Throttle cables

Not sure if this is the right place for my question, but here it goes. Throttle doesn't come back after twisted open. I know that some bike have one, some have two. Why? If one opens and the other one closes, are they the exact same cable? i think they sell it as two different part numbers on buykawasaki.com, but my buddy who i think knows bikes (at least more than me) says that they are the same, and that i could buy motion pro cables, times 2, and everything would be alright. Am i being misguided? Dont wanna kill myself either!

Thanks

some have one, some have two


CABLES, i forgot to write silly me!

I can't recall, has the bike been sitting for some time?

If so, the carb slides could be gunked up from stale fuel and possibly sticking.
Or it could be as simple as a cable or the throttle linkage binding.

Your bike, as well as quite a few Kawis from the 70's came equipped with two (an opening and a closing) throttle cables. There is a stout enough throttle return spring on the carb linkage, so the "closing" throttle cable is basically just a fail safe.
While the cables look almost identical, IIRC one cable is slightly longer than the other.
If the "opening" cable breaks (usually happens when you are MILES from any help :pinch), in a pinch the "closing" cable can be swapped into it's place to safely get you to where you need to go.

Check at Z1 Enterprises, they stock both of those cables in the Motion Pro brand.

Post edited by: RetroRiceRocketRider, at: 2007/07/18 22:32

The difference is the "pull" cable has a little shorter chome L at the handlebar than the "push" cable. This is done so they don't butt together as they are installed, so you could put on the "pull" cable first, get it all twisted on to the right position, then put on the "push" cable. If they used the exact same cable this would not be possible because after installing the first cable, the second cable could not be fully threaded in because it butts against the first cable. It could work, and I would bet aftermarket garbage cables may use the same cable, but it could not work right as the only way it could be done would to be fully thread in the first cable, then thread in the second as many turns as possible until it butts against the first. You would then have between a 1/4" and 1/2" of threads showing because it can't be tightened all the way. The 2 cables may be slightly different length too, I never really looked at that. Many people claim they are the same cable and they look the same, but to be right they must be different slightly.

I have a couple of comments and then a question.

I have been looking into this exact thing for my 650 SR.
Most of the after market parts for these cables (push/pull) on the Kz650's are sold seperately from what I have seen (presumably for the reasons sighted above), However they are the same length (45.5 inches I think).

I would double check to see that you have your spring hooked up correctly first and if it is I would check to see that the appropriate parts are lubed correctly (accelorator cable,throttle mechanisms, etc.) Make sure things are not sticking.

I recently went into my local kawasaki dealer to try to order these cables and the parts guy didn't have a clue about push/pull cables (and my extremely new to mechanical work question about whether it is the push or pull cable that is the accelorator cable). That is my question since to order these online you have to know which is which.

The other thing that I wondered about is just buying a new cable for a perfectly good sleeve. The aftermarket cables seem to be all painted black at the end where they hook up to the handlebars. I have some nice chrome ones that I would like to keep. Has anyone tried just repacing the actual cable inside the sleeve?

Hmmmm, I'll have to look into that different lengths a little further more. But if I have a brand new open cable, what are the chances that it'll break? I mean, even if I have to buy one every other year or so?

Baker, that would be like on a bicycle! I wouldn't see why it wouldn't work...