Clutch Cable Modification

[walker]

This might be old news - but I figured I would share what I did in the midst of servicing the front suspension (hey - this tiger was stored outside and I have has most of it in pieces, fixing things, rewiring part of the harness where mice decided wire insulation is a good meal, etc).

Ok - so I got a used 2000 tiger, and it had the clutch cable replaced under warranty by the previous owner. That means that the cable was new.

BUT - the clutch release always seemed to drag - when you release the lever, it moved kind of slow. Same when I was pulling the lever in - it seemed to have some kind of resistance, other than the clutch springs.

Could be the dealer fitted it up with a used cable. Could be a bad cable. Don't know!

What I figured was - the sharp bend near the pivot arm was not doing any good for the issue.... so I bought a clutch cable from a 1050 tiger and fitted it up. I'm one of those parts interchange people.

You have to route the cable differently - the 1050 has a retention clip that won't fit on the casing of the 885, but a zip tie does the trick. The  routing from above the motor is the same as the stock position. The end at the perch doesn't fit all the way in, but it works just fine with the stock adjuster (if you're really up for some $$ spent, get the entire clutch perch from a 1050, and just screw in your old mirror - I think that entire assembly is around $75 with the lever?).

Much better clutch feel. You can feel the friction point a lot easier through thicker gloves - easier to modulate - and that little bit of drag was causing pain in my hand after about 3 hours of riding road where I wanted to shift more often.... all fixed now!

Another additional fix - the clutch lifter arm on the motor side of the 2006 tiger is a different design than the 2005 and earlier - it is longer by 10mm. For the 955 motor, the clutch cable retainer at the clutch cover is angled different, so you can buy a new piece.... for the 885 motor, you have to change the angle by 10 degrees (use a screwdriver as a lever to bend it). MUCH better. For the 885 you may have to bend the end of the lifter a bit to get it to clear - not an issue! I'll post pics later... those parts (With a gasket) cost about $80.

I tried several routing options - this one seems to work the best.... keeps the cable in place, doesn't bind with movement of the handlebars, isn't in the way of the instruments.

Anyway - this is about the cable - so here are pics.

Almost a straight shot - no rubbing or weird angles. Cable part # is newer, so it should be available longer (hopefully).



a nice long run and a gentle bend before going up into the motor area. Much larger radius curve for smoother operation.



Zip tie to keep it from moving around. I love zip ties.



Into the area of the frame where the original cable went.... the rest is just like the original cable.

[Stretch]

Good mod.  Thanks for the write-up and pics.

[darmah]

for a guy that likes z ties, a less expensive fix was to run the cable from clutch cover mount more diagonally up, under the gas tank, then above the tank guide up the right side of the wire/cable guide, z tied here, and back left to a straight in insert to the clutch perch. The tie to the guide can be moved around to keep the cltch cable out of view from the instruments.
 On my 3rd cable now, averaging 50k on each. BTW my back up cable is from a Yam '74 TX-650. Always gets me home.

[walker]

I thought about that with the original cable - less bends at the lever end.... but I liked the newer cable - the straight end at the clutch lifter, and it seems it's made of some better material in the jacket - so it's a lot smoother than the older design.

That's a good tip if people want to try untangling the original cable and route it differently near the triple tree (I did try that - with some halfway decent results).

I did finally get my newer release lever thing from bikebandit - from the 2006 model - the only thing I need to figure out is how to mount the end of the cable so that it is in line with the longer lever. for the 955 engine, it's easy - you can order the correct part - for the 885, you have to modify the part (which I could do - I have a welder - I was hoping to find a fix that people who DON'T weld could use too...). I think if this was done right, the feel and ease would be close to that of the bonneville - I can use 2 fingers on that clutch, all day in the city, and it's great!

Good tip though - appreciate the response to the thread - something that is cheap and easy to try BEFORE laying out some $$$