I have had a slightly dragging / stiff throttle for the past few months, despite spraying lithium grease inside the throttle controler and housing.
As I have not seen any detailed posts on this forum or the US forum I decided to write up a post.
I decided I would try to lubricate the cables without removing them from the bike.
It saved me lifting / removing the tank, air filter cover and air filter housing to detach the cables from the throttle bodies.
I also wanted to clean and re-lubricate the throttle control and housing.
This is how I did it:Remove Right bar end.
Loosen completly, the 15mm cable locknuts on the push cable (bottom) and pull cable (top)
Loosen the 10 mm locking nut on the upper pull cable and wind the adjuster and locking nut all the way in (clockwise) to create maximum cable slack.
Remove the 2, "JIS" style bolts (caution, using a normal philips head may destroy the head of the bolt if its in very tight) that hold the throttle housing halves together.
Split the case as far apart as possible and remove the single gold colored philips head screw that holds the kill switch and its electric wire to the uper housing.
Give it a wiggle and it will free up from the white tab on the upper housing.
With a GOOD, quality, medium-sized needle nose plier, CAREFULLY grip the upper pull cable, 15 mm from its ball end and slowly pry it up and off and slide outward from throttle hole. do the same with the lower push cable. Note, grab the cable carefully, any "split ends" created or that are present will require cable replacement...
Remove the throttle controler from the bar.
I have a dedicated motorcycle cable oiler, see photo attached, but it was easier to use the funel bag method described below.
To create a funnel for the oil, just snip a very small corner off a zip lock bag, insert 1 cable thru the opening and tape the bag corner opening tight to the end of the cable sleeve. tape the cable vertically to any part of the bike, so it stands upright to allow the oil to fill level.
Create a funnel and fill about 20 ml light machine oil.
Do the same for the other cable and let the oil seep thru the funel you created for at least 10 minutes. You can wiggle the cable thru the sheath to encourage the oil to penetrate.
Use WD40 or light degreaser on all parts including the inside of the throttle controller and get everything as clean and dry as possible.
Some people use a light spray of silicone lubricant, but I decided to use a very small amount of dry graphite powder on all moving components.
Re-assemble everything in the reverse order and be very carefull not to overtighten the 2 bolts that hold the throttle halves together as the housing is NOT MADE from metal as I assumed but from a hard plastic and you can easily strip out the threads...
Verify heated grips and throttle lock (if aplicable) are not inducing any drag and that they work correctly.
My throttle drag is now gone, it snaps back quickly in all steering positions and is much smoother to operate!
I would recomend this job to everyone! Allow 1-2 hours and you will be amazed at the results!
Good Luck!
