• Required reading for all forum users!!!

    Welcome!
    Register to access the full functionality of the GSResources forum. Until you register and activate your account you will not have full forum access, nor will you be able to post or reply to messages.

    A note to new registrants...
    All new forum registrations must be activated via email before you have full access to the forum.

    A Special Note about Email accounts!
    DO NOT SIGN UP USING hotmail, outlook, gmx, sbcglobal, att, bellsouth or email.com. They delete our forum signup emails.

    A note to old forum members...
    I receive numerous requests from people who can no longer log in because their accounts were deleted. As mentioned in the forum FAQ, user accounts are deleted if you haven't logged in for the past 6 months. If you can't log in, then create a new forum account. If you don't get an error message, then check your email account for an activation message. If you get a message stating that the email address is already in use, then your account still exists so follow the instructions in the forum FAQ for resetting your password.

    Have you forgotten your password or have a new email address? Then read the forum FAQ for details on how to reset it.

    Any email requests for "can't log in anymore" problems or "lost my password" problems will be deleted. Read the forum FAQ and follow the instructions there - that's what we have one for...

  • Returning Visitors

    If you are a returning visitor who never received your confirmation email, then odds are your email provider is blockinig emails from our server. The only thing that can be done to get around this is you will have to try creating another forum account using an email address from another domain.

    If you are a returning visitor to the forum and can't log in using your old forum name and password but used to be able to then chances are your account is deleted. Purges of the databases are done regularly. You will have to create a new forum account and you should be all set.

Correct clutch cable for clip ons?

  • Thread starter Thread starter claygs750e
  • Start date Start date
C

claygs750e

Guest
So I've been trying to find a problem with a bad clutch drag for sometime now. I've adjusted the cable many times, filed minor grooves on the basket, soaked the plates and steel which look good, but still I feel like I'm needing really force into gears. As you can see in the pictures I have clip-ons and the cable adjustment on the engine mount is maxed out. Is the cable too short/long so I can't make a proper adjustment? I'm out of ideas?! Thanks,



 
You may want to try turning that adjuster the other way. That will in effect lengthen the housing in relation to the cable and pull the clutch in further.

Cool looking ride by the way....

Add..could the cable possibly have a sharp bend in it somewhere due to the clip ons causing possible binding?
 
Last edited:
I made sure there were no bends in the cable. Should I take the cable off the arm and move it in or out a couple teeth as well? Its funny because sometimes it works great, other times its really bad so that's why I didn't think it was an adjustment problem.
 
Strange about the inconsistency. Not sure there. I have a crappy Motion Pro clutch cable (second one, never again) on mine and they both seemed to require regular adjusting for the first month or so. I assumed they stretched....
 
Your cable hasn't been pinched or damaged by the steering stops by any chance?

You might want to also route the cable around the neck and down the other side of the tank tunnel to try and get as shallow a bend as possible.
 
The cable curves down in front of the tank inside the opening of the frame, over and down between carb #1 and #2 then bends straight into the mount on the engine. I thought I remembered the stock cable going the same route. I did go out and tweak the adjustment and backed it out a bit, but I'm pretty sure I've been this route before.
 
I had problems to find neutral when the engine was running in my GS 1150. Last winter I took all the clutch steel plates to the machine shop,
where they level grinded. Now the clutch is better than ever. Even the new oem steel plates have a small bumps, which effects the clutch function.
 
I just finished troubleshooting clutch problems on mine. Turns out a PO didnt install the shim between the inner and outer hub causing zero clearance and not smooth shifting, plus other issues.
 
Well I adjusted the cable AGAIN per the manual and I still have to pull up on my foot 5-6 times to go into gear, especially 2nd. Maybe I do need new plates and steel because I really can't think of anything else. When I had it opened up they looked ok and were flat when laying down and not warped. I was hoping not to spend that much, but I'm at the end of the line.

What shim are you referring to? Can you tell me what # on the parts fiche? Thanks guys
 
My bike is an 1150, so I dont know if yours is the same. #4 circled on the attached pic.
Pic is from another thread hence all of the other notes....
 

Attachments

  • Idea note_20150330_195200_01.jpg
    Idea note_20150330_195200_01.jpg
    85.3 KB · Views: 0
dorkburger said:
... they both seemed to require regular adjusting for the first month or so. I assumed they stretched....
Click to expand...

Believe it or not, cables don't stretch.
eek.gif


What happens is that the cable saws through the nylon liner, cutting a groove on the inside of any curve. The deeper the groove, the shorter the route the cable has to take, giving the impression that it has "stretched". :-k

.
 
The furthest I've taken the clutch apart was the basket so I'm not sure if I need any special tools to break it completely down. Is taking the clutch apart very difficult and I wonder the likelihood of something in the back of the basket is the actual problem. It looks like it has never been off before when I looked at it.
 
Steve said:
Believe it or not, cables don't stretch.
eek.gif


What happens is that the cable saws through the nylon liner, cutting a groove on the inside of any curve. The deeper the groove, the shorter the route the cable has to take, giving the impression that it has "stretched". :-k

.
Click to expand...
From direct observation, I'd be inclined to agree that OEM ones don't stretch (apart from a very slight initial bedding-in), but cheapy aftermarket ones do - that, and the outer compressing too, which doesn't help.
 
I've had this problem every since getting the bike when it had the stock bars and cable on it. I now have clip-ons with a shorter aftermarket cable so I'm inclined to think my problem is something else. There's really no hard bends in the cable and its routed as the manual states. When I looked and the steel and plates the main thing I noticed was that they were not warped, is there anything else I can see when looking at them if they are damaged. Crazy thing is when I took them out the first time and put it all back together the first time I rode it the bike shifted great all day, but the next day it went back to normal. Every so often it shifts ok and normally when its warmed up more. I also lightened the oil at 5w 40 thinking maybe it was too think when cold.
 
Update: So I'm confused....I rode the bike and about after 20 mins of riding it was shifting perfect. So why is it that the first 20 mins its very difficult? This tells me its not the cable or adjustment so is it the plates? I lowered the weight oil because of this, but that doesn't seem to be the issue either?
 
This is ringing a bell with me; I had an aftermarket cable that did this - the inner expanded more than the outer when hot, to an unacceptable degree. Normally, expansion would affect the outer and inner at the same rate, so adjustment is unaffected once the cable has settled in, but some of the cheaper cables are probably made of slightly wrong materials for this application.
I think I replaced it with OEM or a better make, in the end.
Tip; OEM and decent aftermarket cables have a mid-length adjuster halfway along the cable. Adjustment of that is important, and the cheapy ones don't have it.
 
Maybe I will try that because the fibers and steel measured within spec, I've replaced the clutch OEM springs, filed the slight grooves in the basket so all of that looks good. There's definitely a big difference in how it shifts once the bike is warm. Any recommendations on cables or a good place that has them?
 
Check out the first picture in this thread and you will see I will for sure need a aftermarket clutch cable. I measured and it's 46-48 inches in length so I will search for an aftermarket cable with the middle adjuster and maybe this will help. My only issue with this is that it is a fairly new cable when I got the clips ons, and I had this issue with the stock cable when the bike was still stock....I'm just reaching for a solution and don't really want to spend 100+ on plates and fibers if I don't need to.
 
Oh yes, of course.
A lot of the Euro-market GS models had flatter bars than the US-market ones, and I wonder if the same clutch cable was used on them, or Suzuki supplied a shorter one.
From your pic, there's a question - which side of the headstock is the cable routed? Istr trouble being caused by the wrong choice there.
That aside, the clutch action being ok when the engine thoroughly warms up is a huge clue, but of what?
If the cable inner gets hot and expands, it would become harder to select gears, because of lost motion. If the cable outer expands too much, the action would become easier, but if you adjust it then, it will revert to being difficult when it cools down again.
Otoh, it might be thermally related, but nothing to do with the cable at all. Dorkburger's suggestion of jiggery-pokery by a PO in the clutch basket is worth pursuing. That there's no sign of it being apart previously is no indication of much - a missing shim is the kind of thing that's all too common, with some people having mysterious parts left over after a repair.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top