July 2, 2012 Removed Choke and Throttle Cable

I started with the choke cable, thinking it would be the easiest...kind of. The handlebar connection came out easily. I did forget to attach a messenger line to run the new cable. When I got down to the "throttle body" connection it looked like the throttle sensing switch was part of the connection. This is the switch that is connected to the aft end of the throttle body assembly.

I couldn't find a better diagram, number 18 is the switch which is on the back of this assembly




One of my major problems when I "fix" things is removing too much or things that don't need to be removed. I started loosening the screws to remove the switch and noticed that there was a large tube/pipe running for and aft down the center of this assembly terminating in/at the switch. I took a second look at the choke connection and sure enough there was a gate for the removal of the barrel connector and wire to slip though. As I always say, for those who have done this the removal the procedure seems obvious. But, I have absolutely no background with this type of work, give me a computer any day.

The throttle position sensing switch

You can see one of the two screws I loosened to the left of the square black body

I tightened the screws back up and started to work on the choke wire inside the cable. After working on the cable for a bit I was able to get some of the cable free enough to allow the barrel to come free. I was then able to get some free wire though the gate and get the cable out. The cable was annealed to the wire.

The choke cable attachement point with the throttle sensor to right

You can't see the cable gate and barrel cachement below

Next was the throttle. I checked the forums and their seemed to be a couple of part choices for my bike but there were no specific directions for removing the throttle from the handlebars. The throttle cable comes into the handle bar assembly just under the brake reservoir. There were two 4mm cap screws on either side of the lower reservoir. I didn't want to make the same mistake I made when I was working on my Honda Sabre. I was installing highway bars and they didn't seem to fit. The instructions said the brake pedal might need to be adjusted, I even called Cobra for confirmation. Well, I started to unscrew the wrong screw and brake fluid started leaking out. This did in fact change the position of the brake pedal! But it did nothing for the inferior fit of the Cobra bars; they were returned and I bought the bars from MC Enterprises. In the case of the Honda the brake fluid simply leaked down on the floor of the garage. As this is the forward brake the fluid would end up leaking all down the bike. This bike has enough issues it doesn't need to be streaked with brake fluid.

However, sometimes you just have to jump in to find out if you can swim. I first unscrewed the "throttle grip cap" This revealed a rotating chain assembly. One note that once the throttle assembly cap is off, the handlebar throttle grip will rotate and slide off. On the inside of the handle there is a channel that I suppose restricts the amount of turn the grip will make. Unfortunately, I didn't take note of this or it's position until the grip had come loose and rotated. I'm hoping it's rest position will be self evident when I put this back together.

  The Handlebar throttle assembly

To the bottom of the box you can see the channel in the throttle grip

The two pieces of string in the lower right are messenger lines to run the new cables

Next, I slowly unscrewed the upper screw and waited for brake fluid to flow, it didn't. I then unscrewed the lower screw. The brake reservoir came loose but not enough to let me get to the throttle cable connection; it would hit the instrument nacelle. I started unbolting stuff under the nacelle in hopes of loosening it enough so that I could get brake system to move enough and get to the throttle cable connection. Once again people don't do what I sometimes do, jumping in before looking. After removing and replacing the same two bolts a couple of times it finally occurred to me to simply loosen the handle bar and rotate it. Which is what I did. The brake system then moved enough to allow the cable to come loose.


This connection wasn't the simple barrel bolt connection of the choke cable, it had a pressed on rectangular nubbin on the end. I researched the possability of getting off brand cables. I think it would have been possible, especially for the choke cable. I went to my local Kawasaki dealer and asked if the carried cables in stock, they didn't. I'd found that neither did my Honda dealer carry parts, I'd waited up to 10 days for fairly simple parts.

On the other end where the cable attached to the throttle assembly after being released from the handlebar the throttle eased into it's at rest position. Once again I was able to wrangle the barrel bolt free. There were a couple of "meat hooks" (what we call the fraying cables on sailboats) on the end of the cable. The throttle cable was bound inside the casing. With both the choke and throttle cable I tried shooting some WD40 inside and left them overnight to no avail.

The lower throttle cable attachment point

The screwdriver tip is pointing to the barrel enclosure

The bolt to the right is the "at rest" position of the throttle assembly

I would imagine that you can vary the idle by screwing this bolt in and out. However, it looks as though there is locktite on it, meaning it shouldn't be changed. I've read in many posts that there are things on the bike that shouldn't be changed. One post talked about throttle tuning on each of the cylinders and turning the brass screws to make this adjustment. I believe that the screw just above the screwdriver is one of those screws. I just hope that neither the previous or original owner did any tuning or turning of the brass screws!