Ugh, stay away from those aftermarket cables.

[Mongrel]

Little while ago I picked up two of the aftermarket knock-off clutch cables. You can tell they're not the OEM ones as they have a big fat rubber gator at the head where they go into the handle instead of the small round rubber cup of the OEM ones. The end gator where they connect to the clutch lever is also short and does not fully cover the cable.

Anyway, both cables wound up snapping at the head on me, with less than a year's wear on either. And yes, I lubed them properly. The second one was even quite generously greased.

Stay away from the damn things! They're $15  cheaper, but they sure as hell ain't worth it even at that price!

[Chaos]

any name on them or where you got them?

[Mongrel]

Can't recall where I bought them (went and checked the storage closet with all my bike spares... turned out to be a good excuse to clean it up since it's been a mess for a while  :beehive:), but I did find an image:



Looks like Venhill is the manufacturer?

Jokes about British manufacturing aside, I'm surprised that British-made stuff would turn out to be such junk. If I'd bought Chinese-made cables I wouldn't have batted an eye at this happening. Then again everything is outsourced these days, so who knows.

EDIT: Finally found the old email. Was an ebay purchase (motorworksBMW), but I don't think the seller is anything but a regular old parts wholesaler.

[jjs1234]

I got those. Did they snap when you used the clutch to up the kickstand?

[Martin]

Have a look to see if it's a problem caused by a worn lever. If the hole where the nipple is located is worn it can catch on the cable in the slot where the cable runs causing it to wear and eventually break. Also JJS's suggestion can also cause the cable to break.
Regards Martin.

[Mongrel]

I got those. Did they snap when you used the clutch to up the kickstand?

Nope, I pretty much never pull the kickstand in with the clutch and kick it up like any other hobo. Was just riding along, changing gears as normal. I was two minutes from hitting the expressway when the last one snapped too. Eeee...

Have a look to see if it's a problem caused by a worn lever. If the hole where the nipple is located is worn it can catch on the cable in the slot where the cable runs causing it to wear and eventually break. Also JJS's suggestion can also cause the cable to break.
Regards Martin.

I had a prelimininary look at the lever and haven't seen anything yet; seems smooth and undamaged. Could be something I've missed and I'm sure I'll look again, but seems doubtful.

Interestingly, when I threw out the junk cable, I noticed that somewhere in the middle of the cable, the sheath was already wearing through. The OEM cable has an extra layer of sheathing over the midsection to prevent just that, so another + for OEM over these things.

[Laitch]

Was just riding along, changing gears as normal. I was two minutes from hitting the expressway when the last one snapped too. Eeee...

They need a little more O in their OCD.

[jjs1234]

Well just keep a spare with you at all times.

Its what I do.

[Mongrel]

Yep, same here. I just swapped out roadside (with an OEM one I had, I might add) and rode home.

Need to pick up new spares now, but hey, I hear the Pound is cheap now and I often order from Motobins anyway...  :yes