Hi folks been lurking for a while, but tonite had a bit of a problem. On my way home from work I think my throttle cable broke, went to go from a stop sign and when I twisted my throttle it just rolled freely and I went no where  :'(. I was quite proud of myself for figuring out how to use the ( and please forgive my lack of tech terminology), little throttle thing on the side of the engine to accelerate and make it home by shifting and hand adjusting the throttle  . Now since I am not at all mechanically inclined I thought I would ask and see if any of you fine folks could tell me how much I should expect to pay to have this fixed? My little War Pony is a daily rider and is quite beat up but oh how I love it. Any help here? Thanks

I agree, start simple.  Make sure the cable is seated in it's little slot on the left side of the carb.  If turning your throttle then gives you no response at all, then tug lightly on the exposed cable.  If you can pull it out several inches, then you know there is a break in your cable for sure.  You can get a replacement cable at several online parts stores or ebay.  Replacing it is simply a matter of taking apart the switch housing (2 screws), tanking the tank off, and disconnecting it from the carb.  Aside from time to drain the tank, the actual work portion of this job should only take an hour if you're going slow and having a few beers while you talk to your neighbor.  

Taking apart the right handlebar switch housing is too easy.  HOWEVER, those screws are soft phillips, and they LOVE to strip.  I replaced mine with some nice chrome allen head screws, and I would recommend you do the same.  Work one out and take it with you to your closest ACE, Elliott's, or mom and pop hardware store.

Demin wrote on 10/23/13 at 11:58:22:


"Suicide throttle" Demin are you sure ya don't have a bit of Kentucky hillbilly in ya???

Thank you all, Suicide Throttle huh? I think I know what that is. Is it when you have the shifter on the side like standard shift? I have seen a few bikes with this and have always thought it was so cool looking, Now ya got me wondering, how hard would that be to do...LOL

FrankYoungWolf wrote on 10/25/13 at 17:38:35:


That's a jockey shift. No such thing as suicide shift, you can have a suicide clutch, which is just a standard Harley rocker clutch through sometime in the mid 1950s when the "sport shifter" (hand clutch foot shift) came onto the market for Panheads.

Easy job by the way. Convert shifter lever to clutch pedal. Look up old Triumph tech articles from The Horse Backstreet Choppers. Have tiny clutch cable made. Weld an outward extension onto the shifter pivot left on the shifter splined shaft after the foot clutch conversion. Weld a new upright shift arm onto the stub. Add a threaded piece to accept a shift knob.

I had a jockey arm all set up for mine, got left behind in WA when we moved in 2011. Even had the real deal pre-ban ivory shift knob out of my late grandfather's truck on it. Never liked the shift knob, and the set up did get used on an old friend's custom XS850 project, so don't mind having left it behind.

I want a thumb throttle for my bike... Why not, it has a front drum, Pan/Knuckle/Vincent brake and clutch perch/lever set, etc...

FrankYoungWolf wrote on 10/22/13 at 21:02:41:


I should have a spare throttle cable; if so you can have it for shipping cost.

Yes, it is a pity of course that such damage was not pleasant... well wish to quickly replace the rope and ...good luck on the road!