Throttle Tube Hard To Turn

[betoney]

While on a recent road trip with a buddy who also owns a 2015 FJ, we swapped bikes and I immediately noticed how light the throttle turn is on his bike.  My throttle tube turns smoothly, snaps back like it should and doesn't stick even at full left or right steering lock, it just takes a fair amount of effort to turn, I had just accepted that as normal for this bike (first bike where throttle cable actuates a servo motor).

Since there was so much of a difference between the 2 bikes, I decided to investigate.  The bikes are identical (as far as motor and fueling, with 2WDW flash) the only difference is mine has the factory heated grips.  I took the throttle housing apart and disconnected the cables and checked that the tube rotated freely in the housing.  Next step was verifying the cable routing was unobstructed and the outer sheath wasn't pinched, kinked or damaged.  I tore the bike down to the throttle bodies, traced the cables all the way to the servo pulley and everything looked good.  So short of removing the throttle bodies so I could access the cable pulley and spring (complete PITA) I decided to try some Dri Slide cable lube, popular with mountain bikers for lubing control cables.

I filled the cables and worked them back and forth until the lube was flowing out the bottom end and ... WHAT A REVELATION, the throttle rotation was immediately and drastically improved, enough that I could turn the throttle with just my thumb and forefinger where previously it took MUCH more effort.

I put the bike back together and went out for a ride and WHOA, A-mode is super psychotic with a light throttle turn, now I understand when others mention A-mode possibly being too jumpy in the twisties - I definitely need to retrain my right wrist, its like riding a different bike now.

[roy826]

I find the throttle to much on my 2020 and just passed it off as the factory heated grip nightmare of wire wadded up in the little housing with grease everywhere.

[betoney]

10 minutes ago, roy826 said:

I find the throttle to much on my 2020 and just passed it off as the factory heated grip nightmare of wire wadded up in the little housing with grease everywhere.

My bike didn't come with heated grips, I bought and installed them myself.  The instructions have you put a specific 'loop' of wiring inside the housing -no wadding up, and there is no grease used.

[kilo3]

48 minutes ago, betoney said:

My bike didn't come with heated grips, I bought and installed them myself.  The instructions have you put a specific 'loop' of wiring inside the housing -no wadding up, and there is no grease used.

My 2020 with heated grips had lots of white lithium in the wire housing.

[roy826]

44 minutes ago, kilo3 said:

My 2020 with heated grips had lots of white lithium in the wire housing.

And so did my 2012 Super Tenere with factory heated grips. Weird way the wire is spec'd to go inside the housing as well. My Super Tenere had a strong pull on the throttle as well.

[betoney]

1 hour ago, roy826 said:

the factory heated grip nightmare of wire wadded up in the little housing with grease everywhere.

 

51 minutes ago, kilo3 said:

My 2020 with heated grips had lots of white lithium in the wire housing.

 

5 minutes ago, roy826 said:

And so did my 2012 Super Tenere with factory heated grips. Weird way the wire is spec'd to go inside the housing as well. My Super Tenere had a strong pull on the throttle as well.

That's really interesting that they would put grease in the wiring portion... 🤷‍♀️  Even the standard throttle housing, w/o heated grips, has no grease inside it.  I suppose each mechanic or shop has their own method or thoughts on maintenance, every mechanic I have talked to has told me to never lube the inside of the throttle housing or between the tube and bar, only to lube the inside of the cable itself and some will say that the inside is teflon coated and doesnt require lube as it will attract dirt and debris.  I guess that's why we use what method works for us, eh? 👍

[kilo3]

10 minutes ago, betoney said:

I guess that's why we use what method works for us, eh? 👍

After seeing how deep you have to dig to change the throttle cables, I'll probably be lubing them as well.

That used to be just an every other year replacement thing for me, much like the clutch cable, it's so cheap insurance for something that sucks without.

[peteinpa]

On order.  Can't find it locally and a bit pricey, but if I can lube the throttle cables just by releasing them at the tube worth it.

Otherwise it's strip whole bike and remove TB's. I don't think the frame will allow removal of cables without TB removal.

Edited July 26, 2021 by peteinpa

[2and3cylinders]

U can just remove the throttle grip pod top cover and dribble in lube down into each cable sheath while working the throttle until it drips out the sheaths at the TB.

I don't like DrySlide as it's messy and stains.  I use Cable Life lube

[Acee]

On 7/23/2021 at 4:11 PM, betoney said:

While on a recent road trip with a buddy who also owns a 2015 FJ, we swapped bikes and I immediately noticed how light the throttle turn is on his bike.  My throttle tube turns smoothly, snaps back like it should and doesn't stick even at full left or right steering lock, it just takes a fair amount of effort to turn, I had just accepted that as normal for this bike (first bike where throttle cable actuates a servo motor).

Since there was so much of a difference between the 2 bikes, I decided to investigate.  The bikes are identical (as far as motor and fueling, with 2WDW flash) the only difference is mine has the factory heated grips.  I took the throttle housing apart and disconnected the cables and checked that the tube rotated freely in the housing.  Next step was verifying the cable routing was unobstructed and the outer sheath wasn't pinched, kinked or damaged.  I tore the bike down to the throttle bodies, traced the cables all the way to the servo pulley and everything looked good.  So short of removing the throttle bodies so I could access the cable pulley and spring (complete PITA) I decided to try some Dri Slide cable lube, popular with mountain bikers for lubing control cables.

 

I filled the cables and worked them back and forth until the lube was flowing out the bottom end and ... WHAT A REVELATION, the throttle rotation was immediately and drastically improved, enough that I could turn the throttle with just my thumb and forefinger where previously it took MUCH more effort.

I put the bike back together and went out for a ride and WHOA, A-mode is super psychotic with a light throttle turn, now I understand when others mention A-mode possibly being too jumpy in the twisties - I definitely need to retrain my right wrist, its like riding a different bike now.

Just interested in what mileage you have on your bike?  Generally, I think it's a bad idea to lube control cables internally, as someone mentioned, it can destroy the inner cable coating, eventually making the cable much worse.  That's certainly the case on my Yamaha WR250F but not sure about the Tracer.  If it's high mileage (say > 20k miles) I would normally just replace the cable.

[betoney]

2 hours ago, Acee said:

Just interested in what mileage you have on your bike?  Generally, I think it's a bad idea to lube control cables internally, as someone mentioned, it can destroy the inner cable coating, eventually making the cable much worse.  That's certainly the case on my Yamaha WR250F but not sure about the Tracer.  If it's high mileage (say > 20k miles) I would normally just replace the cable.

62,000 miles. 

[skipperT]

On 7/27/2021 at 5:17 AM, Acee said:

Just interested in what mileage you have on your bike?  Generally, I think it's a bad idea to lube control cables internally, as someone mentioned, it can destroy the inner cable coating, eventually making the cable much worse.  That's certainly the case on my Yamaha WR250F but not sure about the Tracer.  If it's high mileage (say > 20k miles) I would normally just replace the cable.

Hmm. That’s a new one to me. I doubt it.

If you use a quality Cable lube and don’t push a bunch of dirt and grit into the inner sheath it shouldn’t shorten the life of the cable, it should lengthen the time between replacements (if ever!)

the new version of the Motion Pro cable luber works really well - much better than the old one.  it’s worth the extra coin.

https://www.motionpro.com/product/08-0609

-Skip

[2and3cylinders]

2 hours ago, skipperT said:

Hmm. That’s a new one to me. I doubt it.

If you use a quality Cable lube and don’t push a bunch of dirt and grit into the inner sheath it shouldn’t shorten the life of the cable, it should lengthen the time between replacements (if ever!)

the new version of the Motion Pro cable luber works really well - much better than the old one.  it’s worth the extra coin.

https://www.motionpro.com/product/08-0609

-Skip

 I have that motion pro luber and it's still can leak all over hell it's really not a lot better than the regular old kind with the 2 screws but for most bikes as I said I just take the throttle cap off and dribble it into the cables well working the throttle

[roadrash83]

 I take a piece of heat shrink tubing and shrink it on the outside end of the cable and shot a little lube into the top of shrink tubing that I didn't shrink (just like a little funnel) I just let gravity do it thing, no mess and only waste a few cents worth of heat shrink.

[Acee]

20 hours ago, skipperT said:

Hmm. That’s a new one to me. I doubt it.

If you use a quality Cable lube and don’t push a bunch of dirt and grit into the inner sheath it shouldn’t shorten the life of the cable, it should lengthen the time between replacements (if ever!)

the new version of the Motion Pro cable luber works really well - much better than the old one.  it’s worth the extra coin.

https://www.motionpro.com/product/08-0609

-Skip

It's an interesting one.  If you lube your cables regularly, you can use anything really, WD-40, engine oil, whatever.  Because when the inner sheath breaks down, it doesn't matter so much because the cable is covered in oil.  But you'll have to keep doing it.  If the cable is already stiff or notchy then the inner sheath is gone and you are metal to metal in the cable.  Lubing it will help short term but you're really better off just buying a new, genuine cable.  They're not that expensive given how long they last and it will give a much smoother action than a lubricated worn out one.  I have lots of experience with this over the years but now, the only lubricant I would put in a cable would be silicone-based grease or spray as this is the accepted lubricant for nylon/rubber wear points.