Triumphrat

nyctester · 06-10-2006, 06:38 PM

So me and my 02 daytona have been together for a few weeks. I have been working out some of the kinks that the former owner left and or created and have been making good progress.. I had this very lurchy abrupt throttle action though below three thousand RPM. Stock pipe K and N filter chain adjusted right blah blah blah... Read on this list that the throttle cables need to be lubed. Figured that being the well seasoned mechanic i am I shold do that. unhooked the throttle cables at the throttle end and sent some thin oil down the cable. seemed good no change in drivebaility though. Me being the know it all i am i disregard the numerous posts that say you have to lube the other end.
Run into a guy to day with same bike today adn we are talking and i ask if his bike is lurchy. he say nope, did you try lubing your cables. i say yeah. he grabs my throttle and laughs. he says go check mine. i just lubed the cbles a week ago. throttle is silk smoot and half the resistance of mine. Off i go home, take of the plastics and force sdome spray lube into cable. Instant transformation!!!! feels like a new bike, totally controlable on streets throttle action is amazingly smooth. Lube those cables fellas. it really does make a big difference.

Of course after my quick blast around and finding this massive improvement, i am about to pull into the garage and my check engine light is on. I have no idea what that is about but am not too worried. I will figure that out in short order

Brooksie · 06-10-2006, 06:50 PM

Great testimonial for the purchase of a cable luber and lube for all riders.

nyctester · 06-11-2006, 11:18 AM

Update: The MIL light that came on has now gone away. 3 heat cool cycles is what the factory calls for to not display a MIL light after a fault has gone away. I am pretty sure I can count to three and also read a temp gauge, I counted at best two heat cycles 5-6 restarts (hoping i was hallucinating about the MIL light LOL) and then one kill and restart at a light after which disappeared. Now that stop and start at the light sure as hell is not a heat cycle, so I am thinking that the MIL light and ECU have some different logic than as described. Also owners manual indicates when MIL light is on the bike is in Limp home mode" Also clearly not always true as the poor bastard on his CBR 600 can attest to as I gas wheelied past him at the top of first and left him as a fuzzy image in my mirror by the top of second. If that is limping then ZX-14 need to stay out of the way when things are back to normal

Iam guessing at the reason the MIL came on as I didn't disconnect the battery when i had the throttle cam wedged wide open for a good ten minutes while i removed and lubed the cable. This likley picked up a TPS voltage out of range error. I am doing a tune boy session with ChefJPD to upload a new tune sometime this week so I will repost when i find the stored error.

Not to beat a dead horse but lubing the throttle cables has made the bike SO MUCH more enjoyable. shifting is a world better, on off throttle transition is amazingly better, and I am now convinced that there is no other issue with the bike (I had been thinking either TPS or O)2 sensor problem ) The bike just runs shifts and drives better.

Before all you guys think i am either crazy or talking out my ass, I have been riding and wrenching on cars and bikes for north of 20 years having owned my own high perf auto business as well. I have had gummy cables on carbed bikes before and carbs mask this to a large extent. FI bikes are clearly VERY sensitive to throttle inputs at lower RPMs Lesson learned.

king4456 · 06-11-2006, 10:25 PM

where do i get the throttle luber

vulbus · 06-13-2006, 03:31 PM

hi king4456 - got mine from http://www.cyclegear.com/. i'm sure they are not the cheapest.

what does eveyrone use for cable lube? will wd-40 work or is it really necessary to get something like PJ1?

vulbus · 06-13-2006, 03:37 PM

should probably be a new topic but oh well...

now, to answer my own question:

this comes from Rask Cycle (http://raskcycle.com/techtip/webdoc8.html)

"When lubricating the control cables on your motorcycle, be careful what you use to lube them with. NEVER use chain lube on a cable. a lot of people use motor oil to lube their cables with. Motor oil does work and is a lot better than nothing at all, however, it does have its drawbacks. Motor oil can pick up road dirt, which will make the cable hang up and wear out faster. Motor oil is also pretty messy.

I personally prefer a mixture of powdered graphite and WD40. To do a good job of lubricating your cables, first disconnect the cable at the handlebar end, then take a sandwich type plastic baggie and cut one of the bottom corners of the bag at a 45 degree angle leaving a hole just big enough to stick the upper end of of the cable through, tape the baggie to the outside of the cable housing, then hang the cable up by the baggie. Dump some of your favorite cable lube in the bag and leave it sit for a while. The lube in the bag will run down the inner cable lubing it all the way. Remove the baggy, wipe everything off, hook the cable back up and adjust it and your done. You may be surprised how much easier your cables are to pull after you have done this. "

rino2301 · 06-13-2006, 03:47 PM

thanks I wouldn't have thought of that.

Brooksie · 06-13-2006, 04:22 PM

Vulbus-Great link. Thanks!!