Throttle cable broken?

[kellyjo]

Ok, so I was just walking past my bike in the garage when I couldnt resist having a little 'fondle' of her so I pulled the throttle back and thought it felt a bit strange, pulled it again and it didnt spring back. Have I just broken the cable? Is there an easy way to check?
I last rode it Thursday and it seemed fine.

Assuming I need a new cable, is it a job that a numpty like me can do by myself, never played with the cables before!!

Thanks, KJ x

[sunshine]

start her in netural and open the throttle and try closing it with the throttle does it work?

when was it last greased? If its just sticking gently pour drops of oil down the cable to lube it, so it moves free.

[kellyjo]

Oh that's a worry!! I just tried to start it in neutral. It won't start, there's a nasty whine coming from the engine and the engine management light is on. Now I'm totally baffled :-(

[monkey]

As a self confessed numpty I'd be a little careful if you open the throttle housing. Some can be a pita to get back together nicely.

I'd suggest what the poster above said except without the oiling part because of what I just said.

I think you should first check your bar end isn't rubbing on the grip or that there are no external influences stopping the grip from turning, then turn the bars full lock to opposite lock and see if either cable are trapped (if it is a dual cable- I can't recall if SVs have them).

Come back once you've had a little tinker.

[monkey]

Pipped to the post.

Can you raise the tank and get the airbox off?

[kellyjo]

Not at the moment, I'm on my own looking after 4 kids!! I'll have to look at it tomorrow when I've repaired the washing machine that I've also managed to kill today...:p

[sunshine]

Sorry I wasn't clear, oil the cable, a simple task done by stripping the switchgear so you can get to the throttle cables, if you wanted, you could pull on the cables if there's a lot of free play, means something has come loose, if you get a broken end come out you need to replace them.

The cables attach to the outside of the throttle bodies so easy job to replace/check them. if the throttle bodies seize, strip, clean and grease moving parts as you put them back together, and without experience in that part good luck ;)

[Mark_h]

Oh that's a worry!! I just tried to start it in neutral. It won't start, there's a nasty whine coming from the engine and the engine management light is on. Now I'm totally baffled :-(

Kellyjo,

If your throttle is wedged open in anyway please don't try and start it. The whine and engine management light is normal behaviour when the ignition is on but one or more of the defeats are in place, eg, not got the clutch pulled in or it's in gear and the sidestand is down.

Start with the simple stuff.

Is the throttle grip wedging on the bar-end? Should be a little gap between the end of the rubber grip and the actual bar end, If there is no gap, just move the bar end out a bit and see if you can remember when the bar end may have been knocked.

If the handlebar end is not wedged, go to the other end.....

Lift the tank and see what moves when you twist the throttle then work backwards from there. DO NOT try to start the bike until you can see that the throttle linkages are returning to the stop position. DO NOT go stripping down the switchgear until you know you have to which is several steps on from where you are now.

With the tank up you should see the the throttle moves all the brass coloured stuff on the right hand side of the throttles (just under the big black airbox) When you release the throttle these should spring back to closed and the return of these bits should close down the twist grip. Try that and report back what you find.

Oh and look at the owners manual ref adjusting the throttle free-play. One of the adjusters by the twist grip set the drag on the cable. It's possible that's been moved by accident and is just adding too much drag for the return to work.

[kellyjo]

Sorry for taking so long to reply, family life has been taking over! I finally got the tank off for a look yesterday and the throttle was stuck open. After a bit of a play its obvious that the cable is fine, just needs a good oiling I think. Its opening and closing properly again so im off to research how to do it...

Thanks for the help x