V85tt clutch vs arthritis

[guzzimaster]

  Arthritis is making it very difficult to ride these days. I've got a new-ish cable and I'd like to oil it! Can I oil these new tangled cables? With what type of oil? Oh god - an oil question    I'm going to carefully inspect the cable routing and finesse the adjustments as well. Lubrication is my main ?  TiA

[Huzo]

Try untangling them first, but failing that, they run dry.
The clutch on the ‘85 is usually very light.

[MarinerRime]

Maybe something like Drislide bike aid? It's a moly dry lube so it should be OK with PTFE cables and not get gunked up. I have severe rheumatism and a 82 Bonneville with a clutch cable that gives me a hard time now and then and it's worked for me till recently. I'm about to install a new cable from Venhill and if that doesn't help I'll find a kit to convert it to a hydraulic at some point.

 

[Perazzimx14]

Spendy and I don't know f they make a kit fo it but if Rekluse does make an auto clutch for your bike it'll eliminate 99% of you clutch pulls. Roll on/off the throttle and snick up/down through the gears w/o touching the clutch lever.

[Perazzimx14]

Teflon lined clutch cables do not get any lube. Doesn't matter if it dry or wet lube they get zip, zero, nadda, nothing!

[bad Chad]

I don’t know if they changed the clutch at all. I don’t think so on the V 85 2025 and up years, but my 25 has a very light pull.

[faffi]

Not able to help you with the clutch issue, but I will share with you how I went from chronic pain to no pain in my hands on normal days, and only mild discomfort after a long day working with my hands, like laying a new roof or building a shed etc. It was so bad, that on my BMW F800ST that in typical BMW fashion require a button to be pushed on the right hand pod to turn off the indicators, I had to reach over and push the button with my left hand.

Before, after such endeavor, I could barely sleep due to my hands hurting really badly, a condition that became progressively worse over 10-15 years. I then tried stem cell treatment, which basically is they drain some of my blood, spin it and inject the supposedly very good remaining blood plasma directly into my joints. That helped noticeably, but on the fifth and sixth treatment I felt no benefits, so I stopped that 3 years ago. I also did some exercises advised by my doctor that you can see here (in Norwegian, unfortunately, but you do not need language to understand https://www.google.com/search?num=10&sca_esv=2b9577dc054dfb30&sxsrf=APpeQnuMAFOzMrGnput8F0N37HEdLSPpxg:1787781864208&udm=7&fbs=ABfTbFVyMZGZf1hfvX9uKjN_-G8c4u0nXx4bEIpwm1lnNH832cSpkWkfSwsmpNIrD_OQ-UdFAe4qAwsQWVbrtprjzBSpnJQOWUbUFy0AZP2fc5_e7wQK9SpSaccWZEM8174slgzA7lL9Jp-FedBms3jKtDYRkzLfYMnDYMy5pBIIBgIQaS46ps0&q=h%C3%A5nd%C3%B8velser+ved+artrose&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjbts63pr-WAxVFFBAIHesZAlsQtKgLegQIGRAB&biw=1536&bih=695&dpr=1.25#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:efdb227d,vid:w2SN_GsB3jw,st:0 )

These also helped, but I do not do them any more. What for me turned out to be the cure, was to lift a steel ball - either size tennis-ball or a much larger one, I alternate - and hold between 10 and 60 seconds. It should be so heavy that I cannot grip it anymore. I do one set once per week, that is all, I can now hold 150 lbs with one hand for up to a minute on a good day with one hand. I do not know why it works, but it does. And if I have the odd bad day, I can just do this static lifting and all or at the least the majority of the pain is gone.

[ridingron]

Some of you guys need to come into the 70's about oiling cables. When you get to the 70's we''ll work on the 80's, 90's and then the 21st century. Then we'll work on front brakes and "layin' 'er down".

[guzzisteve]

I have been lubing the cables they say not to lube for over 40 yrs, it is all BS. Use the correct lube & no issues. Petrochem  or Lube 1 by Slick 50.
WD40 and like will screw them up, you can't be cheap.
Sorry to here about the arthritis, my wife has it in her knuckles & I have to scrub pots & pans for her.



 

[Moparnut72]

I would try Tri-Flow. Expensive but works well. We used it in the airplane for issues like this. Not much to lose other than a cable.
kk

[DoubleGuzzi]

For decades, I've used 3-in-1 oil dripped into cables.  Managed to free up a few cables, including a seized with rust throttle one.

[BMCMOTO]

You might like to take a look at this thread and consult a parts manual to see what clutch you have. From around 30 lbs pull to 11 lbs pull!

https://wildguzzi.com/forum/index.php?topic=124796.msg1921338#msg1921338

Brian

[guzzimaster]

Thanks for all your advice & ideas.  The bike is a 2020 V85tt. I believe it has a light clutch pull, but I've never been able to compare it to another V85tt.  My issue may be arthritis,  but anything i can do to make the clutch pull lighter would extend my riding days.  Backstory:     FYI.  I always ride 2 up, rarely off-road,  dry weather conditions,  very little freeway speeds, and I'm 70.  At 14k miles (2023), the original clutch cable snapped inside the housing about 8" back from the trans. It looked very dry and crunchy, not rusty. There were no areas of kinking, rubbing, or pinching that i could find, and I did pretty extensive investigation.  Course nobody stocked a cable anywhere in the country  and I waited for 2 months  for an OEM replacement! 
Loved getting some ideas from you all - but honestly,  most of them conflict leaving me more confused than when I posted the question.     but thanks for trying. I need a ride!   

[n3303j]

From my FWIW department Teflon is a really inert substance. You can dump pretty much whatever you want on it at room temperature and it will do no harm. I always lubricate cables in Teflon lined housings. Cables are multistrand construction. As they curve around bends in the cable housing the strands will rub against the adjacent strands. Oiling the cable helps lessen some of this friction. If the cable is steel the oil also reduces rusting. ACF 50 is my choice because it is extremely penetrating, doesn't get stiff in the cold, inhibits corrosion and comes in a nice can.

[73 sport]

   On Google, type in "Motorcycle Control Cables". There are the US companies that tha will make what you need.

[ridingron]

I have found that AF1 has quite a few parts in stock. Their site is a little bit clumsy to use for looking up parts but doable. Looks like they have one in stock which doesn't matter since you got one elsewhere.

https://www.af1racing.com/2b005851-cable-embrayage-2b005851

[Vagrant]

This came up on ADV rider or Guzzi tech a few weeks ago. Somebody found a new clutch lever that was claimed to reduce effort by 50% or so. I'll post the info if I find it again.
Maybe someone else here saw it too and remembers.

[Vagrant]

https://mc-motoparts.com/products/moto-tron-racing-folding-clutch-lever-for-moto-guzzi-v7-v9-v85-breva-750?variant=47417890472166

https://www.advrider.com/f/threads/moto-guzzi-v7-850.1486696/page-164

[DoubleGuzzi]

Ever so tempted to pull the trigger on that clutch lever. However, being that I usually spend only a quarter of the cost, for both brake & clutch levers, I'd like to see some specific feedback on the product. The claim of (up to) 70% reduction is quite a bit more than 50%.
(In my case it'll be for the V7III.)

[n3303j]

From what I understand levers are a direct ratio thing. If you reconfigure for half the effort you will cut the moved object's distance traveled in half too.

Looking at 70% reduction in effort would lead me to conclude 70% shorter travel of the lever at the transmission.

Is 30% of the original design travel enough movement to guarantee complete engagement and release of the clutch plates under all operating conditions?

[DoubleGuzzi]

Is 30% of the original design travel enough movement to guarantee complete engagement and release of the clutch plates under all operating conditions?

Assuming your assumption is correct, that's a fair point. The clutch arm doesn't move very much as standard, from what I've seen.
 

[Guzler]

Arthritis is making it very difficult to ride these days. I've got a new-ish cable and I'd like to oil it! Can I oil these new tangled cables? With what type of oil? Oh god - an oil question    I'm going to carefully inspect the cable routing and finesse the adjustments as well. Lubrication is my main ?  TiA

Zoom Spout Turbine Oil (from HVAC days) is the best in the world for electric motors  and cables. It never gums up or stains.