Push/Pull throttle. Ditch the 2nd cable?

After riding all season on this new to me bike (1980 KZ550A), I'm not exactly bonding with the Push/Pull throttle. I did some reading up on it and understand that 2nd cable is really just a safety feature, design to let you manually close the throttle in case it sticks open. I feel confident in the style of riding I'm doing, that in that rare situation I could pull the clutch and kill the engine.
I'm considering buying a single cable throttle tube and ditching the 2nd cable.
thoughts?

carwash wrote: After riding all season on this new to me bike (1980 KZ550A), I'm not exactly bonding with the Push/Pull throttle. I did some reading up on it and understand that 2nd cable is really just a safety feature, design to let you manually close the throttle in case it sticks open. I feel confident in the style of riding I'm doing, that in that rare situation I could pull the clutch and kill the engine.
I'm considering buying a single cable throttle tube and ditching the 2nd cable.
thoughts?

In the sudden case that it does stick, you might not have the ample time to assess your situation. Consider what happens if it does stick in the wrong one...

I'd cover your bases where you can. Riding is already extremely dangerous. I wouldn't add any unnecessary factors...

Atlamillias wrote:

carwash wrote: After riding all season on this new to me bike (1980 KZ550A), I'm not exactly bonding with the Push/Pull throttle. I did some reading up on it and understand that 2nd cable is really just a safety feature, design to let you manually close the throttle in case it sticks open. I feel confident in the style of riding I'm doing, that in that rare situation I could pull the clutch and kill the engine.
I'm considering buying a single cable throttle tube and ditching the 2nd cable.
thoughts?

In the sudden case that it does stick, you might not have the ample time to assess your situation. Consider what happens if it does stick in the wrong one...

I'd cover your bases where you can. Riding is already extremely dangerous. I wouldn't add any unnecessary factors...

+1000, tell me how fast you can react when half way round a tight corner and your throttle sticks, even for an instant...? In a straight line maybe not so much a problem, maybe, but in a corner, no matter how good you think you can ride {geeze I hear that a lot !!} , you'll either soil your pants, hit oncoming traffic or ride off the road, or, maybe if you are lucky, you'll remain upright, Even shutting off your throttle mid corner is problematic, the bike reacts totally different, is it really worth the risk..?

I rode for many years without one. In 13 I went back to two. Not so much for safety, when I blip the throttle it is crisper and it's easier on my old wrist. Got a cruse control and cramp buster too.
Steve

I hear that, but is this something that happens with any regularity? There are lots of carbureted bikes out there with single throttle cables. Is this something that is more prone to bikes from this era, with 4 carbs? It just seems like a random thing in the mass of carburetor bikes.

swest wrote: I rode for many years without one. In 13 I went back to two. Not so much for safety, when I blip the throttle it is crisper and it's easier on my old wrist. Got a cruse control and cramp buster too.
Steve

I would have expected that the throttle would feel "crisper" with a single cable. Not the case?

You can do it but I'd keep two.
Steve

I remember Vance and Hines filling there slides with lead.... I think on their Susy 1000 pro stocker to get the idle to drop back down instantly and sound cooler..... always liked the idea but never try'd it. Thinking the dual cables help that way too...... love that cruise control too Steve one of the things I would never do without.

So is this cable set up something that's specific to 4-carb bikes with the slides? This set up is more prone to getting stuck open than say a twin?

I guess I had the exact opposite experience as Steve. I never blip my throttle, but every time I turned off the throttle there was like 1/2 second delay when I was running the push/pull cables. I tried every adjustment possible to no avail. I went to a single cable and what a dramatic improvement. This was on a KZ1000MKII that had superbike bars and Z1R cables to attempt to compensate. Later when I quit taking long trips I put the stock bars and cables back on and the throttle worked fine with the push/pull. It was something to do with the low bars, but there is no need to run the push cable in my opinion. I removed it on the KZ650 that also had superbike bars and rode it over 160,000 miles with just the pull cable. The throttle spring is plenty strong enough to make having a throttle stick open virtually impossible. Of course all safety features are there for a reason so decide for yourself what benefit the push cable may accomplish and is that safety feature a necessary thing. I'm not an overly safetycrat kind of guy, so I didn't hesitate to remove it.

KZB2 650 wrote: I remember Vance and Hines filling there slides with lead.... I think on their Susy 1000 pro stocker to get the idle to drop back down instantly and sound cooler..... always liked the idea but never try'd it. Thinking the dual cables help that way too...... love that cruise control too Steve one of the things I would never do without.

Nice to be able to take my hands off the bars and let them rest on long rides. Freaks out the people behind me especially when I lean back and stretch with both hands off the bars. :woohoo:
Steve

carwash wrote: So is this cable set up something that's specific to 4-carb bikes with the slides? This set up is more prone to getting stuck open than say a twin?

It's not just a 4-cylinder thing: my 400 has (had) push-pull cables.