OEM Tach Cable - Short life

[DPage]

My tach cable ('82 850G) usually only lasts for about a year, 4-5 thousand miles. I buy OEM's and use caliper grease on the internal cable before installing. When I first got the bike, I replaced the original but saved it (the thing still works, I use it for a spare). The old cable has a 30 degree bend in the aluminum casing on the end which attaches to the tach, but new cables have no bend, they're perfectly straight on both ends.

Does anybody remember these old "crooked" cables, and do you think they last longer? If so, is there a way to get the older model, maybe from a parts fiche on something other than an '82 850G? Or maybe 5,000 miles is all I should expect from a tach cable?

[BassCliff]

Hi Mr. DPage,

I still have the original "crooked" tach cable on my bike, a 1980 w/36,000 miles. I hope I don't have to replace it.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[Guest]

Do you have an oil cooler that bends the cable at all?

[DPage]

Thanks to you guys, that's good info. That old tach cable is going to stay in my spares bag. Anybody with a bouncing tachometer may want to consider getting one of these "crooked" ones. Based on thread searches, I may need to put a little oil in the tachometer when it's upside-down - that seems to be the other possibility.

[Nessism]

Caliper grease is way too thick for lubing a cable and may have caused the problem by creating drag (this is a likely reason if the cable broke at the engine side). The service manual calls for lubing with motor oil I think but if the cable is new, just throw it on with the lube that comes preinstalled. Not sure about the angle business but you might want to put a screwdriver into the slot in the tach and spin it to see if it turns smoothly and doesn't bind.

[DPage]

OK, I tried an aerosol called Cable Life for the tach cable, I removed all the "thick" caliper grease - we'll see how it goes. But for clutch cables, I'm sticking with heavy grease. Clutch cables don't have to withstand a 9,000 rpm redline, just a heavy pull with your hand.

So in general, light oil for cables that spin fast internally (tachs), heavy grease for cables that have push/pull movement (clutch, choke, throttle), and something in between for speedo cables - say lithium or caliper grease. Are we all agreed? (I can't wait for this, you people love to argue)