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Went for a 60 mile ride yesterday, was about 5-6 miles from home when my pull cable broke. I coasted to a stop, swapped the push cable for the broken pull cable and continued...(feeling pretty full of myself for pulling off a successful road repair!) about 3 miles further, power started dropping...(It reminded me of my old cb360 ran when the battery died) Coasted to a stop, no neutral indicator, no headlight. (Ahh, "He blew a fuse", I hear you say...) I did check them...no love. It then occurred to me that I could not account for the end that broke off of the pull cable. Pulled throttle housing back apart, and sure enough, it was lodged in the bottom of the housing in a perfectly sized little well in the head light on/off switch. Managed to extricate the little bugger, but whatever damage was done, was done...I do have an FSM, a good multimeter, and a wiring diagram...Plan on digging into it after work, but was wondering if anyone else had encountered a similar situation, and where I might look first...Thanx for any assistance!

Could it have shorted the kill switch? Ed

It is in the same housing of course, so anything is possible! ( I will certainly check into that), but killswitch is at the top, and lead slug was in bottom of housing, jammed in the the headlight on/off switch...just boggles me how my fuses could all be "good" with any sort of short...(Not sure I like that, LOL!) Not positive, but I think the headlight normally stays on even with the killswitch off...IIRC, it only cuts power to coils, not everything? ...Am planning on starting at killswitch, though...Wishing I could be working on it now... Thanx Ed!

FIgured I would post "the rest of the story" My first electrical test last night was battery voltage. I pulled the rubber cap back from the positive terminal and the wire came with it! looked like it might have been burnt in half. Had a nice replacement terminal from previous car stereo installations, so THAT was fixed in 5 minutes....She started right up! Still no headlight...removed it, shook it, and heard the old "filament rattle" inside, slapped a meter across it...burnt! Quick trip to O Rileys auto parts, and good as new! (Still wondering why this situation didn't blow a fuse, I guess the headlight bulb acted as one) Better to burn a bulb than a bike, I guess. Weird, but I DID get her fixed! Yay, me, LOL! Thanx, again, all!

holy smokes (pun intended). Did it take the bolt with it?
Loose connection probably blew out the filament in the headlight.
Nice 5 minute fix.

Niiiice! LOL! The pun is generally considered to be the lowest form of humor, BTW! Re: the bolt...Right after I took and looked at the pic, I just KNEW somebody would come up with that! LOL! No, the connection was tight...I took the pic after I had removed the bolt with the broken portion of ring on it...Twould seem that the liitle lead ball in the wrong place was the culprit...Beware, all ye who break throttle cables, where your lead balls fall! Thus endeth the lesson...LOL!

Quick addendum: Since my turn signals remained functional, I did not notice until last night...Also blown...Brake light and parking lights #1157 for the double filament, and (I think) #1156 for the single filament...Back to O'Riley's...That is all...Thanx again folks!

Hmm, thought sarcasm was the lowest form of humor G O Artist!
I always carry a spare pull cable on the bike - cause there are fuck all Kwaka shops around here - $45 - ripped off again.
Well found man .

Zephyrrider, ya got me second guessing myself, so I googled it...I found it both ways...I had always heard "pun"? Guess it depends upon one's location...Man ! Did you get a kiss along with that cable? I just got two speed pro cables from Z1 for about $16 USD...And Good idea, I am keeping my old push cable under the seat as a backup...First one I have broken on the road, and when it goes, the bike definitely DOESN'T, lOL!

Grumpy Ole Artist - lets just agree we are both right. I am a sarcastic bastard and people have always told me (lowest form of humour etc etc), so i would just nod and smile. Reckon i should get more than a kiss for those $.Are the speed Pro cables same as genuine ? You may already know this one , but i usually keep a spare clutch cable routed same as one that is currently in use in case it breaks and then it is a 10 minute job - depends on how much room you have but KZ 650s seem to have a hell of a lot more spare room than a Zephyr 750 around motor.
Saw a Dakkar rally years ago in Africa and the throttle cable on a Cagiva Elephant broke so the rider operated it by hand for miles and miles to the finish line. That was bloody amazing.

ZR, we shall just chalk it up to the water swirling in the opposite direction...lol! I am a cranky old wank, so we would probably get on famously! (Or kill each other within the first hour, LOL!) The concensus seems to be that nothing is as good as OEM. But (with proper pre-lubing this time!) I should get acceptable life out of them...cool trick on the extra clutch cable! Had not heard that one...does one just zip tie extra cable to the handlebar/existing cable or roll it up under the tank? How on earth did the guy at Dakkar acomplish that? Must have hellacious pinch strength (or a pair of vice grips!) G'day mate! Edit: cables are "motion pro" sorry!

GOA that Dakkar was quite a long time ago - early 90's i recall and on that real squirmy thick dust it was. It was a 900 cc Elefant .I suppose it was he could get his hand in there somewhere and grab hold of the broke cable - wouldnt even think about trying it on our 4's. Nothing is as good a price as OEM - crazy at times.Have seen pro motion around - will have to give them a try.
Do you use anything special to lube your cables ? I just clean with brake cleaner - dry- then lube with silicone spray.
With the spare clutch cable just run it same as existing cable and zip tie top out of way but next to one in use and hide a little if you can and run down under tank as usual, between #2 and #3 airbox rubbers and i just run it back under airbox - mine just sits on very front of swingarm so it doesnt interfere with anything.I wrap both ends in duct tape or similar to protect from elements or just leave it in plastic it came in.
We will get on great mate as i am a cranky old bastard . That Greenday song "The Grouch" - thats me. Cheers.