Wednesday, 4 December 2024

FH - finishing the clutch

 Grabbing a few moments in the workshop, sorting out some knobs for the wardrobe I was able to give the FH a little bit of time clearing up the deck of the hydraulic lift and terminating the clutch cable. 

Over the years I've accumulated a collection of nipples and ferrules for cables along with a couple of adjusters and other bits and pieces which I keep in this little box.


The first job when terminating the clutch cable is to fix the pear nipple to the gearbox end, clamping the bare cable in the die and mushrooming the end, with the nipple in place of course.


You pull the nipple down to the mushroom the end of the cable holding it in the vise nipple down. Then you can use a large soldering iron to heat the nipple, dunk it in flux and apply some solder. Don't be tempted to use a gas torch because you will overheat the cable and ruin the temper. Probably the first time you will find out about this is when the cable breaks at a traffic light or while you're sitting behind a car.


If you are sparing with the solder you can make a nice little job without any extra work. You might need to run a file over the end of the nipple in case you've been a bit enthusiastic with the solder.


Hopefully you haven't got any solder on the shank of the nipple, stopping it fitting in the clutch lever.


I terminated the lever end at the handlebar with a brass nipple because I didn't want to use the diecast zinc nipple that was supplied with the cable. I have no idea whether the cable was properly terminated inside that nipple or not - perhaps I should cut it apart and have a look. 

Here's the bike as it stands today - I'm going to have to buy a new clutch dome or at least replate the original one shown here. For some reason the screws won't tighten down on the dome - it appears that they are a fraction too long or are expecting to use shake proof washers.




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