be carefull with clutch cables... A friend of mine almost had an accident with his bike because of a broken clutch cable.
It's cheap and easy to replace.
Well spotted cyphron, quick work, but more importantly, an excellent report with great photos.
Goes to show the benefits of preventative maintenance
What susprises me is that your clutch cable should be in this condition with so few
miles Kilometres on her.
Clearly age is a factor in the life of a cable as well as use.
I think I should also recommend another job for you (you'll be an aNTy expert soon). Considering all of these little maintenance issues you're uncovering.
Change your brake fluid (front and back) (this is recommended every 18 months) and while you are at it, clean and grease the sliders on the floating calipers. Read your Haynes Manual Chapter 7 before any work on your brakes.
Brake fluid is easy (but can be messy).
Caution - Brake Fluid makes a good paint stripper - wipe any spills off immediately and wash with lots of clean waterPreparation and tools required:
Start off with a clean and dry bike (then you do not get dirt in the system and can see if you get fluid on the bike).
Bottle of new DOT 4 Hydraulic Fluid (1 litre bottle will be big enough). Do not shake the bottle. (If it does get shaken up, let it stand for 24 hours to allow any air bubbles to settle out)
Phillips (Cross Head Screwdriver)
Brake nipple spanner (these are special ring spanners, but a good quality 8mm spanner will do - ideally ring spanner in case the nipple is stuck)
Tube to fit on the nipple, at least 200mm long (for a beginner it is helpful to have clear tube then you can see the fluid coming out)
Clear container to catch the old fluid
A bucket of clean water and some rags (to help wash away any spills).
An attractive assistant
Plentiful supplies of hot tea
Bike on the centre stand if you have one
Start with the front (because it's easy to see everything)
tube on to the nipple
pour a little brake fluid in your container (say 20mm)
remove the two cross head screws on the front brake master cylinder
carefully remove the top, plastic inner and rubber membrane from the master cylinder (these will be wet with brake fluid) and place to one side.
Hold the container up so that the end of the tube is at the bottom of the fluid.
Slacken the bleed nipple, then tighten just enough to stop fluid coming back out
squeeze the front brake lever and hold it in gently
open the nipple just enough so that fluid comes out (the brake lever will come in to the handlebar)
close the nipple
release the brake lever, then squeeze again
open the nipple, the brake lever will "come in" again
Repeat this process and every squeeze of the brake lever will push a little fluid out of the tube. Keeping the end of the tube in the fluid and the nipple closed when you do not have pressure in the system will
prevent air getting into the brake line.
Keep a careful eye on the level in the master cylinder,
do not let it empty, top up when required.
You should hopefully see a difference in colour when the new fluid comes through the tube. If not, estimate how much fluid is in the master cylinder, then allow at least three times that volume to come through into the container.
Tighten bleed nipple, remove tube. Confirm level in master cylinder then replace rubber diaphragm, plastic plate and master cylinder top cover. Check for any leaks, then squeeze brake lever hard and check for leaks (system under pressure). Road test bike in a safe area.
Repeat process for rear brake. The master cylinder is much smaller and behind the right side of the rear seat panel.
The sliders are part of the calipers and discussed in Chapter 7. Personally, I've found it useful to clean these and apply a little grease once per year, but it is not one of their programmed maintenance tasks. The rubber bushes that slide on the sliders do perish so be careful when stripping the calipers. Wemoto sell them at under £3 each (plus P&P) (there are two in each caliper).
Did you manage a replacement for the gauze filter in your air filter yet?
Did you
