Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums General Tech Clutch Cable Life

I've seen the occasional post before on clutch cable life-spans on our bikes and I can now chalk my first clutch cable off at 26,500kms. I was giving the old girl a bit of a polish today when the polishing cloth continued to become snagged on some broken wire strands that have begun to part company where the clutch cable exits its sheath down at the primary chaincase. Seeing I give it regular attention with cable lubing I'm surprised it is beginning fail in what is in my opinion a rather short lifespan given the care my TBA gets.
I'm sure motorists wouldn't tolerate this. Anyway thank heavens I came across the cable failing when I did rather than being stranded beside the road. I'll buy & fit a new one tomorrow so fellow TBA & SM riders, keep an eye on that clutch cable.

Glad you caught it in time, John and thanks for the 'heads up.' As a precaution, I carry a spare wherever I go. Another John fellow around here, otherwise known as 'Freedom' turned me onto the wisdom of such a practice!

So far I think mine is fine with no lube. I think they have a sheath in them that doesn't need lube but not sure. That being said I have a boot over the primary end so I should probably look to see if mine has the same issue as yours.

I checked mine when I put it away and noted a couple of broken strands. At 48,000 kilometers it will get replaced next summer. I always carry a spare in my saddle bags when travelling.

I guess driving without a clutch cable is the real problem. Someone could still ride without a clutch to get home if they jumper the clutch switch, start the bike in gear at intersections and shift without the clutch. I've never had to do it by my chum did with minimal problems. When you have to stop the bike in gear, that's the problem!

Even after you replace the cable, check it once in a while. Fitted a new oem replacement last summer and it only lasted about 4 K, after the original lasted 35 K. Weird. I would have contacted the dealer, but I probably would have got the usual, "did ya fit it properly, was it pinched, etc".

I have driven bikes with broken clutch cables and you can hit neutral before a stop usually, getting rolling after the stop is the harder part.

I phoned around all the local Triumph dealers in Sydney this morning and was told the same story by all. Nil-stock and a 2-3 week wait on a back order from Triumph UK.
One very helpful spares lady from one particular dealer seemed to be going out of her way to help and returned a phone call saying there would be on new OEM cable waiting for me in 2 days time. I'm not sure where they managed to pull this cable out of some secret stash but I'm grateful anyway.
In the mean time I ordered a Slinky Glide Clutch Cable from eBay in case it got to Oz before the OEM one did. Half the price of a genuine cable and I couldn't find anything negative comments about them on the net forums. I'll keep it in my hard bags as a spare. Anyone here tried one of these Slinky Glide Clutch Cables?

Honda makes a cable that works in a pinch, i.e. non standard routing as the honda cable is a wee bit too short. See tech vault. In 180,000 miles only one cable has required replacement. And that was due to the barrel adjuster and set wheel slots not being staggered.

Thanks for the tip moe.

I think it is the design of where the cable attached to the lever. I caught mine when I changed the handle bars. I just got a harley and the cable enters the lever differently so there is no exposed cable....you can also order them from Barnett
http://www.barnettclutches.com/products/...mp;misc=Triumph

Mine is still good at over 35,000 miles.

My barnett cable did not last as long as oem,oem seem to be thicker.Or is this barnett a knock off.

Rolled over 90K last night, still no sign of trouble from OEM clutch cable...I might even own a spare I may have picked up off the Classifieds this year....I really should catalogue this stuff so I can keep track of what I have.