Stiff throttle
 

Hi guys,

I have an old DR650 (see thread on alternative cheap luggage) Lovely bike and bullet proof.
I recently completed the Iron butt 1000 in 21 1/2 hours. The bike didn't miss a beat. The only hassle I had was a stiff throttle it opens and closes as it should but seems to be quite resistant, as a result I had a very sore hand by the end of the event. Having wet gloves wouldn't have helped due to it constantly raining. I had stripped the handle bar end of the throttle down re greased the working parts and blasted wd 40 down the cable to clean and lubricate but still it seemed quite stiff.
Any thought as to how I can alleviate this problem.

Cheer chaps
Al.

Transport is the stem without which the bright bloom of victory could not flower. Winston Churchill.

Is the end of the throttle tube open?
It may be that the grip is fouling the end of the handlebar if the throttle pushed into the centre too far.
Does the cable run really free? No grit or corrosion inside the cable?
Spring in the carb OK not broken or jammed.

I suppose a new cable wouldn't be a bad thing. The throttle hand grip is free of obstruction so I don't think it's that. I thought that maybe I could swop out the carb spring, maybe for one with less resistance. I think a full strip down is maybe needed. Thanks. :thumbup1:

Few reasons...

Make sure the cable doesn't have any tight bends in it.. It needs to be as straight as possible..


Remove the throttle grip and clean under the bar. Corrosion and grime between the tube and the bar often make them stiff.

You could try oiling the cable too... Will quite often sort it..

Also, check on the carb. If the throttle "return" cable is tight, if stiffens things up..

If all of those don't fix it, just buy new cables (yes there should be two... Probably)

Bad vibes for you WD40 and Nylon cable liners id bad news!

Get a new cable and be careful when you are routing it to avoid kinks and tight bends

+1 for oiling the cable.

I had a similar problem with my Elefant - the carb spring was returning well, throttle grip moving freely and cable well-oiled. I ended up pulling the cable out and it had managed to fray slightly in the middle, god knows how.

Venhill make good throttle cable kits. I use plumbing rather than electrical solder to fix the ends and have never had one fail (heated it with a blowtorch rather than a soldering iron) - does anyone here know which is stronger, I was just guessing

Grease
 

We have found that greasing the throttle tube on the bar side goes badly as it attracts the dust and dirt and makes a real nice stiff pudding mix.

With nylon throttle tubes the best thing to do is simply keep them clean and they will be as free as anything.

The only other funny I found was a mate who biffed his bike and it slightly bent the bar causing it to bind, only took a slight bend to bind it up, worth considering in the mix.