festerandolini
XS650 Enthusiast
I am currently learning how to make a new throttle cable for my stock XS250, as i need it running and on the road so i can perform more dark sciences of speed and mechanicry. The new bars i have fitted onto the clamps needed a couple of inches of extra length for all of the cables (except electrical...?) and i have been busy.
The XS250 survived ownership and neglect at the hands of an unknown Victorian, who was the victim of a heinous crime , the worst known to motorcycle owners, THEFT. The 1978 XS250 was recovered at some point in the 20 teens and spent a very long time in the police
impound yard after being recovered, from a drug bust.
To steal the bike, or at least move it, i suppose from one place to the next, the lock barrel had been drilled out, and the same fate awaited the fuel cap. Once the blinkers had been removed, it was used for whatever nefarious purpose until it remained stowed in the shed of whatever drug operation forgotten and ignored until the raid. One of the cops who was present at the raid, purchased the bike once it went to auction and then it was ignored for another 7 or 8 years. He sold it on to the guy i purchased it and a rolling chassis of another xS250 (minus motor, tank and seat) for a fair price. I paid not much more for a basket case XS650 18 months later, and have no idea
what i am doing.
Anyway, the bars. I foolishly chose 10" apes, cos- I'm a blonk, perhaps. Now i regret my choice because i have failed to make a cable.
I have tried using a couple of different methods of cable casting moulds. One was a bolt
with a slot and hole drilled through. Another was a block of wood 
and some holes drilled on it, and the last method, using flat bar 6mm by 32mm and making a take down mould. I had tried using baker's fluid for etching the stainless steel cable prior to soft soldering the cast end on, and it failed. I had attempted to cast the lug on the end about 20 times now, and have wasted so much solder and lead, it's a good joke 
I have kept researching techniques, and was pondering
the possibility of life not being all that important, when i stumbled upon yet another technique i had not tried. So at some point 
in this future, i will try bossweld ca 801, to etch, after using acetone to clean 
any oil from the 2mm cable, and making sure to keep the wire from getting too hot.
It took many searches and re-wording of search terms to find that i needed a very strong acid flux, and that oily residue must be cleaned BEFORE etching.
The XS250 survived ownership and neglect at the hands of an unknown Victorian, who was the victim of a heinous crime , the worst known to motorcycle owners, THEFT. The 1978 XS250 was recovered at some point in the 20 teens and spent a very long time in the police
impound yard after being recovered, from a drug bust.To steal the bike, or at least move it, i suppose from one place to the next, the lock barrel had been drilled out, and the same fate awaited the fuel cap. Once the blinkers had been removed, it was used for whatever nefarious purpose until it remained stowed in the shed of whatever drug operation forgotten and ignored until the raid. One of the cops who was present at the raid, purchased the bike once it went to auction and then it was ignored for another 7 or 8 years. He sold it on to the guy i purchased it and a rolling chassis of another xS250 (minus motor, tank and seat) for a fair price. I paid not much more for a basket case XS650 18 months later, and have no idea
what i am doing.Anyway, the bars. I foolishly chose 10" apes, cos- I'm a blonk, perhaps. Now i regret my choice because i have failed to make a cable.
I have tried using a couple of different methods of cable casting moulds. One was a bolt
with a slot and hole drilled through. Another was a block of wood and some holes drilled on it, and the last method, using flat bar 6mm by 32mm and making a take down mould. I had tried using baker's fluid for etching the stainless steel cable prior to soft soldering the cast end on, and it failed. I had attempted to cast the lug on the end about 20 times now, and have wasted so much solder and lead, it's a good joke I have kept researching techniques, and was pondering
the possibility of life not being all that important, when i stumbled upon yet another technique i had not tried. So at some point in this future, i will try bossweld ca 801, to etch, after using acetone to clean any oil from the 2mm cable, and making sure to keep the wire from getting too hot.It took many searches and re-wording of search terms to find that i needed a very strong acid flux, and that oily residue must be cleaned BEFORE etching.
i will suss it out ...
1/2 a cable. I managed to make one end of a cable that passed the "pull" test. Using acetone to wash the cable, this gets the oil off, but you probably dont need it. Just soak the cable end in the 801 strong acid flux and then dry it off, heat it a little with a big solder iron. Maul the end a tiny bit, clean it again heat it and tin the end. 
