Lesson Learned - The Hard Way

Out for a bike ride today in SoCal........sunny & in the 70's......throttle cable snapped at the handle....Tow job.....$65 pickup & $8 / mile for 11 mile.....total $153......ouch......

Could have replaced all the cables for that.....

Lucky I was on a secondary road instead of the 6 lane freeway.....not sure I would still be here if that were the case......

I did everything to my bike to restore it......but I was guilty of neglecting the cables......shame on me....

Never replaced nor lubed in 32+ yrs....& I knew it......why...because I am the original owner....such stupidity

Well, order will be in store for new cables,,,clutch, choke, & throttle......

Just glad I am here to type about it.......

 

Glad it wasn't worse and that you're replacing them. Easily overlooked when it's working. Broke a throttle cable on my Z1 once, not fun.

 

Next time, reach underneath and turn the idle speed screw in, then SLOWLY let the clutch out and idle your way home. Play with the clutch and the kill switch if you have to stop. Uphills can be the challenge, but you can figure it out.

 

I am hoping that there will not be a next time....but advice well taken........Didn't think of that at the time......

 

I'm sure there won't be a next time for you, but the next time may be for someone else. So, it may be a help for them.

 

Glad to hear it worked out for you man. I also discovered the consequences of neglecting the cables when some Corolla cut me off in heavy traffic... closest I've ever come to wrecking. Lessons were learned that day.

 

I guess it could be worse, Aces. You could be in Canada. Sunny and in the 70's? My bike hasn't seen that in months!

 

20" of snow here, and snowing hard

 

That's a good idea. Much easier than trying to pull the cable manually with one hand while riding. AMHIK.

 

Had the same thing happen to me on an old two stroke dirt bike about two miles out into the woods. No leaving the idle speed up on that one and risk a seizure, so I had to push it all the way back to the camp. I learned to zip tie spare cables on the frame rails just as backups, especially on long trips.

 

Thanks for reminding me.... Ive been wanting to get a spare throttle cable for my saddlebags....

 

Brand new OEM cables ( speedo, clutch, & throttle ) from www.boats.net arrived today...only took a week to ship.......Georgia to SoCal..... they have some good prices on OEM parts......however Chacal's quality of service & expertise can't be beat....

Need to lube & install and get back on the horse that bucked me off......weather is cooperating.....sunny & in the 70's......

 

dark and -10 here......

 

Effin' California!

 

I know it's off topic but I thought I would share this with you anyway...
Before I retired to take up XJ900f restoration (see XJ900f gets a new home [Project section - Yamaha Owners Club]), I used to be pilot and flew a Falke2000. This small aircraft is powered by a Limbach engine (air cooled and similar to a flat four Volkswagen). Anyway, I was flying back to the airfield and I started to pull back the throttle quadrant (in an aircraft, you push the throttle forward to increase and backward to reduce power [same logic as a car]). It's vital that you pull the power right back as you fly final towards the runway, otherwise the thrust from the propeller will cause the aircraft to climb - NOT what you want when you are trying to descend! Anyway, as I pulled the throttle back, the cable snapped (just like the originator of this thread) but, unlike the bike version, the safety features in my aircraft meant that when the cable snapped, the engine went from idle to flat out! As you would expect, this caused the plane to climb - again, not what you want as you approach the runway threshold. Another thing you don't want is runway BEHIND you, you want runway in front of you! I switched off the magnetos but the speed of the prop was still producing unwanted thrust so I eased the nose up, causing the prop to work harder and stall itself. I've now got a stopped engine and no thrust but I'm still using up runway and I'm too high. Kick in some rudder and sideslip down towards the runway (sidelip causes more drag on the fuselage and enables the aircraft to descend quicker), then just before the wheels touch I kick in some opposite rudder and line up with the centreline and gently touch down. You'll probably appreciate that this happened quicker than the time needed to write about it. Oh, and I had to repair my broken throttle cable - I got a replacement cable from the local Bike shop - but when the guy behind the counter asked what (Bike) it was off, I said not to bother as he would not have one for my "model". He opened a big drawer of loose throttle cables and we found one in there. Hope I didn't bore you with my story - bikers and pilots have many things in common.

 

Awesome story ..... And I bet there's more people than you might think that have had their bikes in the air------

 

Ha ha, yes, I guess you could be right there! I was a sailplane/glider instructor for a few years and the absolute best people to teach were - you guessed it, BIKERS! They instinctively leaned into the turns. Strangely, the non-bikers leaned away from the turn and when I asked them why they did that they said they didn't like the feeling of "falling" into the turns. I suppose the flying equivalent of scraping your knee in the curve is pulling a 3G turn with your wingtip pointing at the ground. Both epic and so satisfying when you get it right!

 

I noticed the same thing when I used to instruct. The people who thought less and felt more had a better time. Most of my students own bikes now too.

Btw, awesome throttle cable story. I once had a carb stop sending fuel and stopped the prop... when I was taking off and towing a glider. Always expect the worst.

 

if just the nub breaks off in the throttle, you have enough cable hanging out the end. So loosen the throttle/switch housing. Then catch the inner cable in it, leave some inner cable exposed and tighten it down. Now pulling the sheath revs it up. Test your fix by turning the bars lock to lock. Now figure out how you want to work it and ride home.

 

But if you ride the correct way, you push the bar down in the direction you wish to go. Leaning is one thing, leaving your hips and torso loose to pivot is another, and better, approach...... ESPECIALLY for evasive maneuvering ..

 

i feel a edit comming on

 

And another------

 

(googles for picture) Good lord. Can we possibly put the wings any further forward? I don't know the first thing about aircraft design, but it sure looks like the balance on that thing would be way off. Obviously it works, but still...

Oh, and let's not forget the difference between a fairy tale and a pilots' tale. A fairy tale starts out "Once upon a time...". The pilots tale begins with "No shit, this really happened..."

 

Aha, sounds like EFATO... Engine Failure At Take Off. It's just as well that we get taught these things and are ready to "Expect the Unexpected", as one of my old instructors used to say.

 

Sorry but I can't see your Google picture. If it's a Falke then the wings need to be that far forward as the aircraft is an SLMG (Self Launch Motor Glider). Oh, and "No shit, this really happened" - and I have an entry in my log book to prove it. Anyway, back to my XJ900 project, does anyone have any experience of painting engine mounting bolts? I have a small bench-top blast cabinet and have cleaned the bolts up pretty good - they look nice and shiny but I know they'll just rust up again here in damp (dreich) Scotland. I am considering replacing them with Stainless but I would like to know if they can be painted and be able to withstand torque wrenching. By the way, the whole bike has been stripped down and my frame, swinging arm and stands etc. have all been powder coated and I am doing a complete "nuts and bolts" restoration. I have retired from work so am in no hurry to rush things, I must be a sad git as I enjoy getting everything just right. I have just fitted new bearing races to the swinging arm - having first frozen the races for two days to reduce the size enough to be "robustly" tapped into place. Next up are the top and bottom races for the steering yokes/heads.
Cheers

 

you might want to look into zinc plating for your bolts.

FU

 

Polock suggest in another thread to paint with gun kote and forget about 'em. It'll last for as long as you have your bike. I'm going to try it for mine.

Gary H.

 

I'm not familiar with Gun Cote. Is than an American item? I'll have a look on eBay and see what comes up.
Thanks

 

The item is gun kote (sorry about that). I edited my reply. It's on e-bay.

Gary H.

 

i don't see it on e-bay. here's a link to the distributors
http://www.kgcoatings.com/index.php?p=page&page_id=distributers
Duracoat isn't the same, might as well use Krylon
Cerakote is another, never used it, no opinion of it
another thing that i found that's good for bolts is "chip guard" the stuff they put on the rocker panels of some cars. But it's too thick for the threads, only put it on the head half

 

Thought i saw it there. Thanks for the link.

Gary H.