Author Topic: Throttle cable lube (Read 6043 times)

Darrell · « **on:** July 02, 2005, 04:19:55 PM »

What do I use to lube the throttle cables? Can I just pour some in, or is it best to pull the whole cable out, lube, then slide it back in? Thanks guys.

Darrell

oldbiker · « **Reply #1 on:** July 03, 2005, 01:08:13 AM »

Hang the cable up with a paper or plasticine funnel at the top. Put oil in the funnel and wait till it drips from the bottom.

dpen · « **Reply #2 on:** July 03, 2005, 04:35:18 AM »

An easy way is to get a squash ball or tennis ball & cut it in half.
Either drill or pierce a small hole in the bottom.
Nail the ball to a handy wall or something with the small hole you've drilled at the bottom.
Push the cable through the hole & fill the ball with lubricant.
Put a drip tray under the cable & when lube comes out the bottom, all done, no mess.

Matt at PSB · « **Reply #3 on:** July 03, 2005, 09:56:07 AM »

Or you could do it the professional way with a C clamp like cable luber injecting tool that resembles in some ways a small tubing cutter. This tool slides over the end of the cable and is then tightened down with a thumbscrew. The straw tube on a can of aerosol lubricant is inserted into an orifice on the tool & the lube is injected under pressure from one end of the cable to the other.

The other older systems mentioned above will work. They are, in my opinion, a bit messy & slow. Additionally the gravity feed systems can't always get oil throughout all the cable. Their advantage is they use no special tools. The advantage of the special tool method is it gets the job done completely in 3 seconds with less mess and it gets lube throughout the cable.

About cable lube: I prefer a product called "Silkopen" by Silkolene Lubricants. It is a non-water soluble penetrating oil with powdered graphite in suspension in the carrier oil. The graphite continues to lube the cable even after the carrier oil has evaporated. Motion Pro, the leading aftermarket replacement cable manufacturer, recommends using WD40 as a cable lube but WD40 is a water soluble oil that can lead to moisture derived corrosion inside the cables. The Silkopen comes in a 14.5 OZ. (410g) aerosol can.

The cable luber tool goes for $10.49 USD & a can of Silkopen goes for $5.99 a can. Even if you own & maintain five bikes the above two items would be about a ten-year supply for sixteen & a half bucks.

Matt at PSB

TwoTired · « **Reply #4 on:** July 03, 2005, 11:34:41 AM »

Quote from: Matt at PSB on July 03, 2005, 09:56:07 AM

Motion Pro, the leading aftermarket replacement cable manufacturer, recommends using WD40 as a cable lube but WD40 is a water soluble oil that can lead to moisture derived corrosion inside the cables. The Silkopen comes in a 14.5 OZ. (410g) aerosol can.

Matt at PSB

While I agree that a lube with graphite is superior for cable lubes. WD40 is not water soluable when the thinning solvents evaporate. The WD stands for Water Displacing. It will dislodge water from metal surfaces, preventing corrosion. Water displacing oils are also used during the bluing of steel; after the bluing salt bath, the water rinse, then water displaceing oil application to stop the rust process and protect the steel surface.

There was an earlier thread that mentioned nylon as a liner for earlier cables, And, that oil can soften these types and make for stiff operation. I use a product called Dri-Slide. This is molybdenum disulfide in a light solvent carrier for flowing penetration. This leaves a dry film on metal that protects it from corrosion, and is pretty slippery in its own right. I like to mix in a bit of graphite powder for added slipperiness in the cables. But, I use the "messy & slow" drip method to lube my cables. I haven't had any cable problems in the ten years I've been using this process.

I'll have to look into the Silkopen. Sounds useful for non-nylon lined cables. Thanks for that tip.

eldar · « **Reply #5 on:** July 04, 2005, 02:30:30 PM »

The cable lube tool is of limited use. If you have an old cable still in good shape but dry, the old method will work better and be less messy. If you use an aerosol lube with a cable tool, it will not penetrate fast enough and will spray you and everything in a 3 - 5 foot radius and you will have lube running down the outside of your cable. If you are using it for basic maintaining and the cable is not already dried out, then the tool works fine.

Jonesy · « **Reply #6 on:** July 04, 2005, 04:09:11 PM »

WD-40: Water Dispersant, formulation #40

(In case anyone couldn't sleep because they wondered what the heck it meant...)

dpen · « **Reply #7 on:** July 05, 2005, 12:32:50 PM »

Quote from: jonesdp on July 04, 2005, 04:09:11 PM

WD-40: Water Dispersant, formulation #40

(In case anyone couldn't sleep because they wondered what the heck it meant...)

Thank you, my mind is now at rest

x2qwk4ux · « **Reply #8 on:** July 05, 2005, 05:16:49 PM »

Hmmmm....tennis ball....a good idea, but here's how to make it even better!

Poke 2 holes in opposite ends of a tennis ball / raquetball. Poke cable through one end / fill other end with WD40. Remove WD-40 straw, and blow compressed air through ball & cable to flush out dirt inside cable. DONE!

daz · « **Reply #9 on:** July 07, 2005, 02:58:09 AM »

I use baby oil on all my cables, as i found engine oil makes the nylon inner sheaf swell & the cable becomes tight. Not all cables have a nylon inner sheaf

pmpski_1 · « **Reply #10 on:** July 07, 2005, 09:59:35 AM »

Quote from: eldar on July 04, 2005, 02:30:30 PM

If you use an aerosol lube with a cable tool, it will not penetrate fast enough and will spray you and everything in a 3 - 5 foot radius and you will have lube running down the outside of your cable.

Yep. I got sprayed and ended up using the aerosol can to put in a drip or two at a time until it finally came out the other side. Probably took 30 minutes and was a big pain in the ass.

dpen · « **Reply #11 on:** July 07, 2005, 12:32:14 PM »

I use sewing machine or hair clipper oil.
Fill the tennis ball & go have a beer.

kghost · « **Reply #12 on:** July 12, 2005, 12:18:06 PM »

Only pure grade sperm whale oil..........

dpen · « **Reply #13 on:** July 12, 2005, 12:24:00 PM »

Quote from: x2qwk4ux on July 05, 2005, 05:16:49 PM

Hmmmm....tennis ball....a good idea, but here's how to make it even better!

Poke 2 holes in opposite ends of a tennis ball / raquetball. Poke cable through one end / fill other end with WD40. Remove WD-40 straw, and blow compressed air through ball & cable to flush out dirt inside cable. DONE!

Can I use this idea on the cheap?
Instead of buying a tennis ball, I can glue together two of the halves I use now. Ha Ha (sorry Terry)

eldar · « **Reply #14 on:** July 12, 2005, 01:26:01 PM »

I figure if oiling happens and I dont get sprayed, all is good!

phylo101 · « **Reply #15 on:** July 12, 2005, 02:31:31 PM »

Re WD40.... in the late '50s the USAF issued a specification for a spray water dispersant to be sprayed into the electrics in the nosecones of Thor and Atlas ICBMs....which if anyone remembers were not kept in silos but on OUTDOOR and frequently mobile launching stands.It took 39 failed tries to come up with an infallible formula that stood up to ALL testing, hence WD FORTY!
This product was then subject to a 25yr govt. pat pending., and good people like ourselves only got hold it once it that 25 yr period of grace was over and it could be sold on the open market. And as in that 25 years tens of thousands of young US citizens had served in blue uniforms, why the hell change the name of a product they all knew and trusted?

Phylo

phylo101 · « **Reply #16 on:** July 12, 2005, 02:50:21 PM »

P.S. I have a good trick for cables. Use Three-In-One oil, yep the kind that NOT sposed to used cos it attacks the teflon liner in modern cables. Reason? Yes the liner breaks down THEN you pull it out and throw it away, and youre left with the most wonderfully free-moving cable - ANY cable - cos youve instantly increased the clearnce between the cable inner and the cable outer, can lube it with ANYTHING, and just feels SO much nicer to use. People only need fancy WD40s and other very thin non-mineral or synthetic lubes BECAUSE the inner is so tight inside the outer!!!

Phylo

the_genrl · « **Reply #17 on:** July 13, 2005, 06:58:07 PM »

should the cables be cleaned first? If so, what solvant would you use before oiling and reinstalling the cable?

stresssolutions · « **Reply #18 on:** November 23, 2008, 08:26:42 AM »

Quote

Depending on riding conditions, we recommend lubricating your cables between every ride or every other ride

The above taken from the motion pro website. I rode all year without lubing once. When I rode that 77 GL1000 that has new cables on it, I realized how bad mine is. So...how often do you lube?

coyotecowboy · « **Reply #19 on:** November 23, 2008, 09:19:53 AM »

Mil-spec gun slide lube is great stuff if you can find it.

Deltarider · « **Reply #20 on:** November 23, 2008, 01:40:35 PM »

Genuine (teflon) Honda cables should not be lubed at all.

eldar · « **Reply #21 on:** November 23, 2008, 03:12:26 PM »

Most of us do not have the honda cables. BUT they could probably be lubed with graphite.

kghost · « **Reply #22 on:** November 23, 2008, 05:13:22 PM »

Sorta gotta disagree with the whole pull the liner out approach....

TwoTired · « **Reply #23 on:** November 23, 2008, 10:27:27 PM »

Quote from: kghost on November 23, 2008, 05:13:22 PM

Sorta gotta disagree with the whole pull the liner out approach....

+1
Sounds like what you'd do just before quickly selling the bike, or a good plan to change cables yearly (if not seasonally).

Cheers,

billybobobrain · « **Reply #24 on:** November 29, 2008, 09:50:04 PM »

OK some say graphite some say WD 40.

7 Years ago I bought a 72 cb500, the cables were seized TIGHT! I went to a local car quest for some cable lube. The owner was an old biker, and he sold me some Lock Ease made by AGS. Get it at ACE hardware if you can’t find it anywhere. The bottom line is I squirted this stuff in the cable until it came out the other side, worked it in and 7 years have gone by. No lube, no dirt, no problems what so ever. One application!
The way it was explained to me was it is graphite in alcohol the alcohol evaporates and leaves the graphite. There is no oil or wet lube to attract dust.
I looked it up at their site (AGS) they say its solvent, whatever it works.

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Author Topic: Throttle cable lube (Read 6043 times)

Matt at PSB

eldar

x2qwk4ux

daz

eldar

phylo101

phylo101

the_genrl

eldar

billybobobrain