Hi,
I am rebuilding/assembling my 1961 C15 which came stripped down with a majority of the parts refurbished.
Th bike had been put away in a shed/garage on 1965.
The previous Owner I purchased it from had been given the bike by the family of the original owner when he passed away a couple of years ago to restore, he made a good start but life got in the way.
The original handlebars are in good condition along with the levers etc.
I also have what looks like the original handlebar cable adjusters, Looking at the new cables that came with the bike I can not see see anyway of fitting the new cables through the original adjusters.
How does this all go together?, do I have the wrong cables ?.
What is a simple motorcycle does have me screaming some times, it maybe because I did not take it apart and have never owned a BSA before so no reference experience.
Thanks
Going to make lots of assumptions that you have the right handlebar, cables, adjusters etc in lieu of seeing pictures of them.
The threaded cable adjusters with knurled nut seem to come in two versions, either captive on the cable or not on the cable and with a slot running full length and also through the knurled adjuster nut to allow them to be fitted/removed from the cable.
If you have the non slotted type the old cable was probably cut to remove them.
To fit them cut a slot with doubled up hacksaw blades along them to the centre hole and through the nut.
Hi,
Thanks for the reply, I have attached a photo of the original adjusters I have and it makes sense now that the cables were most probably cut off to remove them
I have since seen for sale on the Draganfly website cables with the adjusters fitted to them. Is that what I should be buying?, I didn't buy the cables that came with the bike so I have not lost anything.
I ask as coming from a recent classic Mini car restoration I just completed using repurposed old original parts can be better than poor "Chinese" reproduction parts. (No disrespect meant to BSA part retailers)
my 1965 C15 cables etc - may give you something to work with
I cant upload any pictures, but feel free to PM me and I can email them to you
Didn't the early Ceefers have the lever perches welded to the handlebars? That alters whether the cable adjusters are removeable or not.
All C15 Star models had handlebars with the lever brackets welded onto them, doesn't make any difference to the cables/adjusters as they will fit both the welded-on brackets and the clamp-on brackets.
Either slot the adjusters you have (which are the correct type) to fit onto cables without them or buy replacement cables with adjusters already fitted.
I would probably use an angle grinder with a cutting off wheel, to cut the slots required. Hold each item tightly in a vice, don't hold it in your fingers..
The slot must be a bit wider than the inner cable, and should be in the thin part of the wavy round adjuster, and in the flat part of the stud, to prevent damage to the threads.
The lever clamp will already have a cable slot in it.
Hi,
When ever I have had to do this I have gripped the adjuster lengthways in a vice but not so tight as to crush it. Use a hacksaw to make the initial slot and then ease it wider with a knife edge file until the cable just fits through. Make sure that there are no burrs on the inside that could chafe the cable.
Dave.
Thanks everyone, I have gone the new cables with adjusters route, if I am not happy with quality I will then cut the original adjusters as suggested at a later date.
or put 2 or 3 blades in the hacksaw frame enough blades to match the width of the cable
Yes I use the hacksaw method. Alternatively you can cut the cable right at the nipple, shorten the inner by the same amount, put the adjusters on and solder on a new nipple. I do this for clutch cables but I'm wary of home soldered brake cables, that said I'm not to happy with the quality of some new cables and a properly home fitted nipple is very strong.
After seeing the quality of the cable adjusters on the new cables I took the Dremel to the original adjusters and cut slots.
10 minutes with the Dremel and nice slots and tight fitting cables.