Parts Quality

72Combat · Aug 24, 2012

It was a nice Spring day here in Auckland NZ, Thought it might be a good idea to get the Commando legal so started it up and took it for a Warrant Of Fitness ( our 6 monthly test).
As usual it passed despite the lack of speedo drive......
Riding it home thinking , weather is nice, bikes running well I might just go on the run to the Glow Worm caves tomorrow
Pulled into my street and the clutch lever came all the way back..... :evil:
Darn and Damnation ....I only fitted a new clutch cable less than 10 hours of riding ago.....
Anyone else had this....its my second this year....
Just how variable are parts quality. I can't recall the brand or if it was a recognized supplier....

Now there are two of the little balls lurking ....I best get a gasket too.....
Sigh....now I have to take the R65.... :roll:

jeffdavison · Aug 24, 2012

I've always ridden my Nortons with a spare clutch cable running parallel to the one in use in case of occurances like that ( along with the tools to do the swap). Cheap insurance for those moments.

Found out the hard way also. I feel your pain.

JD

Mark · Aug 24, 2012

I've got a spare clutch cable wound up inside of my headlight shell.
Haven't needed to use it yet (knocks on wood).

johnm · Aug 25, 2012

Actually your lucky.

I had exacly that on a rear brake cable. Now I do my own cables.

It makes a joke of safety standards.

MFB · Aug 25, 2012

The end of the cable should be splayed into the recess in the nipple before the solder is applied, making a lump that can't pull through.
There's a great soldering video on a link somewhere on the forum; try searching "soldering".

daveparry · Aug 25, 2012

Agreed MFB, that one wasn't splayed-out at all was it!

Dave.

johnm · Aug 25, 2012

MFB said:
The end of the cable should be splayed into the recess in the nipple before the solder is applied, making a lump that can't pull through.

Exactly. Thats why I do my own because you cannot trust shop bought cables.

Imagine if that was a front brake cable in an emergency.

Dead !!!

boz · Aug 25, 2012

It is obvious that the person who made that cable did not know what they were doing. Cable in the headlight shell for me.
By the way I really like your braided stainless oil lines. How did you get the AN fittings attached to the oil spigots on the motor?

GUNpowder · Aug 25, 2012

Ok ... now I am concerned. Not only does one need to sort out the plastic from the metal, and the chromed base metal from the "real" metal, but now one needs to be one's own Quality Assurance inspector. A contributing factor, at least for many of us, is that there is no local shop to buy parts from (where the local owner has an incentive to maintain the quality of his spares), we have little choice but to purchase from mail-order vendors and hope for the best.

As annoying as badly manufactured clutch cables might be, at least one has some hope of spotting the dud prior to having to get out of the way of that approaching cement truck ... I wonder about things like counterfiet nuts & bolts, grade two bolts being marked as grade 8 for instance, or brake hose being sub-standard. I am the sort who can find many inovative ways to cause self-inflicted pain ... I do not need any help from sub-standard parts, thank you very much.

mikie3117 · Aug 25, 2012

I trust Barnett but still have a spare taped under the seat of my Fastback.
Mike

pete.v · Aug 25, 2012

You have a REAL valid point here. Many people do not know how old some of these replacable items are. If it is new you have recourse. If original from who knows how that you bought it from, then you need to question its integrity. I do not think that all bikes need complete restorations, not even close, but we do need to make sure that expendable items are brought to our attention.

As far as that cable goes, it looked good from one aspect, but age and heat/cold cycles can and will raise havic on such connection, not to mention electrical ones.

GUNpowder said:
Ok ... now I am concerned. Not only does one need to sort out the plastic from the metal, and the chromed base metal from the "real" metal, but now one needs to be one's own Quality Assurance inspector. A contributing factor, at least for many of us, is that there is no local shop to buy parts from (where the local owner has an incentive to maintain the quality of his spares), we have little choice but to purchase from mail-order vendors and hope for the best.

As annoying as badly manufactured clutch cables might be, at least one has some hope of spotting the dud prior to having to get out of the way of that approaching cement truck ... I wonder about things like counterfiet nuts & bolts, grade two bolts being marked as grade 8 for instance, or brake hose being sub-standard. I am the sort who can find many inovative ways to cause self-inflicted pain ... I do not need any help from sub-standard parts, thank you very much.

splatt · Aug 25, 2012

The cables aren't soldered any more are they,crimped on die cast fittings.
2 cables broken?, not something else wrong,I think a bicycle spoke nipple has been suggested as a suitable fitting for that part.

rvich · Aug 25, 2012

I suppose this will create some controversy...or be ignored (as maybe it should be). Epoxy has become the standard for spelter fittings on large diameter cable. Used to be molten zinc, but now it is epoxy. The industry uses stuff like Wire-lock and Socket-lock epoxies which unfortunately don't come in small enough containers to be much use to a guy making a few motorcycle cables. But I gotta wonder about JB-weld or something similar. The wire would still need to be properly splayed and maybe staked as well. Any thoughts on this?

Regarding the failed cable...it looks like it might be tinned or is that just where it is still clean from coming out of a crimp? Can you tell for certain it was soldered?

Russ

72Combat · Aug 25, 2012

Thanks for the comments.
The first cable that broke was the one that came with the bike, it pulled the nipple off....but who knows how old that was.
The one pictured was bought from a British Bike supplier ( I have yet to speak to them)

I've only done a couple in the past but recall the end of the nipple being cone shaped internally , folding back the ends of the cable so it could not pull thru and then soldering it.

The pictured one seems to be just a cable cut and soldered.

Off topic, I was replacing some floorpans on a VW Beetle and the seat rails were not only thinner metal they were badly spot welded onto the pan. I carefully took the old ones off and reused them.

It really is Caveat Emptor as the Romans used to say....

I'll call the seller and keep you posted.

As for the braided lines they came with the bike....owned by an aircraft mechanic. I don't like them as when fixing the crack in the oil tank it was a mission to get them in and out and stray braids really hurt fingers... :roll:

bwolfie · Aug 25, 2012

as for the oil lines, Jegs and Summit Racing sell a large selection of hose and ends. I have seen some billet oil junction blocks from some norton vendors that could be tapped for a fitting. I myself prefer AN style fittings. Working on airplanes you get used to the top shelf parts. It is sometimes hard working on stuff and not converting it. Once you develop high standards it's hard to do anything else.

72Combat · Aug 26, 2012

I rang up the supplier, they do two sorts the Venhill one which is made in England the the 'other' one which from the sounds of it is made locally.
I'm guessing I got " the other"
I am the fist complaint they have had.....I was not expecting a refund or replacement but was wondering if they are just soldered on as per the picture and yes they are.
I have done them in the past and splayed out the individual wires and filled the hole with solder to keep them apart.
The one pictured does not look to have had that process.
I said it was lucky it was not a brake cable.....
Oh well have to find a new parts supplier for clutch cables.

JimR · Aug 26, 2012

For me a very timely post since I'm replacing the clutch cable this week. Going to look at the new one when it gets here very closely.

rvich · Aug 26, 2012

It does make one wonder if the best idea is to make your own, or take the ends off and repair the damn thing before using it.

Russ

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