throttle cable components

John Appleton

Well Known and Active Forum User
VOC Member
I wish to make special throttle cables for my rapide. Can anybody suggest a good supplier of parts including 90 degree carb. tubes please.

John
 

Bod500

Forum User
Non-VOC Member
Cables.

John, I had to make new cables when I fitted a large tank. I bought some inner & outer cable from Venhill and a pair of Honda VFR800 cables off ebay. The VFR cables had some nice bends and worked out fine. I see that you are in Suffolk, a call to David Silver Spares might get you something.

Good luck.

Bod
 

John Appleton

Well Known and Active Forum User
VOC Member
I see that you are in Suffolk, a call to David Silver Spares might get you something.


Bod

Thanks for the info about venhill, and Dave is another of my options as his warehouse is next door to our works in Leiston. If push comes to shove I usually browse his stock to find something suitable.
John
 

derek

Well Known and Active Forum User
VOC Member
throttle cable

For the 90deg bends, I used brass ferrules soldered onto a bent copper/brass tube, like car brake pipe.
 

John Appleton

Well Known and Active Forum User
VOC Member
For the 90deg bends, I used brass ferrules soldered onto a bent copper/brass tube, like car brake pipe.

Thank you for the suggestion, and thanks everybody else for your contributions. Venhill had all that I wanted and a good website as well.


John
 

jim wilson

Forum User
Non-VOC Member
Flanders
&
Barnett
i made all of the cables for my bikes.
you'll need ends, ferralls, inner and outer cable and housing.

http://www.flanderscables.com/action...gory=CablePart
http://www.barnettclutches.com/products/custom_measuring_guide.aspx

you can find any brass end fitting you will need and NO SPECIAL TOOLS are needed to do a simple flare of the inner cable ends that has been suggested elsewhere. just use needlenose pliers. when the soldering job is completed sand/file off the extra as needed for the end to fit


Making your Own Motorcycle Cables 1996

Some of us have experienced a pulled cable end, be it throttle, brake or clutch and our machines also have a compression release. It’s a bummer when this happens, especially at night, away from home. When building or restoring my bikes, going back to my 1st doodlebug (using electrical solder) and now my Rapides and R90/RSS and 39 chief, I like to make my own cables, because they fit the bike. It is not an easy task but rewarding when done and working.
There are several distributors of cables, cable housings and fittings, with Flanders and Barnett my two of choice. I buy the universal throttle cables that have a factory made ‘ball’ @ the end. The rest of it has to be fitted to your machine. I also like to bend a ¼’’ radius tube to fit right at the carb top, so that notorious kink is eliminated altogether. Mikuni makes a very good rubber dust boot to help protect all cables from dirt. I also use black heat shrink to cover these boots as time and sun deteriorates them. These will fit at the adjusters as well. You can situate your adjuster where ever it is convenient for you. I use heavier cable for the clutch and brake assemblies and make both ends to fit.
Most store bought cables are made of 1 x (17 or 19) strand inner cable with sizes from .046 to .120, fitting mopeds to big bikes. The better inner cables are made of multiple strands referred to as a 7 x 7 cable, with seven groups of seven strands in each group, a total of 49 smaller strands. These are still about the same outside diameter size, (O.D.) wire so they will fit into your machine’s outer housing, should you wish to re-fit. The best part about these inner cables is their flexibility and tendency to work easier in a tighter bend radius. These are usually found in smaller diameters. I use a very high wattage old style soldering iron.
The outer housings are available in two types: lined with Teflon and unlined. The better outer cable housings are also made to be more flexible. They are made w/ more and smaller wire diameter spiral wraps for flexibility. Their size depends on the application and the inner cable sizes.

The other three parts to this work project are the outer cable ends, inline adjusters and inner cable end fittings usually made of brass. There are dozens of end fittings to anchor any number of combinations to fit levers and /or engine levers or rods. The outer end fittings are to make the housings look clean and provide proper fitting into the abutment. I like to grind the outer housing end flat after cutting it, using a sanding disc, and then insert an awl to clean up that inside spiral cable before I put on the outer cable end cap. Again the adjusters can be put where ever you like them for fine tuning.
The one item I have not mentioned yet is probably the most important, the solder. We have all used in a pinch not knowing any better the old standby solder readily found in our garages. Electrical 60/40 Tin-Antimony-Lead solder, plumbers solder made of 50/50 silver leadless or 60/40 tin-lead solder. Silver, Zinc, Indium and Cadmium are also used in combinations in the making of various solders; each has their pluses and minuses. Most of these are flux core solders but that does not mean you can not add your usual paste-flux to this process. These types of solders have a relatively low tensile strength of 4500-6000 psi. The MG product has 3x the tensile strength as these electrical types. Now just because the above plumbers silver leadless solder says silver, does not mean that it contains a good amount of silver content, maybe 6-9 % at most. Silver solder is by far the best way to join the fittings in this case, inner cables to brass fittings. There are many silver solders on the market, used for a multitude of purposes, most with heat ranges around 900-1400 F. degrees working temperatures. This depends on content and percentages of alloy material. This is too high for our use when cable making. Infact it is best NOT to use an open flame- torch on inner cables, but a very good soldering iron is needed. Some of you may have your soldering pots and used them for decades, and they work.
But silver solder does come in a lower temperature heat range for gas type torches without oxygen and iron use. This product‘s working temperature is 430 degrees, perfect for soldering iron use. I prefer this product MG120, also known as MG120A. These MG products use a flux core and cleaning agent for the preparation of bonding. The MG120A has a syringe applicator for the cleaning agent whereas the MG120 is a bottle. It is available at welding supply stores.
The key to a strong union is wetting and capillary attraction. Wetting is the ability of the molten solder to coat the strands surface. Capillary attraction is its ability to flow or wick. I prefer to ‘’tin’’ the inner cable end after I have slid my end fitting on to the inner cable first. This allows you to ‘’work over’’ /mushroom or flair the multiple ends more easily to prevent the dreaded pull-out. Pull the inner cable back to the fitting and solder. Trim or file the fittings when done.
THIS stuff is the BEE's Knees..:D

Remember to lubricate all your non Teflon lined cables once a year by buying one of those simple spray type lubricators available at any good local m/c shop. I use a spray can of white lithium grease. These devices clamp over the outer cable end, have a small rubber hole built in and the grease squirts inside, down the cable housing through to the end. If you use a junction box with a single throttle cable to twin cables make sure you protect that junction from dirt and debris, clean and lube with light grease once a season along with all of your other cables.
Remember what Owsley Bear says ….… ‘‘They love to get out and play in the sunshine.’’

>> made by:
Messer Company - MG Welding Products
N94W 1455 Garwin Mace Drive
Menomonee Falls, WI. 53051 USA
(262) 255-5520 -- (262) 555-5542 fax#
Hardness 15 10 kg/ mm2 approx 15,000 psi
Melting point 430 degrees F 221 degrees C
Available in :: 1/16’’, 3/32’’, 1/8’’ >>>> use 1/16’’ for cables



Jim Wilson
VOC ~ OS#1467 Northern California Vincent ~ H.R.D ~ Dancing Bear S.O.
 

jim wilson

Forum User
Non-VOC Member
I also have made 90 degree inner cable bends from heavy gauge brass tubing w/ a thin wall tube as the ferrell holder/locater. bent w/ my 1/4'' tubing bender. two short ones for the front, longer for the rear. two shorter in height so as to clear (not foul) each other when in situ.
 
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