got an '07 streetbob.... starting to get a little too much slack in the throttle....cable stretching? .....anybody know how you tighten some of the slack so this thing can respond when it should?

thanks!

 

js,
You can take out the slack in the cable with a clutch cable adjustment. It's located on the left side of the frame about midway down or so under the rubber bootie. You'll need a 1/2" wrench and a 9/16" wrench to make the adjustment.
1. Slide the rubber boot off the cable adjuster.
2. Holding cable adjuster with 1/2" wrench, loosen jam nut using a 9/16" wrench.
3. Turn cable adjuster until there is 1/16"-1/8" freeplay between end of cable ferrule and clutch lever bracket.
If your bike is fairly low mile, this is probably all you'll need do. Otherwise, you may need to perform a complete clutch adjustment.
Hope this helps,
Bart

 

??? ....clutch is fine.... just the throttle cable is what i need to adjust, i reckon

 

On the cables themselves just under the throttle and past the bendyou will see a rubber boot.Move the rubber boot out of the way and the adjustments are made there.

 

Hello js1268;

The Throttle cable slack can be removed by using the cable adjuster. It is located (incorporated into the throttle cable) where the cable exits the switch housing on the right
hand side of the handlebars. Loosen the lock nut and screw the adjuster out, to take up the slack, and then retighten the lock nut. Of the two cables that emerge from the switch housing, the cable closest to the front of the bike is the throttle cable. The cable toward the back of the bike is the idle cable. If you have not done so already I would suggest that you purchase the HD shop manual for your model bike. It is the best investment that you will make if you intend to work on your own machine.

Good luck with it
Arcane

 

thanks so much, fellow harley davidson riders! .....i just did the adjustment....i did just as you suggested, arcane....big difference!.....the bike only has about 200 miles on it....this IS normal with a new bike, i'm guessing?....i mean, it seems like it would be....i play bass, and as anyone knows, you have to take the tension up on new strings, all the time, until they're tempered ...same logic, i'd say

and indeed, i'm buying a service manual from zanotti's tomorrow!

 

The cable stretch is normal, as well as stretch in the drive belt. After break in, the cables and drive belt will stabilize and adjustments will become far less frequent.

Arcane

 

hey Arcane,

incidentally, the decel cable was the real culprit.... i took up the slack a bit on the throttle end, and it helped a bit... but i was still having too much travel before she'd open..... i brought it back home, and worked on the decel cable -the slack is taken up by working that wide adjustment nut in the opposite direction.... it feels proper, now

that sound right, arcane?

 

That will work; in truth the shop manual has a routine that you run through to set the cable slack. The throttle cable obliviously controls opening of the throttle and the idle cable insures that the throttle closes to the idle position when you release or roll the throttle closed. Quite often adjusting one cable requires an adjustment of the other. Make sure that you leave a little bit of slack in the cables OK.

Arcane

 

cool, thanks so much for your help, man! .....much appreciated