Clutch woes

[guest7]

At the risk of sounding stupid, can anyone tell me if these two facts are linked?

1. My clutch cable has developed a lot of free play in the last couple of months
2. My clutch has started slipping

It's just idle curiousity on my part. I have the vaguest idea that there are springs down there, but I can't remember in which way they free the plates (compression or, er, the opposite of compression  )
GC

[guest27]

Normally - waht happens when you list the clutch a rod presses against the clutch inner cast plate thingy pushing it away from the rest and allowing the plates to slide against each other, release it and the springs press it all to gether - so the springs compress to press the clutch closed and you compress them some more by lifting the clutch.  Of course a diaphragm clutch works a bit different.  A slipping clutch and a loose cable should not really go together - unless the plates have cut slots in the basket and they no longer get fully snapped home by the springs - or sommat else is stopping them closing completely.

R

[guest7]

Of course the simple truth might be that a ten year old clutch cable and a 140,000 mile set of clutch plates (and springs) might be completely knackered independantly of each other 

Cheers
GC

[bullet350]

check that the clutch cable isn't about to snap. as the strands break the cable gets longer, before the inevitable 'twang'.

bullet350

[002]

The Whole Lot Is Buggered !    Any Fool can see that !   

Strip it,file the clutch basket replace the plates,with new and fit heavy duty springs.
And of course a new cable.

Dont forget I know how you abuse the poor machine....along with a lack of maintenance !   

Jethro

[Steve Lake]

Yeah well...I've had this happen (strangely that was on an old nail too :-) ) and it was the clutch cable starting to unravel and bind on the outer.....I suggest a break is imminent.....but is it worth spending all that money on a new cable??

[guest7]

I thought it might have been the inner unwinding too, but examination (admittedly only carried out at traffic light stops) revealed that the cable looks fine at both ends. It nearly always starts to fray at the 'bar end of the cable as it chafes the adjuster and bowden outer, but there's no sign of that.

One thing is certain, time will tell 

GC

[guest7]

It turned out that the slipping clutch and the freeplay in the cable were linked.

I swapped the clutch cable for one off a donor bike and as soon as I started removing the old cable I could see that it was, to all intents and purposes, jammed solid. It took a big heave with a set of pump pliers to get the inner to shift.

With a new cable fitted the clutch slip has vanished so it would seem that the old cable wasn't returning enough to fully let the clutch off.

The old cable looks pristine at either end so the trouble is amidships somewhere. I might see if it responds to an oil soak... I hate chucking parts away 

GC

[002]

Get yourself a PROPER Hydraulic Cable Oiler !
And do some routine maintenance.

They work wonders...I do the Beemers cables at least twice a year.Makes a marked improvement.

Jethro

[guest7]

To be honest, this is the first time in 20 years that an XBR of mine has had a fault with a cable that wasn't fraying at the handlebar end. The cable runs for the clip-ons are tight and sooner or later either the choke or clutch cable starts fraying. This normally happens long before the cables develop any other faults.

GC