Yes, the new cables are spongy, and the compression-style brake light switch makes it even worse. In an attempt to loose some of the spongyness in my cable I unsoldered the barrel at the handlebar end & removed the switch. I replaced it with a 1/4 x 20 coupling nut. I was able to cut a couple threads on the ferrel ends that originally went into the switch which allowed me to thread the coupling nut onto the housings. Then I covered the whole mess with black heat shrink tubing. It helped some but not much.
If you're going to make up cables, Barnett has some good materials. They have a real stiff housing available and some good flexible cable that doesn't seem to stretch. I had them make up a couple cables to replace the pair for the front brake of my V-7 Sport; the oem ones were junk. It was $25 each for them to make 'em, but the bulk material is available - may even be a distributor in the DC/Balto area.
Good Luck!
Joe in St Louis 850T-Powered Ambo
Charlie Mullendore wrote:
Thanks Pat. Thought about that as a last resort. May try another cable first (maybe the factory original cable still on the '69). This is the first cable I've had with the switch in it - are they all rather spongey
feeling? Or is it more the cable construction?
Patrick Hayes wrote:
Charlie Mullendore wrote:
Then there's the brake cable problem. Put it on and even with maximum slack adjusted in, the brakes drag. Cable was fully seated in both adjusters and switch, the levers (on the backing plate) are in the same position they came off (the same as my '69's). Seems like the inner cable is too short or outer is too long. Any ideas?
I've seen some problems like this in the past. Carefully peel back the end of the outer cable, maybe even pull off the end ferrule if you can. If you work slowly and carefully with a Dremel tool and a thin, red cutoff wheel, you can cut off 1/8" or so of the outer spiral housing and
thus build some slack into the system. You have to be VERY slow and careful not to nick the inner cable. There will be lots of abrassive dust from the project, so inject some cleaner and blow it out with air from the opposite end to flush the debris.