Triumphrat

vancbc · 05-10-2009, 09:41 PM

Hi All,

I'm aware of the recall on the clutch/assembly for the 01 Speed Triple. Running a VIN check shows the recall work to be done. But I have gone through 2 cables in less then 1 year (Only owned the bike for 1 year).

Anyone know how to check the control/equipment to ensure it was done? I removed the lever assembly from the bars, inspection shows major wear on the inside of unit, cable rub is obviously the cause.

Also, any advice on how to approach Triumph dealer with getting this taken care of? I plan to bring in the lever assembly and ask their advice, I don't want to bring the bike in since it is not ridable and a major hassle.

Luckily I was able to limp off major roadways to a side street and stall to a stop, but that could have been much worse on a busy highway.

Interestingly enough, when I did this clutch cable last year, I thought... hmm maybe I should get a second cable, then figured, oh it will be a few years before I will need to carry a second....

... wrong.

Thanks in advance!

om4 · 05-11-2009, 07:25 PM

Hi vancbc,

For my '01 S3, as a part of recall items, the Triumph dealer installed a new clutch cable during the 12,000 mile service a few years ago. With the new cable, the clutch pull became smoother and the difference was quite obvious.

As for the clutch perch, I am using the original item that came with the bike, and with occasional greasing on the contact/stress parts inside the perch (I use DuPont teflon white lithium grease), it has worked well. The bike has over 20,000 miles now.

vancbc · 05-11-2009, 07:57 PM

Thank Om4. Good to know that they didn't replace any of the lever assembly, although mine shows pretty good wear. I tried to snap a few pics with camera on phone but it really doesn't like close up shots.

So there is some wear on the lever itself, arrow indicating. And the threads that hold the barrel are almost non-existent due to wear, even the inside of the adjuster barrel itself is wearing pretty thin.

I now have 24k miles on the bike... about 3k miles since last swap. It could be a matter of not lubing the clutch cable, although the bike has never seen rain in that time and always stored in a shed or similar I wouldn't expect the lifetime to be only a year.

It seems that the 'angle's of the lever to the base are not correct... it might be cause for a pazzo upgrade.

om4 · 05-11-2009, 08:18 PM

It does seem like, based on the photo, that alignment is off. The wear appears excessive. Even if you go with a Pazzo, if the perch is somehow tweeked, the cable might suffer the same stress....

Then there is this beauty: http://www.motostrano.com/crgsuclleas.html

03Speed3 · 05-11-2009, 08:23 PM

Has the bike been down or has the left handlebar been run into a doorway or something? Wear like that looks to come from some serious misalignment.
I think if you bring the VIN to the dealer they will be able to find out if that bike has had the warrantee work completed.
I would replace the perch and levers along with a new cable, lube it up and carry a spare cable until I was pretty sure i had found the problem. Breaking down sucks.

vancbc · 05-11-2009, 09:14 PM

Yeah, it is really odd. Visually checking the alignment it looks all square and proper. Looking at the underside of the lever shows a bit of wear, but nothing excessive.

That I know of it hasn't been down at speed. But I have noticed some touch up paint on the left/clutch side of the rear fairing, so possible that it has gone down a slow speeds and bent something in the lever/assembly.

I'll head into the the dealer near me at lunch tomorrow(closed Mondays) and see what they think. I have to check brake pads etc, so it might end up being a big shopping order at bikebandit.com

Pazzo is about 45 min from here, but apparently they don't care much for the drop-in, otherwise I'd ask their advice also...

That CRG is a nice looking lever, but man is it pricey, I can't convince myself to buy that right now. Unless I add up a $50 clutch cable once a year, it will pay for itself in just 5 short years.

Thanks for the advice all!

DEcosse · 05-11-2009, 09:25 PM

You might consider the 05+ cable - it has much less torturous route, without the bends at either end.
Check out the picture gallery in the stickies to see how it routes.
You'll see that it just crosses over to the right side and straight down to the clutch actuator rod.
I think you might need the bracket at the bottom end also.

vancbc · 05-12-2009, 12:03 AM

Thanks, not a bad idea, this pic shows it well : http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/5...ture0117xo.jpg

As does this : http://www.triumphrat.net/attachment...rs_buckets.jpg

I'll check how it routes at the dealer tomorrow. Our gauge cluster is larger I think so not sure how it will route around it, it appears the 05+ run down the center.

DEcosse · 05-12-2009, 03:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vancbc

... Our gauge cluster is larger I think so not sure how it will route around it...

Remember that your bars cable and instrument cluster all move together as a unit so as long as it makes its way through, no matter as it does not have to rub back & forth against it as your steering turns .....

Incidentally that CRG - that is a racing application - has no clutch switch facility.

I actually have CRG levers on mine - at that time (not sure if still the case) there was no Pazzo and no application on CRG for the Triumph clutch lever - I swapped out the Triumph clutch perch for a Kawasaki unit.

vancbc · 05-13-2009, 01:37 PM

Ok, so thanks for all for the advice.

I brought in my lever to the dealer near me, they took a look at it and agreed that all looks normal/straight/aligned, did acknowledge the wear as 'normal' for a bike with 24k miles. We discussed the cable that broke after just one year, they figure I was given an old cable by the previous dealer in Massachusetts. I'm not sure if I find it likely, but when I pulled the old cable out it did not have any Triumph part numbers listed on it, nor did it when I installed it. Also, there were some slight differences in the lower end of the cable itself.

Do all Triumph cables have a part number printed on them?

So end of the day, I bought another '01 cable and installed it, one thing they said was to grease the bar/stop that is inserted into the lever, that if it is unable to 'rotate' as the lever moves that it will put pressure on the location where the cable attaches. I figure that is a reasonable suggestion, one I did not do previously.

So I'm going to buy a second/backup cable from bikebandit, probably an '05+ and route it around the gas tank as per new bikes and see how long this one lasts. A big part of this is my curiousness to what caused it to break... so maybe I will know more in 1 year!

Thanks again!