Throttle sticking when cold?

[ShirleySerious]

My bike has been in hibernation since the end of November. As soon as I felt the temps drop, I went ahead and put the right amount of Sta-bil in the tank, ran the engine and hooked up the battery tender.

I went in the garage to see how the bike was, and twisted the throttle grip. Not sure if it's anything to be alarmed about, but the throttle was feeling a little resistance twisting back and quite a bit more on the return. I just want to have everything in tip-top shape for when it gets nicer outside. Is cable lubrication recommended?

 

[gearhead13]

My bike has been in hibernation since the end of November. As soon as I felt the temps drop, I went ahead and put the right amount of Sta-bil in the tank, ran the engine and hooked up the battery tender.

I went in the garage to see how the bike was, and twisted the throttle grip. Not sure if it's anything to be alarmed about, but the throttle was feeling a little resistance twisting back and quite a bit more on the return. I just want to have everything in tip-top shape for when it gets nicer outside. Is cable lubrication recommended?

I bought some cable lube recommended by my local bike shop, and it made the cable pull stiffer when cold. I use plain old wd-40 now

 

[hampshirehog]

Could be a bit of varnish built up on your slides if it's not the cables.

 

[salty_monk]

Maybe some rust forming on the bar under the grip perhaps too or the cold weather is contracting the plastic of the throttle tube slightly...

Dan

 

[doctorgonzo]

Pretty sure my first bike, the Honda 400/4 was from the good old days before the mandated throttle return spring. Built in cruise control, a bit of a problem if you laid it down though.

 

[ShirleySerious]

Sprayed some WD-40 in the cable sheaths and let it sit overnight. Good as new the next morning, thanks for the help. A little strange that it only started happening this winter, though.

 

[gearhead13]

Have you heard of a cable luber? It clamps over the end of the cable and you keep spraying into it until it goes all the way through and comes out the other end. Handy little item, I dont remember how much I paid for mine, but I have used it a lot over the years.
http://www.scootertherapy.com/clubepage.html

 

[Shin-Ken 1074]

Inox is an other brand of water repellant/spray lube similar to WD40 but it does not form any gum residue. Its great for cable and throttle grip lube (remove throttle hand grip from bars and wipe old lube off to get the best result) just spray it in the top of the cable (remove cable from lever), until it runs out at the clutch shaft end and drips from the throttle cale at the carbs. Keeps the throttle super smooth and never binds, the throttle snaps back every time.

 

[Jagir]

try tapping on the float bowls.