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Right, so the other day I was on my way to work and my clutch cable snaps. Being new to riding - I didn't have a replacement cable on me at the time, so I left it there, ran home [only 3 or 4 blocks] and drove to work in my car, after work I pushed the bike home. Next day I found a local shop that had a clutch cable for my 1980 GS550L. Took me a couple days to get to the clutch as the cover had 3 or 4 stripped screws that I ended up having to drill out [and I didn't have a drill tough enough at the time].
So finally I got the clutch cable on yesterday and I figured I'd run down to a local parts shop and find horn button that I could attach to the handlebars as my horn button is shot. On my way back [w/o a button - they didn't have one and I should have called first, but I wanted a reason to ride], I lose tension on the clutch lever. Great - cable snapped again?!
Park the bike and take a look. Please tell me I'm the first this has happened to [doubt it] as I was not expecting this. The plastic casing & metal cylinder at the end of the of the clutch cable [plugging into the clutch handlebar lever] were GONE! I don't know if the metal just disintegrated or what, but they were not there and I hadn't even gone 3 miles.
Well, luckily I was only a mile from home this time and I was thinking about pushing it home, but I thought of an idea. The guy I bought it from gave me this key chain that had a unique connector, it was like a "3" with the top & bottom ends bent in to look like and "8". So I pulled it off the key chain and used it as an anchor for the clutch cable. Sure enough it got me about 1/2 mile before I lost tension again. This time the clutch cable had straightened out 1/2 the metal, so I flipped it around and did it again. Got it into 2nd and got onto some side streets, rode home in 2nd and I had one more pull to put it into 1st and ride it into my barn, then that side gave out.
Now I have to go back to that shop and see if they'll replace my cable on account of defect/poor craftsmanship. While I'm at it, I think I might grab a second replacement and zip tie them together so if this happens again I just have to open the clutch cover, replace it and continue on. [lesson learned the hard way].
So finally I got the clutch cable on yesterday and I figured I'd run down to a local parts shop and find horn button that I could attach to the handlebars as my horn button is shot. On my way back [w/o a button - they didn't have one and I should have called first, but I wanted a reason to ride], I lose tension on the clutch lever. Great - cable snapped again?!
Park the bike and take a look. Please tell me I'm the first this has happened to [doubt it] as I was not expecting this. The plastic casing & metal cylinder at the end of the of the clutch cable [plugging into the clutch handlebar lever] were GONE! I don't know if the metal just disintegrated or what, but they were not there and I hadn't even gone 3 miles.
Well, luckily I was only a mile from home this time and I was thinking about pushing it home, but I thought of an idea. The guy I bought it from gave me this key chain that had a unique connector, it was like a "3" with the top & bottom ends bent in to look like and "8". So I pulled it off the key chain and used it as an anchor for the clutch cable. Sure enough it got me about 1/2 mile before I lost tension again. This time the clutch cable had straightened out 1/2 the metal, so I flipped it around and did it again. Got it into 2nd and got onto some side streets, rode home in 2nd and I had one more pull to put it into 1st and ride it into my barn, then that side gave out.
Now I have to go back to that shop and see if they'll replace my cable on account of defect/poor craftsmanship. While I'm at it, I think I might grab a second replacement and zip tie them together so if this happens again I just have to open the clutch cover, replace it and continue on. [lesson learned the hard way].
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