Ok, Im annoyed. I purchased a 1991 ZX600C4 recently, and 2 weeks after I get it, the clutch cable snaps at the lever. No big deal, right? Drive down to the local cyclegear and order a new one. The new one comes in, I remove the other and toss it aside, run it through the frame to where it attaches to the clutch and attach everything. I stand up and grab the free end...it doesnt reach the lever. Its about 4 inches short.

Crap.

I pick up the old one and notice that it has a steel piece shaped like an L where it goes into the clutch lever...the new one doesnt. I take it back and they order a different brand..same thing. I hop on my local dealers website and look at the parts fiche for my bike. Guess what? The 2 'wrong' cables that were ordered for me are listed as the correct cable for the bike!

This makes no sense. So...does anyone happen to know wtf this cable is and where I can find a replacement?


[IMG]local://upfiles/7563/798F6F0E2B164ACC8F0FAAD27BB8F089.jpg[/IMG]

 

Also, the word "yamato" and number "11-1326" appears on the cable near the end that fits to the clutch case. Im still googling as we speak...nothing.

 

Can you swap that "L" piece from the old cable to the new one?

 

Nope. The cable I took off the bike has a shorter shroud, it seems. When the cable is pulled to how it would be when fully engaged, it has more exposed cable than the one I have now, so when the new cable is attached to the clutch release, even with the cable pulled out as far as it can go (from the lever end), it barely fits into the lever...the clutch is engaged with the lever released.

I just got finished searching all the ZX600 and ZX-6R fiches from back in the 80s until now...I dont see a cable that looks like this broken one, whatsoever. *tear*

 

Sucky. Have you checked craigslist or ebay for a replacement?

 

Wow, I can hardly understand what I just wrote after reading it again..haha.

The steel piece does not come off..and if it did come loose, it wouldnt fit over the end of the cable.

This makes no sense. The cable listed for that model in the fiche has no steel piece (that part fits into the screw/washer that adjusts @ the lever), and is too short. The cable for the zx-6 (one that I most recently ordered) has that steel piece, but it isnt the same shape, cable (the plastic) is too long, and steel part inside is too short.

 

are you sure it's a C4 model and not an E model or sumthing different? ill check my manual when i get home and see if it looks like you say.

 

My VIN reports as a 1991 Kawasaki ZX600-C4. The decals on the bike say ZX-6 (misleading, as parts fiches are different). The only other ninja model that I see has a clutch cable with that steel piece at the lever end is the (actual) ZX-6 models, and that doesnt fit. Its that model's clutch cable that I ordered and is sitting in my truck. The steel piece isnt curved to 90 degrees, more like 40-45 degrees, so even if it did fit, it would wear the cable out because it has to bend to a weird angle when being operated.

What sucks is that since no one has this bike, there aren't any pics or youtube vids I can find that show the clutch so I can see what cable they have on it. People also seem to believe that the ZZR600 is the same bike as the ZX600, when they dont look anything alike.

I posted this in my local group's BBS, and someone showed me a fiche that had the full part numbers on it, so I took the scheme of the cable part numbers and added the designation on the cable pictured above (11-1326 turns into 54001-1326, or something like that..) and it brought up the clutch cable from 1993+ ZX-6R! Thats the cable I already have, but its not the right one.

The 'local' kawi stealership here is on the other side of the county and closes at the same time I get off work, so taking it to them (for them to go WTFIZTHIS?) is out of the question.

 

Post some pictures of your bike and clutch lever/ cable here. Maybe someone can help.