[ducducgop]

How much "play" should there be with the throttle? (that looseness before you actually start giving the engine gas) Starting to feel like there is more play then before, but i know there should be at least a little bit (or so i have been told).

Also, while i am in there tightening up the cable, can anyone let me know where i should be lubricating the cables at and any particular compound i should use? (dry vs wet lube, etc.)

Thanks!

 

[tye1138]

WD40 isn't too bad for lubricating cables. If you go to a motorcycle shop which sells chemicals, they do have a special cable lubrication solution.

Yea, the play is common when the cables stretch. You can run it as tight as you want. Too loose can cause things to bind, so generally try to run them without too much play.

 

[ducducgop]

Is this a pretty straight forward procedure? I have the service manual on my computer at home but havent taken a look at it yet. I am guessing the cable is attached by a screw or something similar so all i need to do is loosen it, pull the wire taught, then tighten back?

 

[tye1138]

The cable adjusters are right below upper triple clamp, actually built-into the cable. There are two rubber boots, just pull those apart and you want to bring those away from each other, which stretches out the gap in the cable.

 

[ducducgop]

Thanks for the tips! Will check it out when i get home tonight, are these the dust boots everyone talks about being very fragile? Just want to make sure i am not too aggressive if they are.

 

[Hammerstime]

Try to take most of the slack out of the throttle. I run mine with no play, that way I know when I touch the throttle the bike will start to react. The boots are tuff. Just be nice to them and you'll never have a problem. the boots everyone talks about are for the electrical connections. Take your time and make small adjustments on both cables at the same time.

 

[tye1138]

Thanks for the tips! Will check it out when i get home tonight, are these the dust boots everyone talks about being very fragile? Just want to make sure i am not too aggressive if they are.

The dust boots are rubber, they're pretty robust. If I haven't been able to damage in them on my bikes (I'm rough on everything) then you shouldn't have any problems.

 

[Zyklon]

For the cables, you have to turn the ...what exactly? I have this problem too....and I don't know what I'm looking for ....

Slap Me, I'm stupid....

 

[ducducgop]

I adjusted it a little but i am not sure if its the throttle cables that is my issue. There is play in the throttle where it feels very loose and you can distinctly feel when you get up against the contact point with the cable and when you are firmly on it and apply pressure it works fine. When you are decelerating with the throttle i will hit the point where the cable feels like it completely closes but my grip will still travel forward a little and there is a gap at that distance where i can wiggle the throttle back and forth and it feels like its in a gap between the cable and the end of the throttle pull. Is there an adjustment i can make to the throttle itself so the end of travel stop is moved in further if such a thing exists Don't know much about working on bikes at all yet but i am learning quick!

 

[tye1138]

Ya gotta tighten both sides of the cable as its a push-pull assembly. Maybe you only adjusted the pull part of the cable?

 

[ducducgop]

I adjusted both cables at the same time but maybe only a 1/2 turn as i didn't want to throw them out of whack. It seems the looseness is only on the decel action, does this mean i only need to tighten one of the cables? Please see video to show what i mean by the looseness.

Loose Throttle Video

<embed width="440" height="420" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://v8.tinypic.com/player.swf?file=30bzbwj&s=8"><br><font size="1"><a href="http://tinypic.com/player.php?v=30bzbwj&s=8">Original Video</a> - More videos at <a href="http://tinypic.com">TinyPic</a></font>

 

[tye1138]

Ohh, you need to turn that thing for a long time, probably at least three or four rotations. It moves very slowly…

 

[ducducgop]

Should i adjust both cables in sync or only the "decel cable"?

 

[spoonz]

It's your accel cable you need to adjust.

From the video the decal cable is taking it to the stop but the accel cable is not kicking in till at least 5mm into the accel stroke.

 

[ducducgop]

After playing with the cables I am not sure that is my problem. It seems the handle itself is loose on the bar and the slop is with the handle not the cable itself. Any ideas?

 

[Tchase]

I adjusted both cables at the same time but maybe only a 1/2 turn as i didn't want to throw them out of whack. It seems the looseness is only on the decel action, does this mean i only need to tighten one of the cables? Please see video to show what i mean by the looseness.

Loose Throttle Video

<embed width="440" height="420" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://v8.tinypic.com/player.swf?file=30bzbwj&s=8"><br><font size="1"><a href="http://tinypic.com/player.php?v=30bzbwj&s=8">Original Video</a> - More videos at <a href="http://tinypic.com">TinyPic</a></font>

Looks pretty normal for "lose" mine got like that I only adjusted one cable about 4 full turns then locked it back up.

wrong bike but same principle

 

[Tchase]

a bit closer to ours...

 

[tye1138]

After playing with the cables I am not sure that is my problem. It seems the handle itself is loose on the bar and the slop is with the handle not the cable itself. Any ideas?

I don't think so, but you can take off the protective cover for the cable where the cam is and see what it looks like. My guess is, its just cable play.

 

[ducducgop]

Thanks for that video T, put things into perspective for me. I think i might have been going the wrong direction, i was decreasing the gap between the screws instead of increasing it. All the manuals i have come across on this subject are vague and suck at explaining the mechanism well (no good "x-ray" pictures either).

They would be much more useful telling you to screw the two ends apart to decrease free play instead of telling you "anti-clockwise" which is useless when both end points are free floating and the direction can change depending on which way you are facing the bike.

Will try again when i get home today and let you know how i make out.:conveyer:

 

[tye1138]

Unscrewing is what you wanna do, when the two screws go apart from each other, you're basically filling up space in the throttle cable tube, which is henceforth tightening it. But as I said earlier, if you have that much slop, I would turn the screws A LOT to see if anything changes. You can always turn them back.