Anyone buy throttle cables lately?

A buddy of mine bought a set of throttle cables from Old Britts recently and the wires were short on both the upper and lower cables. Short enough that there was no slack at all at either end and the slides wouldn't go down to the stop screws. It's just a quarter inch or so but enough to make the cables unuseable.

My friend paid a visit to Frank at Clubman Racing and his cables were the same, also short. Fred will make it right for my friend, but I'm wondering if Andover has been supplying some bogus cables to the distributors.

Anybody else experience this?

You can trim the sheath slightly to effectively increase the length of working cable.

I had some A/N cables had to be modified. The 2 lower cables sheaths were of different lengths.
When I got my JS PWK's and used the supplied lower cables I then had to modify my upper by shortening the sheath by a 1/4".
I also had to remove the adjuster at the twist grip.

Maylar,
The throttle cables were probably correct according to the parts list, but you will find with the current AMAL twistgrips (Norton#06-2032 which is AMAL 364/TG) these are in fact what used to be the "quick action" twistgrips. These require different FRONT cables (rears 06-6084 work with either twistgrip).
Part#06-4601 is for "European" (i.e. low/narrow) handlebars, 06-4602 is for "US" (wide, medium high) handlebars.

I think Old Britts may have sold you either an 06-4137 (short) or 06-1451 (longer) front cable, which are correct for most 750/early 850 Commandos with the original twistgrip, but then many have a later twistgrip- as have I on my own Signal Orange Shortstroke Roadster.

The cables are made to drawing by the same supplier we have had for many years, and I am not aware- even though I sell them to end users and dealers all the time- of any fit problems. Hence my suspicion above.

If Guido had rear cables of different lengths I suspect he had 1x 06-6084 (throttle) and 1* 06-6085 (choke). They may have been mixed up either at the dealers, or even in the Andover Norton stores, though I have not had that yet.

Joe

ZFD said:

The throttle cables were probably correct according to the parts list, but you will find with the current AMAL twistgrips (Norton#06-2032 which is AMAL 364/TG) these are in fact what used to be the "quick action" twistgrips. These require different FRONT cables (rears 06-6084 work with either twistgrip).
Part#06-4601 is for "European" (i.e. low/narrow) handlebars, 06-4602 is for "US" (wide, medium high) handlebars.

I think Old Britts may have sold you either an 06-4137 (short) or 06-1451 (longer) front cable, which are correct for most 750/early 850 Commandos with the original twistgrip, but then many have a later twistgrip- as have I on my own Signal Orange Shortstroke Roadster.

Click to expand...

Old Britts does, at least, list the various upper throttle cables for 73-74, same as the parts book....

5. 061451 Throttle Cable,US Std, Adj, 25.5" x 28 3/4"
5A. 064137 Throttle Cable, EU Std Adj, 21 1/4"x24 3/8"
5B. 064602 Throttle Cable, US 1/4T, Adj, 25 1/2" x 28"
5C. 064601 Throttle Cable, EU 1/4T Adj, 21 1/4" x 24"
5D. 064638 Throttle Cable, Adj., Hi Rider, Std Twist

...which is something the AN website does not do, only the one 061451 cable is listed with no apparent options!?

http://www.nortonmotors.de/ANIL/Norton% ... 021&Part=5



Unfortunately, the Old Britts list has both 033144 and 033145 lower cables as: "throttle/choke..12 1/2" x 16 3/8"

http://www.oldbritts.com/nor_comm_73_21.html
3. 033144 Cable, Throttle/Choke, 12 1/2" x 16 3/8"
4. 033145 Cable, Throttle/Choke, 12 1/2" x 16 3/8"

Acvtually, if one enters "cable" on the Andover Norton website, one gets more front throttle cables than the ones listed by LAB. In practise I found the 06-1451, 06-4137, and the 06-4601 & 06-4602 cover 100% of my customer's requirements- bar the 850Mk3 owners, naturally (no Hi-Riders in the Fatherland- not a popular model in Europe!).
As for the meagre descriptions I inherited the price list from BSA/Regal five years ago and only on checking this thread realized the description of the cables left the details out. Will amend.

ZFD said:

Acvtually, if one enters "cable" on the Andover Norton website, one gets more front throttle cables than the ones listed by LAB. In practise I found the 06-1451, 06-4137, and the 06-4601 & 06-4602 cover 100% of my customer's requirements

Will amend.

Click to expand...

The other cables can certainly be found-but it does rely on the searcher knowing the correct part number.

If any of the cable part numbers are entered into the AN parts search, they just come up as...:

"GENERIC NORTON PART
This item is not related to a specific model of bike
PART NUMBER: xxxxxx
DESCRIPTION: THROTTLE CABLE - T/GRIP END"

...none of which can really be regarded as: "Generic" so not much help unless the searcher knows which one happens to be correct for the particular application.

L.A.B. said:

Unfortunately, the Old Britts list has both 033144 and 033145 lower cables as: "throttle/choke..12 1/2" x 16 3/8"

http://www.oldbritts.com/nor_comm_73_21.html
3. 033144 Cable, Throttle/Choke, 12 1/2" x 16 3/8"
4. 033145 Cable, Throttle/Choke, 12 1/2" x 16 3/8"

Click to expand...

Which means that the unsheathed part of the lowers would be 16.375 - 12.5 = 3.875. What my friend received was about 1/4 inch shy of that. With the Amal slack adjusters all the way in and the throttle end disconnected the slides would not hit the idle stops. This is an unmolested 72 Interstate with the stock plastic junction box. The cables are simply wrong.

Dave It seems your # are not in agreement with my data.
I show the throttle as 4-1/8" exposed cable and 3-7/8" for the choke. As long as you use the OEM plastic divider and in normal amal trim such as a threaded carb top adjuster, I no longer have cable problems.


The basic cable lengths should be specified but are somewhat irrelevant as along as they are long enough and routed properly. I also have gotten incorrectly made (BSA REGAL) AN packaged and labeled cables.

LIVE ad LEARN:
Once you learn the minimum bit of cable design, such as what is the length of cable inner.... beyond the end of the sheath you will know if they will fit before you even install them by measuring them. The concentric throttle and choke are different and monobloc choke and throttle are different, Amal concentric MKII again are different...... Once you have a folder with all the correct data, you find it is better to learn to make you own, save money and especially..... avoid all this agrivation.

Learn cable maintenance too and you will avoid being stranded on the road from broken cables.

Dave the data gatherer and cable maker

maylar said:

L.A.B. said:

Unfortunately, the Old Britts list has both 033144 and 033145 lower cables as: "throttle/choke..12 1/2" x 16 3/8"



http://www.oldbritts.com/nor_comm_73_21.html
3. 033144 Cable, Throttle/Choke, 12 1/2" x 16 3/8"
4. 033145 Cable, Throttle/Choke, 12 1/2" x 16 3/8"

Click to expand...

Which means that the unsheathed part of the lowers would be 16.375 - 12.5 = 3.875.

Click to expand...

16.375" also minus the length of the upper nipple (which is approximately 5/32" [.156"]) = 3.719"

dynodave said:

Dave It seems your # are not in agreement with my data.
I show the throttle as 4-1/8" exposed cable and 3-7/8" for the choke.

Click to expand...

Your data does not agree with mine, as I have it that the choke has the longer exposed inner wire because with the choke slide fully dropped, the choke cable nipple extends further than the throttle cable nipple.



(sizes to the nearest 1/16")
Exposed throttle inner = 3-3/4" (16-1/2" overall)
Exposed choke inner = 4" (17-3/16" overall)


Throttle outer = 12-1/2"
Choke outer = 13"

Oops
yup Les you're right, 4-1/8" is the MKII throttle and 2" is the MKII choke (cable conversion)

3-5/8 MK1 throttle and 3-7/8 choke.

sorry long time since I drew these ..aug 1995 gotta pick the right numbers off the 3 pages

Interesting thread, I have the opposite problem. I had the replace the twistgrip to to cable junction (Amal Carbs) cable this week as the lead bead pulled out of my exiting cable at the twistgrip. I ordered an 06-1451 cable (US standard bar) and the exposed cable was 3/4" too long with the adjuster full out.

Measurements (using tape measure), I believe the exposed cable is the relevant measurement

Old Cable: 25.1/2 x 28 , exposed cable : 2 1/2

New Cable: 25.5 x 28 3/4 , exposed cable 3 1/4

I need to build out the sheath unless there is an adjustment that I'm not aware of. The adjuster on the upper cable is full out, I tried fiddling with the plastic ferrule at the junction to get some sheath length but ended up tighting it up. So I split the end of pen and slipped it over the cable at the twistgrip with the taper going into the grip to take up the slack. Is there a more elegant solution?

[ATTACH=full]87783[/ATTACH] [url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/52577093@N03/7603071726/]IMG_6096 by niagaraz, on Flickr[/url]

Niagara850 said:

Interesting thread, I have the opposite problem. I had the replace the twistgrip to to cable junction (Amal Carbs) cable this week as the lead bead pulled out of my exiting cable at the twistgrip. I ordered an 06-1451 cable (US standard bar) and the exposed cable was 3/4" too long with the adjuster full out.

Measurements (using tape measure), I believe the exposed cable is the relevant measurement

Old Cable: 25.1/2 x 28 , exposed cable : 2 1/2

New Cable: 25.5 x 28 3/4 , exposed cable 3 1/4

I need to build out the sheath unless there is an adjustment that I'm not aware of. The adjuster on the upper cable is full out, I tried fiddling with the plastic ferrule at the junction to get some sheath length but ended up tighting it up. So I split the end of pen and slipped it over the cable at the twistgrip with the taper going into the grip to take up the slack. Is there a more elegant solution?

[ATTACH=full]87784[/ATTACH] [url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/52577093@N03/7603071726/]IMG_6096 by niagaraz, on Flickr[/url]

Click to expand...

Just went through the same issue. ZFD has it right, the new throttle you ordered is a AMAL 364/TG.
The cable you need to order is #06-4602 for USA medium bar, and you can loose the cable stop you added, as the cable should fit nicely in the throttle body with out it.
I just fit mine and it works and fits great.

BTW that master cylinder boot is starting to look a little long in the tooth... :lol:

Thank You ZFD. 8)

Ya, A resleeved MC, SS brake hose and new pads are in my future.

You are correct about the 06-4602 aka 496 throttle cable. After discussion with my suppliers I have concluded that it is to be used with twistgrips that do NOT have the Slotted Abutment (Group 21 #15). My twistgrip has the cable stop integrated into the lower half and is shown as Group 21 #13 and 14. It requires a shorter relative sheath to cable length. Too bad I didn't figure this out this out before I ordered and installed the 06-1451 aka 331 cable...

Wow, great points...

After reading these posts and realizing how easy it would be to get the wrong cables hooked up in a stock dual Amal setup, I just had to go to the garage and check out my bike.

Pulled the single KN filter off and opened the air lever.

Twist the throttle grip full open and the throttle valves went all the way up in the carb mouths.
The air valves were all the way up in the throttle valves.
Held the throttle grip full open and closed the air lever.
The air valves went all the way down in the carb mouths.

Checked out good. Whew!
I've mixed parts around between different bikes over the years that I wasn't sure if there was a problem.