broken throttle cables - Horizons Unlimited

**bayonet** · #1 10 Aug 2003

If you've got a broken throttle cable and no replacement, turn the tickover up as much as you can bear and ride using the clutch and gears (emergency use only).

I once had a throttle cable snap on an FJ1200,50 miles from home.I'd just bought it and the standard toolkit wasn't up to swapping the pull and push cables. The best I could do made the throttle work but in the wrong direction. Easy on the motorway until you had to change gear and instinct makes you shut (open) the throttle. Made me sweat a bit.

**Laromonster** · #2 9 Jan 2004

Going on an extended bike journey its prudent to buy an extra set of cables for throttle,brake and clutch before leaving home. Then tape the spares to the existing ones. old tip i know , but its worth repeating

**bayonet** · #3 9 Jan 2004

This is a good idea, although a word of warning. I doubled up all the cables on my Africa Twin before heading off for morroco. I really went to town with duct tape to seal both ends of all spare cables in order to protect them from rain/grit etc. Naturally sod's law states that none of my cables needed swapping in the Sahara, but it's still a good idea in blighty so I kept them on. A year later I noticed that my orginal clutch cable was starting to fray, so swapped to the spare which was zip tied alongside. Took me ages to get the duct tape off though.

I left the frayed cable on and ordered a new cable. Two days later at midnight in the middle of nowhere the swapped clutch cable lost its engine end nipple. I think road salt or the engine heat had weakened it despite my attempts at weatherproofing. I switched back to the old cable which only had a few strands left and rode the 50 miles home with as little clutch use as possible.

I've doubled up cables again though with even more tape around the lower end than before.

**Mick O'Malley** · #4 9 Jan 2004

The white plastic stoppers you get with cheap imitation champagne make great protective covers for spare cable ends. They're a tad bulky but weigh next to nothing.

Mick

**yngveer** · #5 11 Jan 2004

To protect the open ends from wather and dust, I use some pices of shrinkplastic tubes (the one you use on electrical cabels)
Take one string with old wire, put it inn the shrinktube before shrinking it to the new chlutshcabel and you have a perfetct rippcord for "unpacking"..
the string must be a couple of cm longer than teh shrinktube ofcource..
Works great!

**Martynbiker** · #6 30 Aug 2007

i like to put a big glob of vaseline on the end then wrap in cling film ( Saran wrap for our American friends) and on top of that some electrical tape. do both ends and they will stay like new AND be ready lubed!

**mollydog** · #7 30 Aug 2007

YES!

Also, I use old bicycle tubes to protect things. A bit of tube makes a perfect
cover for cable ends. Grease it up, zip tie a bit of tube onto it. Seems to work.

If you bike is only a couple years old I doubt you need to carry spare cables.
Especially if your bike is stored indoors. I take card of my cable ends as well,
keeping them not only greased...but clean.

Patrick

**oldbmw** · #8 30 Aug 2007

I use gaffer tape, the type sold to satellite/tv installerrs, it is double sided sticky and stretchy and forms a completey waterproof amorphous messy blob not dissimilar to nutty putty being both plastic and stretchy at the same time.

**Martynbiker** · #9 12 Sep 2007

but yes, i know the stuff you mean, and it ends up forming itself into a blob that wont leak or fall off. IF YOU WANT SOME GET HOLD OF SOMEONE WHO WORKS FOR BRITISH TELECOM AND BUY THEM A FEW PINTS, its worth its weight in gold. can be used to repair burst radiator hoses too!

**Walkabout** · #10 12 Sep 2007

......fixing the replacement cables alongside the existing is a racing technique when time matters; for riding long distance/RTW what does it matter - just pack the spares and hope it never happens.

When you sell the bike you can sell the spares still wrapped up in the original packaging!

**Martynbiker** · #11 15 Sep 2007

this may be of help. carry 2 or 3 metres of very strong nylon paracord and tie it to your cable at the carb end (or in my case I was changing the clutch cable on a BMW K series, so i tied it to the nipple at the gearbox end) BEFORE removing the cable, then when you reinstall the cable, tie the cord securely to the new cable and gently pull through as you feed the cable. this way it will be routed correctly.

a wrongly routed cable can cause you so much grief you cant imagine.
in anycase, when faced with ANY breakdown, anywhere, STOP (its hard not to), STAY CALM, THINK, above all DONT PANIC, it wastes energy and gives you a headache. it isnt always as bad as you think.
many times given a 10 or 15 minute rest in the shade( even the minimal shade of a broken down BMW K series) and a solution can start to take form.
happy riding

**Nigel Marx** · #12 16 Sep 2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by Martynbiker

many times given a 10 or 15 minute rest in the shade( even the minimal shade of a broken down BMW K series) and a solution can start to take form.
happy riding

Good advice, Marty. A traveler from Ireland that stayed with me had a routine of always putting on a brew before starting any repair. He said the 15 minutes spent with your hands busy doing something you didn't have to think about meant that your head was free to do it's thing. Also, when you did get started, you were refreshed, rested and in a happy frame of mind with a nice cuppa inside you.

Kind regards

Nigel in NZ

**oldbmw** · #13 16 Sep 2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by Martynbiker

but yes, i know the stuff you mean, and it ends up forming itself into a blob that wont leak or fall off. IF YOU WANT SOME GET HOLD OF SOMEONE WHO WORKS FOR BRITISH TELECOM AND BUY THEM A FEW PINTS, its worth its weight in gold. can be used to repair burst radiator hoses too!

You are right, I forgot the name . it is sold by CPC of Preston. virtually every electrical repair shop has an account with them. At that time i had my own business.. and it was very cheap, about £2 for a big roll. Get some.

I have to admit I carry my spares rolled up in dry storage these days, instead of on teh bike. when changing cables , buy two, check they both the same and fit one.