[Superchuck]

So my '09 AVL came from the dealer with the curved AVL clutch cable.  http://bulletwala.com/index.php/catalog/product/view/id/4167/s/5-speed-electra-royal-enfield-clutch-cable-550211-b/category/16/

The dealer mistakingly sent me home with a spare straight clutch cable.

I have a neighbor with an '06 AVL that needs a new clutch cable.  He bought his from an individual and it had the straight clutch cable on it.  Clutch cable replacement has historically been a problem with his bike.  I've bought myself a replacement curved AVL clutch cable so I'm going to give neighbor my spare straight cable to put on his bike. 

Was there a particular year of AVL where they transitioned to the curved clutch cable (see above link) or has it always used that curved one? 

Can the fact that neighbor's bike's previous owner always put straight cables on it have attributed to the frequency of cable breaks? 

If neighbor puts on a curved AVL cable next time (see above link) do you wager he'd experience less frequent cable breaks?

thanks!

chuck

[Superchuck]

and by 'curved' i'm referring to the hard 'noodle' housing that protrudes out from the gearbox end...   

[xxxxxx]

No one wants to venture a guess Superchuck. You're in uncharted waters. 

Now that's it's installed we'll see if it'll go more than a year without failure.

[UncleErnie]

I suppose the curved part may get the cable up into the bike sooner...
I have straight and no problems.

The breakage thing depends on where the cable has been breaking.
I have sanded down the square edges inside my levers.  These edges push hard against the cable in an attempt to cut them.  Rounding those edges off spreads the pressure out over a longer surface.
Also;  I go to my pharmacy and he sells me a syringe and big nedle for a qaurter.  Put ATF in there and it's a quick shot to lube the cable.  Add some grease for the barrel/lever area. 

[Superchuck]

The mystery continues... Rob-Bot's bike has a new clutch cable but we saw four totally different cables in the process... the cable i bought as a replacement for my AVL clutch cable still didn't look like the one i have on my bike currently (mine has the mid-cable adjuster, not just at the gearbox end) and the new one also doesn't have the curve at the bottom like mine.  It works though so that's all that matters.  Weirdly, it has a brass bend near where it goes into the hand lever, for no apparent reason (and the cable's not attached in reverse).  The mystery continues.

Rob-Bot's clutch lever is super hard to pull compared to mine, and his shifting is still more difficult. 

What is the "clutch throwout," and how do you adjust that?

...like i said it's working now, but could be better...

chuck

[UncleErnie]

It's the small screw and lock nut under the "5-Speed" plate- but that only adjusts when the clutch engages.
If he has a really touph clutch, I'm guessing someone put the wrong springs in his clutch (too stiff).  Might it be that his cable is routed in such a way that kinks or squeezes it?  Between the tank and frame spine maybe?

[Superchuck]

It was really tight even before we did the cable replacement (before the old cable broke),

I also read last night about the dangers of riding downhill fast with the clutch engaged... that it might 'friction-weld' a bearing to some clutch push-rod apparatus (as you can tell i'm rather unfamiliar with this area of the bike) could that be something that makes a clutch lever hard to pull?

Lastly, could old dirty primary or gearbox oil be a culprit in this?

Rob-Bot doesn't have the leisurely day-job like me that permits incessant forum posting.  If you haven't yet discovered it i'm kinda into this sort of thing.  Just tryin to 'help a brotha out'

chuck

[boggy]

Not only do they come in curved and uncurved, but the little nub at the end can be different.  I had the same issue ordering a new clutch cable.

First they sent me the straight one with the wrong "nub' at the end.  I had to call and describe exactly what I needed.  Check out this pic below. The hourglass one did not fit in the throw lever of my 2007 Electra:

http://www.enfieldmotorcycles.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=4933.0;attach=4388;image

Here's the thread I started about it as well.
http://www.enfieldmotorcycles.com/forum/index.php/topic,4933.0.html

[Superchuck]

Thanks boggy,  I think i came across your thread before a while back.  The new cable has hourglass gbox end, as did his previous one, BUT the previous one was put on by a prior owner who may or may not have known what he was doing.  It was difficult to fit the hourglass in his throw lever but a cat-handed friend of hours managed to persuade it.

About to order some extra clutch cables, so maybe a phone call is in order.  I'll read up on your post also-

Thanks all!

chuck

[Superchuck]

To mention also is that my dealer sent me home with a spare clutch cable for my bike but it's nothing like mine.... it's just a LITTLE too short (we tried it on Rob-Bot's bike the other day) and it has that non-hourglass plug at the gbox end.  Figure it is for an IB so i'm going to offer it for free to a nearby enfielder (MotoJ, you interested?)

[UncleErnie]

What's an "IB"?

Ask the PO if he put heavy duty springs in there.  
Unless it's turned to hard tar, the cleanliness of the oil won't have naythng to do with how hard it is to pull the lever.

[Superchuck]

good plan,

Would new oils make 'extra tough shifting' any easier?  (please be a simple fix)  i've already read your post (U.E.) about the shift lever hanging up on the bolt... don't think it's that, but maybe just related to this throwout/cable adjustment thing.

The previous owner said he broke cables annually, but i sincerely doubt he did anything like upgrade/change the springs 

[UncleErnie]

That was the shifter- not the clutch. 
No- an oil change isn't going to change anything.

Have you tried this clutch yourself?  maybe he's just a weenie who needs to work out a little?
Is the cable singing "Bern Free" from one end to the other?
If so, my next move would be to take the cover off and look in there.  Maybe the actuating lever was put in up-side down>  Maybe he lost a ball bearing like I did (for a while)?  Bent arm? 
Maybe he just needs to lube the cable?
Anything weird in the perch- does the lever move in and out with complete ease? 

I'm 75% convinced the wrong springs are in there. 

[Superchuck]

Haha yes I have ridden the bike, prior to and after we did the cable change.  Rob-Bot's just psyched the bike is rideable again after only 5 days of unbroken enfield ownership.  It is a noticeable difference from my bike, and me being who i am I really just want to understand the thing.  It seems unnecessarily hard to engage the clutch. 

I'll try and get the info about changed springs from the previous owner. 

Another point of note is that after we installed the cable we had to tighten it significantly at the gearbox end just to take up the slack (there was a ton of play in the clutch lever) and initially when riding it that way you couldn't get it into any gear besides first (without just forcing it at higher speeds, matched RPM's) figured it needed tightening, so I tightened (screwed Out) the clutch level barrel adjuster about as far as it'd go, and at that point the bike would shift fairly normally into gears.  Still clunkier than my bike, and that difficult lever pull persisted like always.  Like i said, rideable, but not ideal. 

We're not going to go digging around in there til after he takes the MD bar exam he's been studying for but I'll also try and make sure the cable isn't pinched on anything.  Maybe throw a little more lube down inside the housing just to make sure...

Now to research some more about throwout adjustment (i think that nut got messed with when the cover came off the gearbox hole.)

Thanks again!

Chuck

[Ice]

Chuck My bullet went through a period of eating clutch cables every two weeks.

 I could tell by the cable end what the problem was but could not afford the down time and so went through a few cables before the fix.

 The cable ends were a tad bit oversize and fit the arm snugly also the slot in the clutch release arm had no chamfer so the cable end lug did not pivot in the arm end thus putting considerable flex stress on the cable right at the end lug.

 Here's a thread on it. http://www.enfieldmotorcycles.com/forum/index.php/topic,9395.0.html

No problems since.

Hope this is of some help.