 2011

Hey Dave I will ask my friend where he gets his cable supplies from tommorow. He had all sizes of ferrals, ball & barrel ends but we still had to machine the ferral a little shorter to be perfect. He has a lath but I could have done it at home in my vise with a small file so I would say most people here could do it, at home.

Unclviny · Mar 13, 2011

For cablemaking supplies (in the U.S.A) google
flanders

Vince

bpatton · Mar 13, 2011

The last cable I put on my bike was a Venhill w/ teflon liner. It also has a black plastic collar around the furrule at the lever. It could be a stress point at the cable if the furrule binds in the lever for that small bit of rotation.

T95 · Mar 13, 2011

Unclviny said:
For cablemaking supplies (in the U.S.A) google
flanders

Vince

I'll save you all the work of the google search as I had save this to my favorites once before. Now the question is what to order for the Norton cables?
http://www.flandersco.com/FlanCableSearch.html

DogT · Mar 13, 2011

Thanks for the Flanders link. I knew I had seen it somewhere but couldn't remember.

Here's a good link to Raber's Excel spreadsheet for the Norton Cables. Seems to agree with the few I have. Opens on the Triumph/BSA worksheet, but at the bottom is the Norton cables worksheet too.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=w ... POEP7PcWXQ

Dave
69S

gory · Mar 13, 2011

I know it's been said before, but Venhill, I ordered for my Atlas on a Sunday and it got here to rural VA by Friday, for about $25 including shipping - still going well a year later

Best clutch cables?

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