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Throttle Spacers - Remove throttle sloppiness

43K views 175 replies 63 participants last post by  Jaypee 
#1 ·
A customer of ours turned us on to these spacer kits that were originally designed for the Ducati Panigale. They remove the slop from the electronic throttle. We put together a quick video of the install on a customer Thruxton R to show how easy it is. They definitely work on 7/8” bar models (Thruxton R, Street Twin, Street Cup and Street Scrambler), we are waiting to confirm whether or not 1” will also work.
Video: https://youtu.be/4gmlnHPLUro
Product link: https://www.ajcyclesny.com/product/throttle-spacers-triumph-throttle-by-wire-models/


I apologize if already a thread on these, I searched and nothing came up.
 
#86 · (Edited)
Are spaces vital and necessary? I guess no. You can ride without them. Do they make throttle control easier? I would argue so. Being an engineer, I envision a response curve with a rotation angle on the X-axis and power on Y. Without spacers, there will be a small flat step in the beginning. Also, each time you change the direction of throttle rotation, there will be a little flat step translating into response delay. I am not a competitive rider, and it is not crucial to me. Still, having a predictable linear response is undoubtedly easier for my muscle memory to learn and anticipate. Especially if you have other bikes without this throttle lag.


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#87 ·
Are spaces vital and necessary? I guess no. You can ride without them. Do they make throttle control easier? I would argue so. Being an engineer, I envision a response curve with a rotation angle on the X-axis and power on Y. Without spacers, there will be a small flat step in the beginning. Also, each time you change the direction of throttle rotation, there will be a little flat step translating into response delay. I am not a competitive rider, and it is not crucial to me. Still, having a predictable linear response is undoubtedly easier for my muscle memory to learn and anticipate. Especially if you have other bikes without this throttle lag.
Yes and no.

You're right about the small step at the beginning, but as you are working against a spring on the throttle body rather than having a push-pull system, once you've taken up the slack in the cable, the cable remains in tension so the behaviour is identical until you're back at a fully closed throttle again.

I guess if you're whipping the throttle closed faster than the spring was returning the cable then opening it again there might be the potential for a little lag, but that's somewhat unlikely if at all possible.

Also as an engineer, I'm sticking with "it makes no material difference other than getting rid of a bit of slack on a closed throttle".

For the record, I have them and like them. The loose throttle feels a little cheap and with the slack taken out it feels like a far higher quality item. And, I enjoy fiddling with my bike.
 
#96 ·
Isn't it odd that some people love this mod and would never go back, while others think it's totally useless and makes no difference!? It's interesting to say the least but probably comes down to rider preference in the end. For me, it's just like tightening up the slack on a throttle cable for bikes that aren't drive-by-wire. Who wants lag or twitchiness? To me, this makes the throttle more precise and predictable which is greatly preferred. Maybe that's a bit OCD to some...

I still think $45 is a rip off though. Try to find it on sale or with a coupon code. I paid $24 shipped and felt okay about it. I didn't feel like drilling into my throttle assembly to fit a screw in case I ever wanted to reverse it. That said, no plans to. The bike should be like this from the factory- no slop.
 
#101 ·
I know this topic has been fueled to death, but here's another drop of hi octane. Think of it this way:

You are stopped at a traffic light at idle with your throttle hand resting on the throttle which does not have the spacers. You may have anything from 0~5 deg of rotational slack to take up when the lights turn green before anything happens. That 0~5 deg is an unpredictable region.
With the spacers and zero rotational slop, something will happen the instant you move your wrist, making your clutch/throttle co-ordination 100% predictable during your getaway.

Eat that, you spacer non-believers!:cool:

And yes, the cost of that spacer kit is an eye watering rip off. There must surely be a cheap Chinese knock off by now.
 
#112 ·
I agree. Many set up cabled throttles just like that and it is "natural" to them.

I wonder if there aren't many people out there who have been riding over decades and their throttle hand/brain memory just compensates for the minute play so they don't notice a difference on the ride by wire bikes.

I do heartily agree that the price for the spacers is a rip-off. Perhaps the manufacturers will tighten up the throttle tolerance and kill the market, but I think the designed in "play" is carefully considered.
 
#108 ·
My Yoshimura Racing Team horn button arrived on the weekend. Fitted it yesterday and it is awesome. The bike feels tighter, much more responsive. Eliminating all the slop in the button means when I need decibels I get them the instant I caress the finger detent. No more waiting while you take up all the slack, just 'BEEP'. It came with full instructions and three 'Tuned by Yoshimura' stickers so people know my bike is something special.
 
#110 ·
Judging by the comments I'd say different bikes have different degrees of throttle play or sloppiness. The XE is my 19th bike and first fly by wire which means it can't be adjusted like the cable days. Mine was definitely sloppy, even compared it to my mates' bikes that I ride with. From this thread I ordered the spacer and installed it tonight and it's fixed the problem. Now when I twist the grip there is immediate response which makes life much easier at slow speeds in particular.
 
#113 ·
I posted this in a different thread about this topic but installing these spacers was the single best mod I’ve ever done on any bike. Some bikes must have more slop than others. Mine was sloppier than sloppy Joes.
 
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#114 ·
I've just read the entire thread :sleep:, and think I will order some spacers and give them a try. In the meantime here's a thought experiment to try.
Your bike comes with 3mm of free play and that's ok. And it's ok at 5mm. What about 8mm? What about a half turn before the engine does anything? ..... I think it would be just about impossible to ride with half a turn of throttle slack, and therefore anything more than zero slack is just a bit less 'impossible' 😄
Mike
PS there are cheap knock-off ones from China now - anyone tried them?
 
#116 ·
I've just read the entire thread :sleep:, and think I will order some spacers and give them a try. In the meantime here's a thought experiment to try.
.......
Mike
PS there are cheap knock-off ones from China now - anyone tried them?
update: Chinese ones ordered and delivered (only because they were in stock in UK and I could get them next day).
Fitting them took about 20 minutes thanks to the videos that are on-line. However, I could not at first get these spacers to slide on and had to ease a chamfer on the opening with a craft knife and then apply quite a bit of force with a flat blade screwdriver. (I suspect the genuine american ones would have been an easier fit).
Anyway they are on and I'm quite pleased with them. It definitely makes riding slow more relaxed as you are not hunting for the pick-up point when coming off a junction or roundabout. I think it will get better too as my brain learns that I don't need to do this with the throttle. I think the slop makes you grip the throttle tighter than you need to and it will take some time to unlearn this.
I also think that the downward gear changes into a bend are smoother too (as others have stated).
So it removes most but not all of the snatchiness. It doesn't remove the too-lean fuelling that all modern bikes suffer from, but then it doesn't claim to, and Triumph have done a pretty good job on this anyway.
Mike
 
#115 ·
I have the same mod for my Ducati Xdiavel, its definitely not for the faint of heart with the flick of the wrist if your not use to it. But it’s worth to have as it removes the slop. I thought of doing this for the street twin gold line, it’s definitely something that peaks my interest for the triumph
 
#118 ·
I've had an issue with spacers I put in. They're worn out and broken already. I could feel something getting stuck. Opened it up and saw bits coming off. Hope no one else has had this issue. It may be worthwhile to go back and check. I think this has happened because of the really thin plastic.

I'm seriously thinking of making some of these out of soft metal like aluminium or copper. Something that fits well and does not cause issues. I'm trying to see if I can get drawings that I can use to make them. Either go at it manually with a file or even 3D print them out of metal. I can't use what I have. It's broken beyond the point of using it as measurements.

Will ping back onto this thread with progress.
 
#119 ·
I've had an issue with spacers I put in. They're worn out and broken already. I could feel something getting stuck. Opened it up and saw bits coming off. Hope no one else has had this issue. It may be worthwhile to go back and check. I think this has happened because of the really thin plastic.

I'm seriously thinking of making some of these out of soft metal like aluminium or copper. Something that fits well and does not cause issues. I'm trying to see if I can get drawings that I can use to make them. Either go at it manually with a file or even 3D print them out of metal. I can't use what I have. It's broken beyond the point of using it as measurements.

Will ping back onto this thread with progress.
a bit worrying. I noticed that mine sort of stretched as I forced them on - in places going a whiteish colour rather than the deep red. And it may be that cold temperatures affect the plastic.
Mike
 
#126 ·
I own a street twin and I’ve pretty much customized the bike with the whole triumph catalogue. I can say without a second thought that adding these throttle spacers made the biggest impact on my driving experience.

I didn’t pay any money for them as I 3d printed them myself so I have no skin in the game trying to justify the purchase.

I agree that paying 20-30 dollars for a piece of plastic is a ripoff (the cost in materials to 3d print was about 5 cents) I but do think it transforms the way you ride.
 
#127 ·
I guess you could argue that the total cost of the steel in your street twin's frame is only about $10 and the rubber in your tyres must have only cost Avon about a dollar. 🤷‍♂️
Aside from my snarky comment (sorry), I am genuinely interested how you would go about making a 3d printed item. How does a person visualise a complicated shape like those red spacers? is there some kind of library where you would choose a shape called something like a 3 dimensional trapezoidal annullus .... and then how do you decide what measurements and angles it has to have, and are you able to feed in different raw material to the printing machine. (The only ones I have ever seen were being fed always by the same kind of naff looking plastic). How do you know that a part you make - whilst it looks perfect - has all the properties that a particular end-use needs (flexibility or rigidity, temperature tolerance, impact cycles etc etc).
Mike
 
#138 ·
I did the "Ducati Spacers" first-thing after getting my Street Twin. eBay: Throttle Spacer Kit Triumph Thruxton R, Street Twin/Cup/Scrambler, more! | eBay
Huge markup? Sure, but good on this guy for making a quality product that fixes a problem PERFECTLY. Think of it as a $35 solution, not a $35 part. Why mess around with a home-made fix when you're already in upwards of $10,000, and this should be good in a resale situation.

The only question should be: Why do our bikes come with the throttle-slop in the first place? Everything else on my Triumph has such great tactile feel/click/response (foot pegs, seat latch, rear brake, key-turn, fuel tank cap, start/kill switch, etc, etc, you get the idea).
 
#140 ·
Having now fitted throttle spacers to my Thruxton R and to my Africa Twin CRF1000L DCT, I have to reluctantly agree with the above, although I might have put it a little more politely ;). FWIW I think if you do a lot of riding on your bike, your brain learns where the throttle pick up point is, whether that's with zero slop or 2 or 3mm. This process becomes automatic so you are not consciously looking for where the drive is going to start. When I fitted throttle spacers, it felt 'different' for a while but now my brain knows where the new pickup points are (both bikes), so it feels the same. As it happens the snatchiness of the Thruxton R exists, but I can assure everyone that it is only about 30% as bad as the Africa Twin (CRF1000 or 1100).
Mike
 
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