Want to change stock cable to braided cable on a 2005 RK custom would love to have imformation on how to do just about riding season up here in Edmonton Canada

 

Ok. It's not that hard....Take your time....Start at the beginning....
Take your left side passenger footrest off.
Take off your derby cover.
In the middle of your clutch basket,you'll see a locknut which is 11/16" socket size.
Break that locknut loose and unscrew the allen screw in the middle of that approx. two turns.
Now, go to the center(or should i say centre)of your clutch cable and loosen up the slack in your cable to create slop in the clutch housing on your clutch lever.
take a pair of clip ring pliers and take out the clip ring holding the hinge pin on your clutch lever.(be careful not to let that clip ring fly out,you'll need it.)
Pull the pin out of the clutch housing and slide out the clutch lever.
Take the out the pin holding thr clutch cable in the clutch lever making sure you don't lose that pin.
Set a side all small parts like clip ring and pins.
Now you're going to get into the side transmission cover. Here we go......
You'll have to take out the exhaust clamp that is located right below the transmission side cover.
Put a drip pan under that side for spilage of transmission fluid....
Take a ball end allen socket and remove all of the coensiding 1/4-20 screws around the chrome clutch side cover.
Try to save the gasket... If not, replace as needed.
Now you'll take a softblow mallet and tap around the housing.
When it breaks free,let it drain out of the cover for a minute.
Look at the way the clip ring is resting in the housing.
Take a bigger set of clip ring pliers and remove that clip ring.
Becareful not to tip the cover upside down as the three bearings in the carraige may fall out.
Pull out the top clutch carraige piece that is connected the cable and carefully unhook it.
Carefully, unscrew the cable from the trans side cover.
Before you replace with new clutch cable,run it through the same places the old cable was in and make sure you install the new o-ring(pn-11190)on the cable end that goes into the trans side cover,using a lube for easy seating....
DO NOT over tighten... Bad things happen.....
Set the clutch carraige back in place(over the three bearings and in the same position it was in and reinstall clip ring in the same position.
Now reinstall cover and bolts being carefull NOT to over tighten 1/4-20 bolts...
Reinstall exhaust clamp.
Now that you have the transmission side all buttoned up...
Take the lever end of the cable and run it in the same place that your other cable was in up to the clutch perch.
Reinstall the clutch lever pin into the lever and cable holes.
Reinstall clutch hinge pin through clutch perch and clutch lever,feeding the cable housing through the hole in the clutch perch as well..
Now it's time to adjust your clutch....
Make sure the your new cable is adjusted with the most slack you can have.
Go down to your clutch adjusting screw(the allen screw you loosened up in the begining) and take your allen wrench and slowly turn the screw in til' it bottoms out. This should not be hard to turn,so you'll know when it hits the end.
When you hit that point, back that screw off about a 1/4-1/2 of a turn.
Take that 11/16" locknut and tighten.
Replace derby cover,passenger footrest.
Go to the center(centre) of your clutch cable and take the slack out of your new cable,leaving approx..an 1/8th of an inch of play in the clutch lever...
Go back to your transmission and pull out your dipstick and check fluid level....
Sorry was in a bit of a hurry but, i think i got it all.

 

Or you could put the wheels up on 2x4's and lean all the way over on the jiffy stand and you won't lose the tranny fluid (because you should have put fresh in prior to winter storage). Collapse the cable adjuster at the downtubes until the lever has total freeplay. Pull the retaining clip off with snap ring pliers and pop out the clevis pin and unhook the cable. Cut the zipties holding the cable along the route to the clutch release cover (tranny side cover). You will have to drop the exhaust to get the clutch release cover off (this will be the biggest PITA of the job). Undo the socket head bolts and pull the cover off. Take a big pair of snap ring pliers and remove the c-clip inside the cover holding the ball and ramp assembly in place. Carefully remove the ball and ramp assembly (careful not to lose the 3 ball bearings). Unhook the cable from the ramp and then unscrew the cable from the cover. Now would be a good time to install the ramps used in 2006 and later (also come in the reduced effort clutch kit). This will give you a better clutch pull. Install the cable in the reverse of what you just did to take it apart. Once you have the clutch cable all installed, put the bike up straight and remove the derby cover. Loosen the lock nut and turn the adjuster screw clockwise until it seats (feel resistance). Do this about three times to get the feel where it just starts to feel resistance. Then turn it back 1/2 turn and then tighten the lock nut. Then work the clutch lever about 3 times to seat the ball and ramps. Then tighten the cable adjuster at the downtubes until you can only pull the cable from the perch 1/16-1/8 freeplay. I use a nickel for this to determine the space. It works perfect for me in clutch engagement. You really should get a service manual for this type of work.

 

Thank you so much I am going to atempt this procedure today and again thank you. Paul from Edmonton Alberta Canada

 

Your welcome. Good luck. take your time...

 

Nice post. I am doing a custom build and didn't know where the clutch cable went into the trans, or how to install it--since it ain't a jap bike with external linkage. This was easy to find in a search. Thanks boys.

 

Just want to chime in and thank Stevelonewolf and Dawg for the excellent tips. Information that I can use right now. thanks again.

 

I know this part should be very easy but I am changing out the tran side cover and cannot get the clutch cable back in the cover. The threads won't catch for some reason. Is there some reason for this.
Very frustrated to get stuck on something that should be so simple.

thanks for all your help.

Sean

 

There is an o-ring where the cable goes in. Is it possible that you have one from the old cable stuck in the hole? Maybe it's stripped. It also has to go straight in and since it is on an angle by nature it is tricky

 

How do you tighten the cable at the trans cover when it is already hooked in at the handle as the manual suggests. The trans cover side of the cable has a fixed fitting on that end so to turn the cable fitting the entire cable has to spin with it. To get it off I had to spin the entire trans cover assembly instead of the cable.

I did that to get the threads started but didnt want to over tighten. Now I still have to make several turns to to get it tight but the cable is resisting. I followed the manual's procedure but I guess I should have tightened this end before hooking to the handle.

Thanks
Mitch