Modern Vespa

Was having a devil of a time replacing the shifter outers. It seemed like they were stuck together.

Lo and behold, they were clamped together! Anybody come across this before?

Yup! Those are original shifter cables that are clamped together at the factory.

When I replaced my cable set, I had the same deal. Kinda cool but ya a bit of pain to remove without getting hung up.

Gotcha, thx. So what's it for? Does it keep the cables aligned? Stop them from rattling around? Doesn't look like it can be reused. Can I ditch it?

Ya ditch it!

I guess that clamp made passing the pair of shifter cables easier/faster while on the factory assembly line.

They are a pita when they get hooked up on wiring, end up pulling half the fuckin g loom out with them.


Ditch them. One thing you can do is colour both ends of one of the outers before installing, it takes away the guess work of which is which.

Done! Thx... trying to get yellow ready for the ride next week. You in mr.j?

QFT

Looking good SoCal!

I like to keep the shift cables paired and have used short pierces of heatshrink tube, but you could do the whole length with it if installing new outers without risk of hang ups like that damn clamp .. I like the idea of color coding the tips - factory used gray & black outers for same reason it seems.

If your frame is like the Sprint I had to open the tunnel to make repairs, there's a small bulkhead at the front that has a small opening at the top and a wider opening at the bottom. If you can get the shift cable pair and the clutch cable through the upper hole, they will have a more direct route w/ a larger bend radius.

You'll enjoy easier clutching and shifting if you've also done everything else right AND cut the outer cables back to match the adjuster locations if needed, don't just push the extra back into the frame. Changing gears over the miles will make you smile when it's like butter.

Socal, I have come across that copper cable clamp more that once. It's really great for hanging up on the opening in the frame neck when you're trying to change out the cables. I guess there is a reason for it other than making you curse enough to melt the plastic headset top on a P, but I don't know. Super looks good, keep posting pics, I'm loving it.

Second Voodoos suggestion of cutting the cables to length. It does make quite a difference, especially with the clutch. Keep rockin'.

That little bulkhead has caused the bodging of so many tunnels where people have cut holes trying to get the cables or wiring through. I hate it!