Broken Clutch Cable Story

[jjwithers]

I have had nothing from bad luck from Motobins. They sold me a terrible set of 'stainless' Kiehan pipes about 7 years ago. After a few hundred miles, they got a crackling texture throughout them. Not your typical discoloration. I sent them back, they polished them, returned them to me, and same thing happened a few miles later after they got hot.
They also sold me a non-BMW clutch cable and from the day i got it, i was suspicious.
First off, i never knew i wasn't buying a 3rd party cable. When i recognized it as a non-BMW part, i called them up and they assured that it was better than BMW's cable.
Now keep in mind, i do commute through traffic so i am up and down through the gears a lot... but i'm never on the clutch unless i need to be. i always keep some slack on the handle and i keep the end lubricated. After 20,000miles, snap! 35 miles from home.
is this a normal life span on a clutch cable? I've had others last much longer...

Here are some photos of my repair:

The very end broke off the cable:


I wedged the broken piece into the pull cylinder:


I then jammed the cylinder into the handle as best i could:


And taped the crap out of it to keep the cylinder from falling out, which it eventually did. But i re-taped it up and made it home.

[ontic]

20,000 miles is a lot better than the 2-3,000Km I got from my venhill featherlite cable! Mine failed a couple of days before christmas in the middle of nowhere- well, it almost failed. It got down to one strand, which I rode of for 60-odd Km until I could find a good campsite and fix it in the morning.

Obviously it mustn't have been pivoting in the lever... not really the cables fault I suppose.
Luckily for me I had brought my old OEM clutch cable along for the ride! It is still going strong.

[jjwithers]

Point being... OEM is the way to go!

[ME 109]

I recently replaced my 30 year old, 250,000 kl oe clutch cable with a Venhill........
I didn't need to replace it as the oe cable ends showed no sign of failure, but.

[SteveD]

Venhill are rubbish in my experience.

The oem clutch cable is expensive, so it's tempting to go for the cheaper replacement, however in the long run I think oem is better.

But, never say always, even the oem cables can fail, and ensuring that the clutch end moves ok in it's locater is important. A little grease there occasionally might go a long way.

In fact, thanks for the reminder. That's todays job.

Motobins remains my favourite place to buy stuff. They're excellent.

Shame about the Keihan's (about OZ$600), they're also a very good product. I have a standard set, and the Jim Cray set too. Both look and work very well. In fact, they compare well to Staintunes, and at half the price of Staintunes ($1200), they'd get my Gillardo's before Staintune.

[Boertjie]

Just a thought..Does BMW themselves fabricate the cable or is it sourced from somewhere else? What about changing the source of the supply every few years after a tendering process? Motobins is a +1 for me every time I used them. I am lucky to have a brake and clutch agency a few blocks from where I work, just supply a sample of a cable you need, and after a hour or so you are fixed. Good quality from them every time.

Regards
Johan

[Ken in Oklahoma]

Just a thought..Does BMW themselves fabricate the cable or is it sourced from somewhere else? What about changing the source of the supply every few years after a tendering process? Motobins is a +1 for me every time I used them. I am lucky to have a brake and clutch agency a few blocks from where I work, just supply a sample of a cable you need, and after a hour or so you are fixed. Good quality from them every time.

One time, during one of the rallies at my place, I asked Duane Ausherman just how many parts are actually made by BMW. He pointed to an empty spot beside the concrete slab that our lawn chairs were on and said something cryptic along the line of, "All the parts you can see over there." I didn't get it at first because I didn't see any parts at all.

I still think that BMW must have made some parts . . .


Ken

[mattcfish]

Now keep in mind, i do commute through traffic so i am up and down through the gears a lot... but i'm never on the clutch unless i need to be. i always keep some slack on the handle and i keep the end lubricated. After 20,000miles, snap!

20,000 miles is a god awful long time for a clutch cable. If most of that is city driving you got your moneys worth out of that one. I carry a spare on trips. Inspect the cable end at the bars often. When it starts to fray replace it!