rough day...

o0norton0o · Jul 5, 2015

I went into town today. The bike ran perfectly. When I got to the exit I looked down for a second and the wind took my sunglasses right off my head. Ah $hit, they were home depot cheapo glasses. I decided to just go to home depot and get another pair. I pull off the exit and got to a stop light. The light turned green, I pulled the clutch lever and the cable snaps... Damn it!!! I push the bike over to the gas station and walk to home depot to get a pair of glasses. I think about how I can rig my clutch cable with some hardware from home depot, but there's no way to do it, so I just go back to the bike.

After thinking about it, I decide to push the bike back to the hiway and get on the on ramp that is going in the direction back to my house. I start the bike up in neutral and run along side it pushing it, then I jump on, hold the handlebars tight expecting a jolt, and hit 1st gear.... I get 1st without stalling.. Woooooohooooo. I decide to rev it , 'check' the throttle while I try for 2nd,.... Woooohooo, I get 2nd. I'm almost to the actual hiway and I powershit to 3rd.... Ok, this is easy!!! I decide to go for 4th before I hit the hiway so I can travel the 8 miles I need to go at hiway speeds in the proper gear... I powershift to 4th and I am still going strong..... not a single "clunk"

I realize that it will probably be harder to downshift, so I take a less used hiway exit and run the backroads towards my home because there's only one stop sign instead of 2 at the later exit. Im able downshift fine and I roll through the only stop sign in 2nd gear because no one's around. I make it home without a clutch from 8 miles out... Sweeeeeet!

I check my parts supply and I actually still have my old clutch cable which is still good, but doesn't have the nylon sheath like the new one, so I can actually get the bike back on the road pretty quickly, I bend a magnetic pick up and fish the cable end out of the gear box cover, so I don't have to remove it.

I then try to shorten the broken cable so I can reuse it. I sweat the broken end and the solder and cable wire come right out of the end fixture. I shorten the cable sheath and go to slide the cable end on the cable, and SPLOING... it shoots the cable end somewhere into the grass or driveway or somewhere... I grab the big magnet and search for a few hours...... Nothing.... It's lost. I have to call flanders and get a new end to fix this cable..

Rough day! A least I got home in one piece....

cjandme · Jul 6, 2015

Aint life funny sometimes, glad you made it back and thanks for posting this. How old was your "new" nylon sheathed cable?

concours · Jul 6, 2015

I've always said I MUCH rather deal with a broken clutch cable than throttle cable...

ewgoforth · Jul 6, 2015

o0norton0o said:
I went into town today. The bike ran perfectly. When I got to the exit I looked down for a second and the wind took my sunglasses right off my head. Ah $hit, they were home depot cheapo glasses. I decided to just go to home depot and get another pair. I pull off the exit and got to a stop light. The light turned green, I pulled the clutch lever and the cable snaps... Damn it!!! I push the bike over to the gas station and walk to home depot to get a pair of glasses. I think about how I can rig my clutch cable with some hardware from home depot, but there's no way to do it, so I just go back to the bike.

After thinking about it, I decide to push the bike back to the hiway and get on the on ramp that is going in the direction back to my house. I start the bike up in neutral and run along side it pushing it, then I jump on, hold the handlebars tight expecting a jolt, and hit 1st gear.... I get 1st without stalling.. Woooooohooooo. I decide to rev it , 'check' the throttle while I try for 2nd,.... Woooohooo, I get 2nd. I'm almost to the actual hiway and I powershit to 3rd.... Ok, this is easy!!! I decide to go for 4th before I hit the hiway so I can travel the 8 miles I need to go at hiway speeds in the proper gear... I powershift to 4th and I am still going strong..... not a single "clunk"

I realize that it will probably be harder to downshift, so I take a less used hiway exit and run the backroads towards my home because there's only one stop sign instead of 2 at the later exit. Im able downshift fine and I roll through the only stop sign in 2nd gear because no one's around. I make it home without a clutch from 8 miles out... Sweeeeeet!

I check my parts supply and I actually still have my old clutch cable which is still good, but doesn't have the nylon sheath like the new one, so I can actually get the bike back on the road pretty quickly, I bend a magnetic pick up and fish the cable end out of the gear box cover, so I don't have to remove it.

I then try to shorten the broken cable so I can reuse it. I sweat the broken end and the solder and cable wire come right out of the end fixture. I shorten the cable sheath and go to slide the cable end on the cable, and SPLOING... it shoots the cable end somewhere into the grass or driveway or somewhere... I grab the big magnet and search for a few hours...... Nothing.... It's lost. I have to call flanders and get a new end to fix this cable..

Rough day! A least I got home in one piece....

It's a good idea to lockwire your clutch adjuster to the perch. Otherwise it can fall in the road when your clutch cable breaks. A spare cable or one of those emergency cable repair ends won't help if you lose your adjuster. I found this out the hard way. I had to go out into the center turn lane of a busy five lane at rush hour to retrieve my adjuster once.

Eric

Danno · Jul 6, 2015

Pushed mine home about a mile one night with a broken clutch cable. After that, I always carried a spare in the headlight shell.

Jerry Doe · Jul 6, 2015

That happened to me a long time ago. This is what I use now:
http://coloradonortonworks.com/?s=hydraulic+clutch&post_type=part

Hobot · Jul 6, 2015

Ah the road wits required to ride a Commando more than once and a while. Glad you clutchless shiting is intutive easy even under pressure. A few years ago my bud Wes cable broke at the lever knuckle. He took a spare plug top cap off and used pocket knife to bore a funnel shaped hole in side cable could fit in then clipped the threaded stem off plug to screw jam cable in and it sitl waitig for it to break. Knowing I do not have his patience he gave me a cable end recuse kit to carry. Long distance Cdo dudes are known to route two clutch cables together to avoid the delays they had d/t this. A few riders even carry tire patch and tools.

o0norton0o · Jul 6, 2015

Wow, I'm really glad I posted this. Great feedback....

My new cable was 20 years old.

I am going to repair the broken nylon lined cable with new cable end from flanders. I'm also going to take the old cable and wind it inside the headlight as an emergency spare... That's such a great idea.

when my cable broke, I took the adjuster off the lever and put it in my pocket so it didn't get lost.. I knew that it might fly off with a broken cable, so I pocketed it.

It's funny that my first instinct was that I couldn't drive it home without a clutch. I was thinking about what kind of weird hardware I could get at home depot that I could cobble together to fix the clutch cable temporarily. Only after I realized that wasn't going to happen, did it strike me that I could make it home if I could get it into any gear and then pop it into neutral if I had to stop. After a few power shifts without a single "clunk" I knew I would make it home without getting picked up or towed... I timed the throttle release and the shifts really well and it went pretty smooth. The real dicey part was pushing the running bike on the hiway on ramp, jumping on, and getting 1st gear. I wondered if I would end up in the ditch. Each higher gear was easier to shift, and I was pretty happy and surprised as I approach my home. I actually turned the bike off and coasted the last half mile in neutral, down the hill to my house. It was cool having a completely silent bike except for the sound of the chain whirring...

Jerry Doe · Jul 6, 2015

When i used to use a cable, I carried a spare inside handlebars. You can fold one in half and feed it in the bars if you use roadster bars

Bernhard · Jul 6, 2015

Jerry Doe said:
When i used to use a cable, I carried a spare inside handlebars. You can fold one in half and feed it in the bars if you use roadster bars

Didn't this leave a kink in both the outer and inner cable :?:

L.A.B. · Jul 6, 2015

http://www.amazon.com/Universal-Throttl ... 6DNKR37QSC

http://www.hitchcocksmotorcycles.com/pa ... geref=5973

Jerry Doe · Jul 6, 2015

Didn't this leave a kink in both the outer and inner cable

Yes- it did leave a kink in the cable, but I think it would have worked if I needed it to get home.

Nater_Potater · Jul 6, 2015

hobot said:
A few riders even carry tire patch and tools.

Always, when on the road. There's also the hand pump from my dad's 60's Raleigh bicycle strapped to the rear frame loop, 'cause ya never know...

hobot said:
Long distance Cdo dudes are known to route two clutch cables together to avoid the delays they had d/t this.

That's a great idea! 'Saves having to pull the tank for a broken cable while out on the road. Since I was going to get a nylon-lined cable anyway, the old one will be left in place with the ends neatly tied back out of sight.

Fast Eddie · Jul 6, 2015

The easiest way to carry a spare clutch cable is coiled up inside the headlamp shell...

trident sam · Jul 6, 2015

Nater_Potater said:
hobot said:

A few riders even carry tire patch and tools.

Click to expand...

Always, when on the road. There's also the hand pump from my dad's 60's Raleigh bicycle strapped to the rear frame loop, 'cause ya never know...

hobot said:

Long distance Cdo dudes are known to route two clutch cables together to avoid the delays they had d/t this.

Click to expand...

That's a great idea! 'Saves having to pull the tank for a broken cable while out on the road. Since I was going to get a nylon-lined cable anyway, the old one will be left in place with the ends neatly tied back out of sight.

You need to cover both ends up to stop dirt etc getting in and making the cable useless (damhik)
I use fingers from disposable gloves zip tied over both ends.
sam

comnoz · Jul 6, 2015

Back in 1989 I was on my way to the LOP rally and I was around 100 miles out with my wife as a passenger. At a stoplight in a small town I felt that pop and the clutch lever fell back against the bar. No big deal -I had an extra cable.

Of course it wasn't the cable that broke -it was the center of the clutch diaphragm that broke out leaving the clutch permanently engaged.

We ended up riding the last 100 miles to the rally without a clutch -two up. I learned to stay in the right lane in town so if I got a red light I could make a RH turn after an almost stop and make a U-turn so I could make another RH turn -if I timed it right.

I ended up buying a complete MK3 at the rally so I could borrow the diaphragm for the return trip home. The bike was in boxes and the diaphragm even had the clutch depressor tool attached.

I returned to Dallas the following weekend with the truck to pick up the rest of the bike. Jim

travelerjerry · Jul 6, 2015

Spare clutch cable along side with active clutch cable. Just have to flop them when one breaks. Cable adjuster is wire tied. Peace of mind.

o0norton0o · Jul 6, 2015

without having ever experience shifting a norton gearbox without a clutch, I really didn't know what to expect, but once I got moving and got into 4th gear pretty easily I knew I could go up the gearbox pretty easily and began to relax. Then I realized that maybe I was going to have to stop at a stop sign going uphill so I went home a different way. Definately getting the bike out of gear when you want to stop is more of the safety issue then powershifting into the gear you want. I can't imagine how freaked I would be riding "2 up" without a clutch. No doubt you have to be anticipating the flow of traffic in front of you... and be prepared to make a quick "rolling right on red".... that's gotta make you focus....

comnoz · Jul 6, 2015

o0norton0o said:
without having ever experience shifting a norton gearbox without a clutch, I really didn't know what to expect, but once I got moving and got into 4th gear pretty easily I knew I could go up the gearbox pretty easily and began to relax. Then I realized that maybe I was going to have to stop at a stop sign going uphill so I went home a different way. Definately getting the bike out of gear when you want to stop is more of the safety issue then powershifting into the gear you want. I can't imagine how freaked I would be riding "2 up" without a clutch. No doubt you have to be anticipating the flow of traffic in front of you... and be prepared to make a quick "rolling right on red".... that's gotta make you focus....

Heh, what kept me focused was the kidney punches from the wife from time to time....

acotrel · Jul 6, 2015

concours said:
I've always said I MUCH rather deal with a broken clutch cable than throttle cable...

I use the twist grip off a TZ350 Yamaha with a separate cable to each carburettor. If the main cable breaks in a junction box set-up, you are pretty stuffed. There are aftermarket versions of that Yamaha twist grip available.

rough day...

o0norton0o

cjandme

concours

ewgoforth

Danno

Jerry Doe

Hobot

o0norton0o

Jerry Doe

Bernhard

L.A.B.

Moderator

Jerry Doe

Nater_Potater

Fast Eddie

trident sam

comnoz

travelerjerry

o0norton0o

comnoz

acotrel

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