Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

WORKBENCH By Brian Catterson The evils ofcable lubrication How about a Workb ench colu m n dea ling with cable lubrication - how to lube brake, clutch, speedometer and tachometer cables? . Baron'H ansen Zio ns vill e, Indiana: too l. Either way, you'll need to remove o ne end of the cab le from th e twistgr ip, lever, pedal , o r wh at ever else it's attached to. Next, slide the end of the cable in to the side of th e luber, and screw it down tight. In sert the p lasti c straw from a can of light machine oil (Bel-Ray 6-in- I, WD-40, etc.) into th e small hole in the luber and hold the button down until lu be runs out the opposite end of the cable. It 's th at easy. The second type of cables are instrument cables, which are those emp loyed by your speed ometer, tachometer and/ or odometer. These operate in a rotational manner and require grease rather than oil for lubrication. To lub e an instrum ent cabl e, unscrew one end from the instrument o r fro m the co rresponding speedo/tach dri ve unit. It's best to use a pair of p liers with the jaws wrapped in tape for th is operation , as they give plenty of grip , yet preven t the finish from being marred. Next , slide the in ner cable o u t of its shea th and lightly coa t it with grease. Repl ace the in ner cable, ensuring that it fits into its receptacle (you noticed the cable was sq uare, didn 't you?), and retighten. Since cables are act ua lly made up of a number of smaller wires twisted together, they some times have a tenden cy to become kinked or frayed , or for th e cable ends to pull off. Wh ile you 're taking th e time to Iub e your cables, it's worthwhile to also inspect th em for an y signs of damage. Ano ther item th at warrants a tten- Like cha in and battery maintenance, cable lubrication is one of the necessary evils of motorcycle maintenance. Many riders li ve in dreaded fear of the process, and will simply ignore their cabl es until they begin to malfunction, at which point they 'll often m istakenly diagnose the problem as something far more serious than it is. Have yo u ever spent the afternoo n dismantling a carbureto r to find a supposedly stu ck slide, onl y to realize that it was th e throttle cable itself that was sticki ng? You' re not alone. ' Fortunately, cable lubrication is really q uite simp le, and the re are a nu mber of spec ial ized lubricant s and tools avai lable to simp lify the task. The first thing you should realize is tha t there are two basi c types of cables: The first are control cab les, wh ich are the type attached to your throttle, bra kes, cl u tch, choke and/or compressio n release. These ope ra te in a push- pull manner, and are best lubricated by lig ht machine oil. The abs olute easiest way to lube control cab les is by using a' tool called . a cable pressure luber. Some folks use balloons or plasti c bags and a rubber band to achieve the sam e effect, but there's reall y no substitute for the right tio n is correc t cable rou ting. If th ere are too ma ny bends in a cable, or a bend or bends tha t are too severe, the excessive friction o n th e inner cable will cause it to stick. All the lube in the world won ' t hel p you a t th is point - you need to rero ut e the cable so that it moves smoothly . This is especially impo rtant to remember whe n repl acing a worn cab le with a new o ne. And al ways ro ute the cable through its exis ting rubbers, wire ha nge rs and/or cable ties - never ass ume ' that you kn ow mo re th an the motor cycle man ufacturer. Also, wh en repl acing a cable ens ure that it is th e correct length, and that it has the same type of- ends as th e 'stocker. The onl y ti me you 'd wan t a differ en t len gth cab le is if you'd cha nged the heigh t of your handlebars, the locatio n of your foot pegs, etc. And finally, once. you've finis hed install ing and/or lubing a cabl e, check th e amou nt of its free p lay. All levers and twistgrips should have some sla ck, typically one-eighth- to one-quarterinch, as specified in your owner 's ma nual. ex Workbe nch is a weekly colum n dealing with motorcycle ma in tenance, perfonnance and equipment. Have something that Workbench can add ress? Then drop a line to Wo rkbench, Cycle News , P.O. Box 498, Long Beach, CA 90801-0498. S!qt1000.00 .' . PJUlES &CONTlNGfNClES""'""'- -cr -cr -cr -cr -cr -cr SUZUKI BUCKS AlIA SUZUKI TRUCKS AT MOST EVENTS GARY BAILEY MX SCHOOL DISCOUNT ~ OVERALL SERIES TROPHIES ANSWER GEAR SPRING ·mtIil Gear -- SERIES ~PONSORS ::t.\ *** * * • FOR INFORMATION CALL (704) 873-5083 RACE DATES March 18, 1990 March 25, 1990 April 1, 1990 April 8, 1990 April 15, 1990 April 22, 1990 April 28 & 29,1990 May 13, 1990 ~ay 19, 1990 May 20,1990 June 10, 1990

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