How do I lighten up my throttle at the twistgrip?

[suecanada]

Do any of you fellows have any ideas about either getting rid of that "one cable into two cables distributor under the tank with a wee piston inside"arrangement for the 1983 R65LS's throttle? It is so stiff at my handlebar that it barely returns and is very hard on my hand over a long journey. Does anyone have this arrangement PLUS a easy twist at the handlebar?? I tried the lighter springs and that didn't work as they were too light.  Maybe, just maybe my wee piston inside the distributor is burred or sticky...graphite might help??....WD 40 makes no difference.  The throttle stuck on last weekend and the WD-40 helped to stop that but still is very stiff. Was an interesting ride for awhile

Anyone changed to a 2 cable system throughout?  I don't need the throttle as light as the new bike but a little lighter would help a lot.

[Lowen]

How do the splines look on the handle bars at the twistgrip? If they are worn they can make the throttle feel stiff and even stick, they should also be greased at least once a year.

[Rob Valdez 79 R65]

I just found out that Flanders sells splitters of their own.

Short link

They may be superior to OEM.  I don't know.  I found out about them on a discussion on Boxerworks.

If I understand it correctly, to swap to a two-cable throttle, you need two throttle cables, a different cam/chain piece, and a new top cover.

It seems to me, the change from two cables to one occurred when they changed the round master cylinder reservoir for the rectangular.  I don't know if the top covers on the two perches are interchangeable.

[MrRiden]

Sue,
If you haven't done so already give the single cable a yank at the splitter to see if the binding is really happening at the splitter. I'm suspecting that you'll be able to operate the 2 short cables without them binding. I'm suspicious of the gears & chain under The cover of the twist grip itself. Worn? Dried grease? Rusty? You may have checked this already but because you didn't mention it I'm wonderin'
rich

[Rob Valdez 79 R65]

Oh, and, uh... you don't have a throttle set-screw on the underside of the perch, do you???  

[Bob_Roller]

If I remember correctly, Sue replaced the throttle tube and cam assembly not too long ago, so my next question, how old are the cables ?

I personally would remove the cables, clean them, and re-lube them with a light oil.

Then see if this helps out, if not, it's most likely a cable set replacement.

You can swap out the two lower cables from the 'choke' system, they are the same as the two lower throttle cables, and see if it makes any difference.

[suecanada]

Yup, all new parts (cam, top cover etc, everything there is in the throttle assembly at the handlebar. All greased with a fairly light grease too and I even took the throttle tube off and put synthetic oil on the tube/handlebar part to lighten up things there too. I had used moly before if I remember correctly. The cables were bought new say 10,000 miles ago when I got the bike. Changing over to the 2 cable system could be quite expensive I suppose.

I'll keep at it and thanks for the advice. No one said whether or not they experience something similar with the one into two system on their bike. Anyone? Do you snap back, plod back or something in between? I really hate this job as nhmaf knows only too well too. Bite the bullet time. I even have a new wee piston to put in there. Dry graphite OK inside the distributor?

Built-in governor screw is not a factor here but always worth asking that's for sure!

Thanks.

[nhmaf]

Sue,

When I first got my 82 LS, the throttle was slow to return, but it seemed to get much better after I had taken the throttle tube and mechanism apart
and cleaned it all with WD-40 and put a bit of grease on the gear end..  what seemed to help the most was taking the thing off the handlebar as it seemed
that some grease had gotten inside the tube and on the handlebar surface and hardened/become quite sticky that was resisting the pull of the springs.
I also replaced one or two carb springs as they were VERY rusty and looking to be on their last legs.

As you know, I've had the splitters apart, and I've replaced the upper cables for both the throttle and the choke.    this didn't seem to do much as far as throttle or choke response goes, but it is all working pretty well right now.   I DO also have new lower cables to install, which I will probably get to a bit later this summer - things seem to be working well now though I know the lower cables are rather worn... it is just getting in there to battle with those gosh darn splitter widgets is such a PITA !   While having the cable juntions/splitters apart, I noticed that it was fairly easy for the square ends of the lower cables to become twisted or crooked in the holder, such that they square ends could protrude outside of the plastic "disc" and rub against the shell of the junction assembly.   This would certainly cause drag, but the only only way to tell is to get in there - argh !    I think a bit of graphite inside the cable splitter thingie wouldn't hurt anything at all, but it probably won't do anything to combat corrosion.

[Rob Valdez 79 R65]

Sue,

I remember you describing your frustration with dealing with the internals of the splitter.

Do you think something could be awry in there, again?  Have you checked?  Or did you just spray WD-40 in there (WD-40 is not a lubricant, remember).

[Justin B.]

I took the throttle splitter apart on the '82 LS after I brought it home and the little piston-thingy came out in several pieces so I machined one out of aluminum that works fantastic!  I wouldn't use any liquid lubricant here, maybe some spray-on dry moly or graphite...

[redzap]

I have been experiencing the same problem with a stiff throttle.  In cleaning the master cylinder assembly, I took everything apart, cleaned it, and regreased it with a little but not great improvement.  It just makes sense (to me anyway) that the problem is with a binding or stiff cable or a worn spline/chain.  Good luck and let us know what you find out.  On another note, sorry there are no Canadian teams in the Stanley Cup finals.  It just isn't right!

[msbuck]

Graham has a 1981 R100 and he went to the 2 throttle cable system and says it makes a world of difference!  He rode into the dealership (many years ago) and told them, "either fix this stiff throttle or I'm getting rid of this bike!" That was only after about 30 miles of riding.  They took the system off a late model R80RT.  They had to replace the entire handlebar unit as you need room for both cables going into the throttle cam.  We just went out to compare mine to his and his is about half the effort of mine.  He had tried all the suggested fixes and nothing else worked for him.

You might want to try RePsycle or a breakers to find a unit off another bike - you may have to specify the two throttle system as I think they split the year in 1984.  

[Bob_Roller]

Yup, all new parts (cam, top cover etc, everything there is in the throttle assembly at the handlebar. All greased with a fairly light grease too and I even took the throttle tube off and put synthetic oil on the tube/handlebar part to lighten up things there too. I had used moly before if I remember correctly. The cables were bought new say 10,000 miles ago when I got the bike. Changing over to the 2 cable system could be quite expensive I suppose.

I'll keep at it and thanks for the advice. No one said whether or not they experience something similar with the one into two system on their bike. Anyone? Do you snap back, plod back or something in between? I really hate this job as nhmaf knows only too well too. Bite the bullet time. I even have a new wee piston to put in there. Dry graphite OK inside the distributor?

Built-in governor screw is not a factor here but always worth asking that's for sure! :-[Thanks.

Sue,

I had a binding throttle about 10 years ago, took the cables out, and in the 'relaxed' state out of the bike, the cables felt fine, but when re-assembled, and with tension applied by the adjusters, the cable system bound up badly, couldn't figure out which cable was the offending one, so I replaced all three.

As far as lubricant in the splitter, I don't think it is a real requirement, as when the cables are tensioned, the splitter 'piston' sould be suspended away from the plastic outer case.

I put a few applications of light grease on the cap threads, and where the cables come through, just to prevent water from getting in there.

Have you taken a look at the routing of the throttle cables ?

They may have gotten into a binding situation over the last few years.

[steve hawkins]

I have just put a new master cylinder with a rectangular reservoir onto my old 1979 R65 dual cable twist grip which used to have a round reservoir master cylinder on it.  It can be done, but I think you will have to change one of the master cylinder securing bolts.

I did this when I went down to a single front brake disc.

Nice to see that there is something on the 1979/80 R65's that is better than the post 81's

By the way, the single disk is working just fine.

Cheers

Steve H

[Rob Valdez 79 R65]

Nice to see that there is something on the 1979/80 R65's that is better than the post 81's

Cheers

Steve H

Clamshell airbox!


I would like to have a rectangular reservoir someday just to better accommodate the G/S brushguards of which I have grown fond.
Not sure I want to give up dual cables, though.