Post
by Doc B. » Thu Apr 05, 2018 11:17 pm
From a search I can see that the issue of different clutch cable lengths depending upon bar height is familiar to forum members. There is commentary about shorter cables for low bars, longer cables for "mid bars", early models using shorter cables, etc.
What brought me to this in the first place is that I am nearing completion of what was a basket case '62 CB77 that had original or reproduction flat bars consistent with its age. I am using clubman bars instead as I plan to run the bike at Bonneville this year and want to get a bit lower. While one might assume that the low bar style cable would work, the sweep of the clubman bars angles the levers in such a way that the cables fit best routed in front of and around the far side of the tach/speedo rather than tucking behind it and in front of the triple as is normally done. I think Hill Hudson posted something about this a few years ago. Luckily I ended up with a used long cable in my pile of parts, which works but is a couple inches too long and not in the best shape. The housing length of that cable is about 39". I haven't taken it off to measure the OAL, but I would guess that's around 44".
OK, so I thought "just figure out what part number goes with what length cable and buy one".
Yeow.
Firstly, hardly anyone specs the housing or overall length in their listings. When they do they are all over the place. Secondly I found no less than three frequently quoted part numbers and four more that seem to be listed by various vendors. These are mostly but not all from ebay so bear that in mind when considering the veracity of the seller. CMSNL lists four or five different cables with several different part numbers and no info about the length of any of them. Not helpful.
Here's some examples of PNs I found and what lengths seem to be associated with them most often -
22870-268-010
This seems to be a low bar version, with most listings quoting somewhere around 29" to 30" housing length and 32" to 35" overall length.
That said, one vendor lists a cable for mid bars that is 44.75" OAL as that same part number. I'm guessing that's a misquote on the PN. I found mention of 22870-268-821 for a 44.75" OAL cable elsewhere. That may be what I have now. 22870-268-810 seems to be listed as an earlier PN for the -821 cable.
22870-268-000
Generally this seems to come up as a cable with a 33" housing length and 38" to 39" OAL. To further confuse things it seems this may also be listed as 22870-215-000, and maybe 22870-281-822. That seems a little short for my needs even though some are listed as high bar cables. Yes, even though they seem to be shorter than the mid bar cable above...
One vendor from Thailand used 22870-268-000 for a cable they list as 47.25" OAL - hopefully that was just a misprint due to laziness as that seems the most common PN used.
22870-216-000.1
I only found one listing for this number, with an OAL of 42.25". This one just might be the solution for my needs, as I think the cable housing would be about right at 37" as the OAL generally tends to be spec'd as 3" to 5" longer than the housing when both dimensions are spec'd. 22870-216-000 is more frequently listed as a CB160/175 cable than a CB72/77 cable. Will it work? I dunno.
One other number I saw was 22870-268-811. I did not find any length spec or handlebar spec. I'm guessing it is a misprint.
Please understand that I am not at all saying any of this is definitive - I have just pulled together what I could find and attempted to organize it a bit. Please don't assume that my guesses are correct, or that you will get the same length I listed here if you order something from ebay with one of these numbers. There were even a few listings with a different part number in the title than in the description. But perhaps this can be a starting point and others can add info that will help to sort this mess out.
