Topica Loopframe_Guzzi Archive
 

Subject: Cable Supplies

Author: joe jump

Date: Mar 8, 2005, 9:01 AM

Post ID: 1718509998


Charlie,
Good luck with finding a cable/supplies. One thing I
recently noticed, seems Flanders sells nylon-lined cables. Barnett used
to sell nylon lined clutch cables for Nortons & they were junk. You
would loose half of the lever travel taking slack out of the cable once
they were loaded up, and it seems the nylon lining was real soft & the
cable would deform it, split it, and/or shread it, causing the cable to
bind up inside the housing. I also seem to recall that certain
lubricants had negative effects on them. They were somewhat easy to
identify-they had a large diameter housing & a stiff wire cable. The new
style Barnett is just the opposite; the housing is a medium sized
diameter and very stiff, while the cable is very flexible. I have one on
my Commando now & it works great.



Charlie Mullendore wrote:
 
Thanks for the input Joe! I was looking at the Flanders website for
their materials for making cables also - they have a very nice
assortment. Just gotta' figure out what I need! Still have to look
through the cables I got from Dave Otis a few years back, might be
something useful in there. Already found a NOS front pair for the V7
Sport and maybe a couple of rear ones too. Cheers,

joe jump wrote:
 
Charlie,

Yes, the new cables are spongy, and the compression-style
brake light switch makes it even worse. In an attempt to loose some of
the spongyness in my cable I unsoldered the barrel at the handlebar end
& removed the switch. I replaced it with a 1/4 x 20 coupling nut. I was
able to cut a couple threads on the ferrel ends that originally went
into the switch which allowed me to thread the coupling nut onto the
housings. Then I covered the whole mess with black heat shrink tubing.
It helped some but not much.

If you're going to make up cables, Barnett has some good
materials. They have a real stiff housing available and some good
flexible cable that doesn't seem to stretch. I had them make up a couple


cables to replace the pair for the front brake of my V-7 Sport; the oem
ones were junk. It was $25 each for them to make 'em, but the bulk
material is available - may even be a distributor in the DC/Balto area.




Good Luck!

Joe in St Louis
850T-Powered Ambo


Charlie Mullendore wrote:
 
Thanks Pat. Thought about that as a last resort. May try another cable
first (maybe the factory original cable still on the '69). This is the
first cable I've had with the switch in it - are they all rather spongey



feeling? Or is it more the cable construction?


 


Charlie Mullendore wrote:
 Then there's the brake cable problem. Put it on and even with maximum
slack adjusted in, the brakes drag. Cable was fully seated in both
adjusters and switch, the levers (on the backing plate) are in the same
position they came off (the same as my '69's). Seems like the inner
cable is too short or outer is too long. Any ideas?

Patrick Hayes wrote:
 
 
 I've seen some problems like this in the past. Carefully peel back the
end of the outer cable, maybe even pull off the end ferrule if you can.
If you work slowly and carefully with a Dremel tool and a thin, red
cutoff wheel, you can cut off 1/8" or so of the outer spiral housing and




thus build some slack into the system. You have to be VERY slow and
careful not to nick the inner cable. There will be lots of abrassive
dust from the project, so inject some cleaner and blow it out with air
from the opposite end to flush the debris.



Charlie
http://www.loopframeguzzi.com/



Joe in St Louis
850T-Powered Ambo

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