Clutch Cable Snapped 15 miles from home

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So, as the title says, my clutch cable snapped 15 miles from home.

I was on a fast stretch of dual carriageway (60mph) doing 70mph approaching a large roundabout. Gently apply brakes, clutch in, downshift to 5th, clutch out, no problems, continue gentle braking. Clutch in, downshift to 4th release clutch and tension in the lever suddenly gives way and does not return. I immediately apply a little more braking to get me down to a speed to clutchless shift into 3rd to negotiate the roundabout. Knowing that there is a lay-by 1/2 mile ahead on the single lane (but very busy) exit I was taking I remained in 3rd until the stopping point and managed to shift down to 2nd and then knock into neutral before stopping safely.

Got off bike, inspected clutch lever area, had a smoke, swore a little ( ok a lot) and weighed up my options.

1. Call for assistance: not really an option, 15 miles on the wrong side of civilization. Can't remember what my insurance policy includes so would be a £150 pickup and delivery minimum.

2. Get the toolkit out, remove the sodding fairings and confirm what I already suspected.

3. Get back on the bike and use the starter motor to get me moving in 1st.


I've read here, and elsewhere that clutchless shifting is a bad idea in gears 1 to 3, but really didnt have much choice. I carefully got back home and confirmed a snapped clutch cable within the front sprocket housing. New parts ordered.

So my question is, in using the starter motor to get me moving again what sort of damage should I be looking out for?

[Kreylyn]

Not really.

Clutchless shifting is only going to cause problems if your grinding the gears when trying to shift, or are shifting in a manner where there is a large difference between the RPMs of the engine and the RPMs of the gear your shifting into.

As a short term get home solution, I don't believe your going to see any issues going forward with the cable repaired.

Take this time to pull, clean, and re-grease the worm gear on the clutch throw out.

Krey

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Glad to know that it's unlikely to have caused any damage.

One thing this little exercise has taught me is where the rpm / gear points are, something I've never really though about before.

Just as an aside, when I removed the front sprocket housing, it was absolutely caked in gunk. What parts should be greased and what areas should be relatively clean. I removed enough gunk to shape two tennis balls.

[Kreylyn]

Glad to know that it's unlikely to have caused any damage.

One thing this little exercise has taught me is where the rpm / gear points are, something I've never really though about before.

Just as an aside, when I removed the front sprocket housing, it was absolutely caked in gunk. What parts should be greased and what areas should be relatively clean. I removed enough gunk to shape two tennis balls.

Clean everything.

The only place that needs grease is the worm gear for the clutch throw out. That is the part that pushes the clutch rod in when the cable is pulled on. It's located on the cover, and is held in by 2 bolts. Remove the bolts, pull the assembly out, clean and grease it separately. Be careful to not loose the bearings that are loose in there, one for each hole on the shiny metal holder inside. The holder does not capture the bearings, it just holds them in place when the worm gear is in. When you pull the worm gear out, they can/will fall right out too. Use the grease to help keep them in place for putting the worm gear back in when cleaned.

Krey

[skjeflo]

When my cable popped on me a couple weeks ago I just did a Flintstone start while running in neutral and popped it into first while rolling. Then did the RPM matching to shift the rest of the way home. With careful driving I only had to do a full on start twice in about 15 miles of rush hour traffic. Several hundred miles after the repair and there have been no ill effects showing from the experience.