Choke as cruise control?

I haven't REALLY been using my choke as cruise control, but...

I was riding down a canyon in the mountains today and as I was coming out of a turn I began to open the throttle more and more. Suddenly all tension was gone and my acceleration went with it, turns out the throttle cable was so badly frayed it broke under the tension of me accelerating....

sad day


Anyway, the canyon was a pretty good downhill, but I still ran with the choke on to keep my speed up and get back home, any chance I did some kind of damage? I don't really understand how my choke works, but I know its not opening the butterfly valves like the throttle does.

 

I'm surprised you didn't foul the plugs out an kill the engine. Should have been running pretty rich with the choke on

 

Interesting. Didnt know that

 

IF the cable broke he should not have been running real rich - I'm surprised there was enough power but interesting

Anyway main question was any damage - short answer NO should not be an issue - the "choke" is an enrichment circuit - opens an additional fuel jet/path.

 

Insane in the membrain.

hope you didn't hurt the bike. I just replaced all my cables just for piece of mind and found out the PO had used a clutch cable that was 6 inches longer and rigged it up inside the cover with light gauge wire. no wonder it was acting weird.

 

Your plugs probably weren't to happy but you shouldn't have any real damage. At least you know your enrichment circuts are clear.

 

Tiny is right. Your enrichment circuit should be AOK. The plugs are fine because as Bill says above there is no choke in the classical sense (closed butterflies to restrict airflow and thereby increased fuel/air mixture) but there is an enrichment circuit that draws fuel from a different source in the carburetors and ADDS it to the fuel load normally provided by the carbs which provides a very rich mixture to support the needs of the cold engine.

Now, lose the normal fuel load because the cable is broken and the only source of fuel is the idle circuit and the enrichment circuit. At speed you won't run rich with this amount of fuel.

Again, the key is that there is no classic choke. Only fuel from the enrichment circuit.

 

BOY are your enrichment wells clean. A lot of other things too. Doubt any damage done, might wanna replace the plugs.

QUESTION: What would have happened if the frayed cable resulted in a suddenly WOT condition instead? Would you still be here posting?

There is a lesson here. MAINTENANCE. Which includes ACTUAL inspection and periodic lubrication. Motorcycles aren't bicycles or even minibikes. They're MOTOR VEHICLES that share the roads with other motor vehicles, including GIANT TRUCKS. You shouldn't have given this the opportunity to happen. Airplane pilots know this. You need to.

You're damn lucky to be here, son. What happened shouldn't be a humorous anecdote but a wake-up call that you need to go over that dawg with a fine-tooth comb before another equipment failure takes you out for good. Start with your rear brake.

{rant over. Sorry, but this is serious business.}

 

I broke my throttle cable just after I got mine running. I was quite a ways from home too. I just removed the outside jacket and used the bare wire (inside portion) and just pulled on the wire the to get'r home. It was a little trick shifting, but I made it. Try to hold a steady speed with just a wire in your hand. 8O

 

So, is that the motorcycle equivalent of fly by wire?

 

I guess you could put it that way. > Left hand on the clutch side to shift and a hand full of throttle wire resting on my leg to keep a steady speed. Then raised my leg a bit to go thru the gears. It also helps to wear gloves.

 

i have had to turn up the idle to limp home on a few different vehicles. its fun!

 

haha, i thought I would be the only one who had done this. On my 88 camaro the throttle cable snapped on me at the drag strip one night, had to set the idle to about 2k and slip the snot out of the clutch to get her home at a whopping 12 mph.

 

Heh, at least I know I don't have to worry about that... I've never HAD to do it, but I can get my truck up to about 30 without touching the gas. Just have to be careful with the clutch to make it all the way up into 5th...