Bad Luck, Great Friends

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Jul 19, 2011 | 08:31 AM

Bleachey

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Joined: Jul 2011

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From: Indianapolis, IN

Bad Luck, Great Friends

Had an adventuresome week/weekend. Had some shifting issues last week and got it fixed in time for a charity ride this past weekend. The store my friend runs was the title sponsor so I found myself as the third bike in a ~300 bike police escorted ride through Indianapolis and around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It was also my first big charity ride as I have avoided them because they've always made me nervous. Well, I don't know if it was because I was up front or what but it was one of the best riding experiences I've ever had, right up until the end. We had just completed our lap around IMS (totally awesome, although a little hard in the corners only doing 30 MPH. Anyway as we were leaving the track and going through the tunnel my throttle cable broke. Luckily the guy behind me was paying attention and was able to stop. Everybody was paying attention and the wife and I watched 290+ bikes merge into one line and ride by with no issues. The great friends part comes in where one non-riding friend borrowed a trailer and came home to get me. Another went to the Harley shop and grabbed a new cable for me, and then we all converged at my house, grilled steaks and fixed my scooter.

I've done all the reccomended maintenance, my question to the forum, is there anything I should have done to check/prevent this, or is it just the way it goes having an older bike?

Last edited by Bleachey; Jul 19, 2011 at 08:32 AM. Reason: Typo

Jul 19, 2011 | 11:01 AM

95yj

Road Captain

Joined: Mar 2008

Posts: 601

Likes: 6

From: Aruba

Big, police escorted rides can be awesome for a change of pace, but I'm always worried about the skill level of the riders around me. Invariably, I wind up switching spots in the line multiple times (don't wanna ride near that person. . . nor that one either. . . and on and on). I like to ride farther back because then you can see everyone. If you're in the front, you can't see all the bikes and you don't get the perspective of the number of bikes you're riding with.

Throttle cables break. Had a friend on a ride lose his with a day and a half to go on a 17 day, 3500 mi ride. He pulled the cable sheath off and held onto the cable by hand since he had apes on and left the idle cable off due to aesthetics so we couldn't swap them and no one had another cable long enough. We joked that he looked like he was trying to start a lawn mower.

That said, cable maintenance gets overlooked as much as anything else. Manual says to lubricate them every 5K miles. I like to pull, clean and inspect them also. That's both throttle cables, speedo and clutch cables although most peeps don't have mechanical speedos anymore. It doesn't take a lot for water to get into the cables in a good rain or a lot of washing. The adjustment boots can actually trap water and feed them into the cable. On my gf's Sportster, we got three bad days of massive rain on the same ride above. When I serviced the bike at the end of the ride, the tranny/primary oil was white with water which had gotten in from the clutch cable adjustment boot. The cable, which was good before the ride and had just been lubed, was rusted pretty good.

Jul 19, 2011 | 01:17 PM

carlgrover

Seasoned HDF Member

Joined: Oct 2007

Posts: 8,852

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From: Decatur, Alabama

I squirt some Bel-ray 6 in 1 lube in both of my throttle cables every 5k when I do the service. You have to pay attention to the ends as well. At the throttle end, those little ferrules should have a touch of grease on them and be able to rotate freely in their housing. You might have had a kink somewhere that developed after one of the ends got bound up then snapped.

Jul 19, 2011 | 07:09 PM

Bleachey

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Joined: Jul 2011

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From: Indianapolis, IN

It snapped about an inch from the end by the grip. Did a 5000 mile service in January, then new grips in April. Thought they looked good when I put the new grips on, lubed it and everything, guess it's just one of those things. For as little as they cost $25 I might just start replacing them each winter or something. Luckily the wife was really cool about it and we didn't cause a pile up behind us. Never thought about pulling the sheath out of the housing and just using the cable

Jul 19, 2011 | 08:08 PM

miacycles

Elite HDF Member

Joined: Sep 2007

Posts: 4,468

Likes: 12

From: Bluffton, South Carolina

Did you grab the cable with some needle nose pliers to put it back in?? I've seen more than one break/fray after being manhandled.

Jul 20, 2011 | 10:45 AM

scoteh

Club Member

Joined: Dec 2007

Posts: 23,178

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From: elsewhere

Any cable can break. Keep 'em lubed! Good friends like your's are sometimes hard to find, and I always enjoy hearing about/from people who know what true friendship is all about.