Yay! got me bike :) Lower clutch cable abutment broken/welded/bodged?

Yay!! Got meself an SV now

Just brought home a new toy, a naked K4 on an 05 plate, in blue
Just had a quick ride round the drive ( its a big drive ) and it felt ok, but almost dropped the fekker twice on the loose chips.

Anyway, once I got it home and had a better look at it, i`ve noticed a curious repair on which I wondered if it was a weak spot on SV`s. Basically the clutch end of the clutch cable, behind a plastic cover, the cable outer is held by a steel bracket which has been welded to the alloy clutch cover. I`m assuming there should be a part of the alloy casting where the cable should be held, that has snapped and someone has strengthened it with steel.

I`m going to have a proper look at it tommorrow and take some covers off and have a good poke about the bike in general and may well have a few more questions, but also where does everyone install a scottoiler ? Mines has it underneath the pillion seat but all the wiring and plastics in that area are covered with oil now

I also need to source a cover for the toolkit as mines is underneath the seat, and I also have a curious bit of curved plastic to fit somewhere.

Happy days tho

Let the fun begin,hope the weather picks up for you

[fastdruid]

It should look something like this:

(this is a curvy btw but the pointy is near identical)

Druid

[Sid Squid]

Could you perhaps get a picture?

There should be a cylindrical section into which the threaded lower cable adjuster fits, and the lifter is fixed to two projections on the generator casing by two 10mm headed bolts.

Awaiting a picture of the relevant bits of your bike with interest...

Yeah i`m going to take the plastic cover off tomorrow and post up a pic but i`ve not long finished for the day and am knackered.
But, from druids pic, the part of the alloy casting which is holding the threaded adjuster for the outer cable, on my bike is steel. It looks like a bit of flat steel welded to the edge of the alloy crankcase.

The bike does have about 25k miles on it but with a full service history, and mostly looks clean, apart from the scottoiler oil and this clutch thing.
There is a slight noise when you release the clutch lever bit its not very loud. Just sounds like the gears going round inside the gearbox, but I assume they all do that ?

[fastdruid]

Worst case (and that's assuming you bother to 'fix' it) it's a new alternator cover, not a massive thing and while a touch pricey direct from suzuki, enough turn up on ebay to not be that bad.

Druid

Went out and took the cover off and got a pic.
I was wrong, it is alloy not steel, looked like steel with the cover on and some filth on it. But its still been welded tho......






Also, whats this bit of plastic for ? The keys are there to give a guide as to the size of it, I know what keys do

[fastdruid]

Yep, someone's broken it and welded it back, as long as it works I'd leave it but be on the lookout for a replacement alternator cover on ebay....

As for the bit of plastic, dunno, I have a curvy.

Druid

Originally Posted by fastdruid

Yep, someone's broken it and welded it back, as long as it works I'd leave it but be on the lookout for a replacement alternator cover on ebay....

As for the bit of plastic, dunno, I have a curvy.

Druid

Any ideas why it would break though ?
I mean it looks to be a pretty tough casting, and if its not a common fault, I`m wondering if someones boloxed something, hence why I mentioned the noise when I release the clutch lever.

[fastdruid]

Originally Posted by Miss_Undaztood

Any ideas why it would break though ?
I mean it looks to be a pretty tough casting, and if its not a common fault, I`m wondering if someones boloxed something, hence why I mentioned the noise when I release the clutch lever.

At a guess yes, someone's boloxed something. All sorts of ways it could have gone. As for the noise, pretty much all bikes have some more noise with the clutch out than in, especially older ones, mostly due to the clutch release bearing (although my VFR rattles like hell if the carbs aren't balanced).

I wouldn't worry overly much about it though, clutch problems are pretty cheap and easy to sort (relatively speaking), not that I'd expect problems at 25k, my VFR's clutch I'm pretty sure was original and was still working at ~65k, I'm not easy on clutches either.

Druid