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Got an issue with the clutch cable on my 883 L (07).
How can I stop it rubbing on the outside of the left fork leg?
I have made a cable clamp out of polished aluminium which moves it 2" away from the down tube, but the cable is still pushing against the fork leg. The clamp is similar to those that fit around the downtube.
Is there a cable guide available which fits to the top or bottom yoke somehow which will get it off the fork leg?
OK, Harley clutch cables are not that flexible, and even though the operation is perfectly OK, having to change a ruined fork leg would be a bit annoying.
I am sure I have stock bars and I have looked at other same model photos (supposedly stock) and the cable normally runs up the outside of the left downtube and is held in place with a clip top and bottom.
With it in the stock position the pressure of the cable on the fork is worse than with the clamp I made.
The cable is correctly adjusted, but it is very taut / springy.
I tried a re-route through the yokes on the inside of the left fork, but it rubs on the headlamp shell and it is tight on right full lock.
I am thinking that a rubber tube sliced down the middle might be the only answer. Tried spiral wrap, but the pressure is enough to loosen it.
You are quite right old chap, that cable is stiff - more like a semi-rigid thing in fact! The problem may simply be that your cable is not following the stock route, from bars to engine. Do you have non-stock bars? Perhaps a PO has messed around with things. On my 2011 883L, with original bars, the cable goes inside the left fork leg and is only secured, to the left frame tube, in two places, using metal clips. They also secure the harness, but if they are absent simply use large zip-ties. Hope that helps!
Although the 2008 FSM calls for the cable to routed to outboard side of left front fork slider tube I have fitted it inside and with the steering straight the cable doesn't touch the forks.
It does seem odd that on the 2017 bikes there is a cable guide on the 1200s but not the 883. For the 883 the cable goes on the outboard side of the forks but the 1200s it goes Inboard.
Last edited by Andy from Sandy; Sep 12, 2019 at 07:46 AM.
Looks familiar! See those two clips on your frame tube, retaining the harness? My Clutch cable passes through both of those and to the other side of the fork leg. Strange if your cable won't do the same. I don't have that alloy clamp near your crash-bar (though I do have a similar crash-bar!).
I have the two clips and they were how the cable was attached up the outside of the left downtube.
I removed the cable from the clips leaving the harness in them, and made the clamp to move the cable away from the frame and hopefully away from the fork.....but it didn't get it off the fork.
As the cable route is as shown in the photos, even if I turn the wheel to straight ahead or to full right lock, the cable is still against the fork leg.
I'm wondering if my handlebars aren't the stock OEM items, because the cable definitely doesn't like being between the forks.
I have even rotated the cable at both ends so in theory any bend that is stuck in memory should move away from the fork leg, but it just drops back to exactly the same place.
I've owned Harleys a long time. It's as if those cables are still being made in the same factory in a quiet back-water somewhere in Wisconsin, but nobody knows where! Once they take a set they won't change shape.....
That doesn't look like a stock length cable. It is looped way to far in front of the bars. Mine runs up the clamps on the frame that are holding the wire harness and then goes between the tank and the top triple tree. They may have changed the cable at some point for the bars. You might want to measure and see if you can find a shorter cable to fix the problem.
That doesn't look like a stock length cable. It is looped way to far in front of the bars. Mine runs up the clamps on the frame that are holding the wire harness and then goes between the tank and the top triple tree. They may have changed the cable at some point for the bars. You might want to measure and see if you can find a shorter cable to fix the problem.
A simple way to do that would be to disconnect the cable at the lever, then run it by the correct route and see if there is any left over! That will identify how long a cable would be best.
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Clutch Cable Problem
