A broken clutch cable can throw you off guard. But can you still ride your bike back home? Read on!
Seasoned riders know that snapping of a clutch cable is rare occurrence if you follow (not very difficult) maintenance process.
Grease your cables once or twice a year and have them changed after every 30,000 kms and you are likely to never have the misfortune of snapping a cable while on a ride.
The obvious signs are the fraying of the cable over a period of time.
You can keep an out for it during every service during your pre ride bike inspection. However a cable doesn't occupy much space when you pack for a long ride where you know you may not have easy access to a mechanic en-route.
The broken clutch cable
Technically it is possible to reach home safely with a broken clutch cable but you cannot stop quickly without a clutch. It's difficult to use the bike's brakes to the fullest with the bike in gear. Stopping at signals could altogether become a tricky task so it's better to keep riding in a safe lane on the side of the road in case you are riding on an express way.
The best thing you can do is to get a spare cable and zip-tie it to the current one. In case your cable snaps all you have to do is to hook-up both ends & you are on your way home.
Shifting
Clutchless shifting is a matter of matching with the rpm. While in the midst of an upshift, you have to ease on the throttle for a minute as you switch into the next gear. All you need to do is to put a bit of upward pressure before rolling off the fuel; it will just slip right into place.
Downshifting on the other hand is a bit tougher but doesn't mean that it isn't doable. As you drop gears, you need to rev the engine up a little.
However the most difficult part would be shifting from first to second gear. The best option is to let the throttle drop, shift to neutral and then shift to second once you are at the right rpm. It's definitely a smooth shift if you get it right but bad if you get it wrong.
Coming to a stop
On a lighter note, it's a difficult feat to achieve without pissing off the driver behind you. When you see an approaching traffic signal, brake early and keep downshifting.
That way you can approach the signal at a slow speed but sometimes it gives you enough time for the signal to turn green so you don't have to kill the engine entirely.
You can go really slowly without letting the engine die and it will sputter & jerk in first gear but it will definitely pull ahead.
Stopping and starting
If it's absolutely necessary to stop in the street, you might have just these two choices:
When you approach a stop, shift into neutral which will leave the bike running.
The easiest way is to go down to first and then bring the gear back up to neutral.
Then you duck walk the bike to get it moving, shift into first gear and ride off.
Keeping the rev in idle mode when you shift to first will help accelerate.
Get as slow as possible in first gear and then kill the engine.
Alternately you can slowly break until the engine dies.
But the downside is when you're ready to start your engine won't be running, a minor inconvenience but manageable.
All you need to do is this:
- Shift into first gear
- Make sure the clutch lever is pulled in at the handlebar
- Ensure the side stand is up
- Push the starter button. It will cause the initial movement to be rough but when the engine catches up, release the starter button and ride on.
However the obvious thing is to stick to the side of the roads or back lanes if you ever happen to be caught in such a situation. Riding with a broken clutch cable is possible but with patience and the above learned techniques.
