Lubricating throttle cables

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WEM

WEM

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Lubricating my throttle cables is on my list of winter maintenance projects. I've lubed the brake cable and clutch cable before but I've never lubricated the throttle/choke cables before and have a couple of questions:
1. How do I prevent the lube from getting into the carbs, and
2. Should I put any grease or lubricant in the cable splitter housings.
Thanks.
 
Easy way is to take cables off , lube them well and hang vertical in shop for overnight or couple days this time of year , some dry lube in splitter should not hurt ...
Craig
 
Get yourself a Doherty cable oiler and don't worry about a drop of oil going in the carburettors
 
Most Japanese throttle cables are nylon-lined and don't need lubrication. Back in the 60s British cables had no lining and could stick sometimes. I use Yamaha throttle cables with a quick-action twin-pull twist grip. That way I can keep three fingers operating the twist grip with one on the brake lever and the thumb underneath. It makes a difference when you need to do things quickly.
 
Or, cut the corner off a sandwich bag, stick the grip end of cable in that hole, taped the bag tightly to the cable, fill bag with a little oil, tie a string to the other corner of the bag and hang it from your garage ceiling to drain into the cable, no need to remove other end from carb.
 
.... and to lube the Amal carb slides, I use a product called "Lock Ease" available from NAPA auto parts stores. It is a graphited lubricant meant for auto and house-hold door lock cylinders, but works a treat on slides.

Slick
 
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acotrel said:
Most Japanese throttle cables are nylon-lined and don't need lubrication. Back in the 60s British cables had no lining and could stick sometimes. I use Yamaha throttle cables with a quick-action twin-pull twist grip. That way I can keep three fingers operating the twist grip with one on the brake lever and the thumb underneath. It makes a difference when you need to do things quickly.
Click to expand...
Yes they have a plastic liner, but oil should still be used to prevent the carbon steel spiral sheeth from rusting, which QUICKLY eats up the liner.
 
concours said:
Yes they have a plastic liner, but oil should still be used to prevent the carbon steel spiral sheeth from rusting, which QUICKLY eats up the liner.
Click to expand...

Are you talking about the sheath or the inner cable ? The nylon liner is a tube which fits inside the sheath. The inner cable runs free inside the nylon liner. It the inner cable rusts and breaks, you might have a problem. But if you oiled the cable once, it might never happen. I've used Japanese cables for years and never experienced a problem, but my bike rarely ever gets wet. There is usually a lot of clearance between the nylon liner and the inner. If you pick a Japanese throttle cable up and hold it vertical, the inner will usually fall to the bottom of it's travel With the old type British cables, you always have to push or pull them.
 
The clamp on device shown above and WD40 is all I’ve used for years. I don’t deliberately lube the splitter box, but neither to I worry about a drop of WD40 getting in there.

When I were a lad, I used to be very guilty of over doing the grease thing. It can go hard, attract dirt and dust, and generally do more harm than good if over done.

I had a bike where the throttles would return properly despite being ‘serviced’ by yours truly. Under me Dads orders I stripped it all again, cleaned it all out and used light oil only and bingo, perfect throttle return. It still took a while for me to fully accept the ‘less is more’ thing !

Any Brit bike will burn far more oil from elsewhere than could possibly be relevant from the throttle cables...
 
When i worked in a "bike shop" i was instructed not to use wd40 for cable lube.
apparently some of the teflon linings would swell from its use
 
WD-40 is a solvent that is volatile to the point of totally evaporating, leaving no lubricant or residue behind. Note in the Venhill tech sheet that they use WD-40 as a cleaning/flushing solvent, but always follow-up with a final light oiling of the cable. The other caution about WD-40 is that when applied to a surface it is in fact a very good solvent for oil and is an effective remover of any oil or oily residue present. Whereas the original oil-contaminated surface may have exhibited some measure of corrosion resistance, due to the oil film on it, once washed well with WD-40, the oil will be gone and it will be more susceptible to corrosion than it was prior to washing.

Please don't misconstrue the above as a condemnation of WD-40, since I buy it and use it by the gallon, but just be aware that it is a good oil solvent, is an effective oil remover, and once evaporated leaves you with a very clean, dry part that is susceptible to corrosion.
 
Well, I feel I have to split hairs a tad here, whilst WD40 contains solvent, it also contains oil within that solvent, it definitely leaves an oily residue behind. Just test this by spraying onto a clean surface and you’ll see.

I also buy it by the gallon, literally, I buy gallon containers of it and use a hand pump spray. Buying it like this it has no solvent it it, it’s just oil. I also buy aerosol type for hard to get areas and general cleaning.

Like I said earlier, I’ve used only WD40 for years and enjoy very free and smooth cables. However, truth is that I am pretty much a ‘fair weather biker’ these days. Perhaps if I wasn’t, I’d find the shortcomings in my approach?

Notwithstanding any of the above, I do agree with your point solvent will wash away any ‘good’ oil and only leave a residue behind. So it’s perhaps best to follow Venhills instructions and use a light oil like 3 in 1.

Personally, I have stocks of Redline 20w 60 engine oil that are now surplus (due to Comnoz’s testing) so I can use that!
 
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Hi, just asking if ATF could be a good "light oil" for that purpose ??
Me too have a stock of Redline (but 20w50) and wonder were to use it....it was not cheap (though I am )....!
 
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