I'm working on a KZ250 cafe' racer. It has a front drum and a Mikuni VM series carb. The bike originally had buckhorn style bars. I'm now running clip-ons and ALL the cables are too long. I'm talking 10-20 inches too long.
Throttle
I think I could figure out how to shorten the throttle cable. It's the Mikuni style with the traditional barrel at the lever end, but has a nub or small ball on the end that goes into the carb. If I can shorten the sheath and cable, how do I make a new ball end to go into the carb?
Front brake
This cable was only used on the KZ250 singles, best I can tell. It's WAY too long and needs to be about 20" shorter. I'm hoping that I can find something for another bike (old small cc or dirt bike, maybe?) at my local shop. If not, can you even shorten a brake cable? Will it have too much tension on it to try and shorten it? Luckily, a LOT of old bikes had front drums and I stand a pretty good chance of finding something a little shorter.
Clutch
This one only needs to be about 10-12" shorter, but it has some funky adjustment nuts about 2/3 of the way down. Maybe I can find something from another bike as well. If push comes to shove, I think I an snake this one around the frame and make it work. Maybe.
Any suggestions or insight on dealing with cables that are too long?
BTW, when I say ~12" shorter, that would be a "perfect" length. If my throttle cable is 36" and I need 24", I could get by with, say, 32". Same situation with all the cables. Any thing shorter than what I have is better.
Throttle
I think I could figure out how to shorten the throttle cable. It's the Mikuni style with the traditional barrel at the lever end, but has a nub or small ball on the end that goes into the carb. If I can shorten the sheath and cable, how do I make a new ball end to go into the carb?
Front brake
This cable was only used on the KZ250 singles, best I can tell. It's WAY too long and needs to be about 20" shorter. I'm hoping that I can find something for another bike (old small cc or dirt bike, maybe?) at my local shop. If not, can you even shorten a brake cable? Will it have too much tension on it to try and shorten it? Luckily, a LOT of old bikes had front drums and I stand a pretty good chance of finding something a little shorter.
Clutch
This one only needs to be about 10-12" shorter, but it has some funky adjustment nuts about 2/3 of the way down. Maybe I can find something from another bike as well. If push comes to shove, I think I an snake this one around the frame and make it work. Maybe.
Any suggestions or insight on dealing with cables that are too long?
BTW, when I say ~12" shorter, that would be a "perfect" length. If my throttle cable is 36" and I need 24", I could get by with, say, 32". Same situation with all the cables. Any thing shorter than what I have is better.