Urgent info needed about KLR 650 clutch cable. In Chile.

[E-Bum]

Hello all,

I am currently near Temuco, Chile. My trip to Ushuaia was to begin today and now I find myself with a clutch cable that is on the verge of breaking.

I need to know what other models of motorcycles use the same clutch cable length so I can see if I can buy a replacement. I am thinking if any of the Honda, Suzuki or Yamaha assemblies use the same length cables. Kawasaki dealers and parts are hard to find around here.

If anyone from the area can help, I'd be very grateful too.

[Bell driver]

Maybe this helps.
http://www.motorcycleforum.com/showthread.php?t=102449

Second option:
Take out clutch cable before it breaks, take it to any bike shop and comapre length and diameter of the end barrel thingy with other cables.

[Canuman]

Originally Posted by E-Bum

Hello all,

I am currently near Temuco, Chile. My trip to Ushuaia was to begin today and now I find myself with a clutch cable that is on the verge of breaking.

I need to know what other models of motorcycles use the same clutch cable length so I can see if I can buy a replacement. I am thinking if any of the Honda, Suzuki or Yamaha assemblies use the same length cables. Kawasaki dealers and parts are hard to find around here.

If anyone from the area can help, I'd be very grateful too.

I had a similar experience this summer. Take the cable off the bike and bring it to the dealer (whichever's handy) and have them match the length. Anything the same length with the same ends will work. The metal guide tube that goes over the clutch lever is not necessary. A plain cable will work just fine. I didn't write down the part numbers, but as I recall, I used a Yamaha cable. If they have two in stock, keeping a spare is not a bad idea. You can zip-tie the spare in parallel with the working unit. If one breaks, it's takes a few minutes to swap.

[Beezer]

worse comes to worse buy a longer one and use the inner cable in the old housing. back in the day the ends were soldered on & you can probably get away with replacing one end.... find an old guy that remembers how it was done.

[E-Bum]

Originally Posted by Beezer

worse comes to worse buy a longer one and use the inner cable in the old housing. back in the day the ends were soldered on & you can probably get away with replacing one end.... find an old guy that remembers how it was done.

And this is what I ended up doing. Found a guy with a spare ball-end cable, cut the nipple off my old one and soldered onto the newer one. Fuck yea Chilean Macguyvers.

Thanks for the ideas all. I appreciate it.

[SlickSix]

You can simply go to a bicycle shop, buy a cable that has one of the ends soldered and one or two ferrules of different sizes.

Remove old cable
Match the new cable lenght and cut, a simple wire cutter will do
Cut and Remove old cable from the outer housing
Clean housing
Insert the new cable with the soldered end o the lever side
Apply ferrule
Ride on

I´ve done it for years, one cable and ferrule it´s like 1 buck

Only buy new cables when the outer housing is too old

[SlickSix]

Ups, took too long to post. I see you´re all set

Anyway, if you want to have some cheap spares, see this photo of my rebuild. You can see the cables and the small ferrules in the bag on the right.



For the throttle, you usually have to shave a bit on the soldered end which is a little big.

[E-Bum]

Welp, fuck. Solder joint broke after 150 km. Still in Temuco looking for a better welder or new cable. Kawasaki dealer has no cables in stock. I am a bit worried to ride into Patagonia on a welded cable if I can´t bring a welder with me.

[Canuman]

Check a local bicycle shop and see if you can find some of these:

[XDragRacer]

I've experienced effective SILVER SOLDER repairs for cable ends; YMMV.

Regardless, new OEM cable rests, wire-tied alongside operational clutch cable, as on-board spare.